• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.286-290
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• 2017

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are highly dangerous nosocomial pathogens, cause the symptoms of skin infections, pressure sores, sepsis, blood stream and wound infections. Unfortunately, these pathogens are immune to the most common antibiotics, such as, carbapenem, aminoglycoside and fluoroquinolone. Therefore, it is imperative that new and effective antibiotics be developed. In the present study, the antimicrobial effects of Aloe vera MAP (modified Aloe polysaccharide) on Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes, and clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa and clinical Acinetobacter baumannii were comprehensibly investigated. Prior to the growth inhibition effect measurement and antibiotic disc diffusion assay on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and selected multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii, antimicrobial resistance screening was performed for the multidrug-resistant bacteria obtained from clinical isolates. The results for showed the Aloe vera MAP had a concentration-dependent effect on all of examined bacteria, particularly on Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant experiments were also performed dose dependently effects to confirm the beneficial physiological effects of Aloe vera MAP.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.173-182
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• 2013

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin disease associated with dysfunction of skin barrier and cutaneous hyper-reactivity to environmental triggers. In the previous study, cytotoxicity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities were investigated for various herbal extracts such as Aloe vera L. (AV), Viola mandshurica W. Becker (VM), Punica granatum L. (PG), and Dendrobium nobile L. (DN) in order to develop effective therapeutic herbal extracts for atopic dermatitis, In this study, anti-inflammatory activities of these herb extracts in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced macrophage RAW264.7 cells were further examined to find the underlying molecular mechanisms. The RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) analysis showed that PG, DN and AV inhibited effectively the gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-$1{\beta}$ in LPS-stimulated macrophages, while VM did not. The transfection and luciferase analysis exhibited that all herbal extracts hindered the activation of transcription nuclear factor kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$). The western blot analysis indicated that AV blocked the activation of only JNK MAP (c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein) kinase not p38 MAP kinase, while VM, PG and DN did not show the activation of both JNK and p38 MAP kinases. These results suggest that AV, VM, PG, and DN have anti-inflammatory activities and thus have the potential to reduce and alleviate the symptoms of atopic dermatitis.