• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.418-424
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• 2021

Skin inflammation (dermatitis) is caused by varying skin damage due to ultraviolet radiation and microbial infection. Currently prescribed drugs for dermatitis include anti-histamine and steroid drug classes that soothe inflammation. However, incorrect or prolonged use of steroids can cause weakening of skin barriers as well as osteoporosis. Therefore, treating dermatitis with a drug that has minimal side effects is important. Statins, also known as 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, are cholesterol-lowering drugs that have been widely treated for hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases. Interestingly, recent studies have shown the anti-inflammatory effects of statins in both experimental and clinical models for of osteoarthritis. This study investigated the possible anti-inflammatory effects of atorvastatin and fluvastatin in human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which are crucial components of skin barriers. Stimulation of HaCaT cells with IL-1β increased the expression of the COX2 protein, a major player of inflammatory responses. However, this induction of the COX2 protein was downregulated by pretreatments with atorvastatin and fluvastatin. Treatment with IL-1ß-induced the upregulation of other inflammatory genes (such as iNOS and MMP-1) and these expressions were similarly lowered by these two statin drug treatments. Taken together, these results indicated that atorvastatin and fluvastatin can reduce IL-1β-induced inflammatory responses in HaCaT cells. In conclusion, the findings suggest that atorvastatin and fluvastatin can be potential modulators for ameliorating skin inflammation.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.182-196
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• 2012

This study investigates the optimal application of perilla leaves to fresh noodles in terms of a variety of beneficial effects and functions such as the anti-microbial function of the leaves. First, we measured the water contents of the fresh noodles and found that the ones added with 7% lyophilized perilla leaf extract showed the maximum water contents whereas the control noodles without perilla leaf extract the minimum. Increasing amount of raw perilla leaf extract or lysophilzed perilla leaves in the fresh noodles elevated the L value and significantly reduced the A value. The mass and volume of the fresh noodles were gradually decreased with raw perilla leaves added. Addition of raw perilla leaf extract and lyophilized perilla leaves decreased the turbidity of the fresh noodles. Hardness of the fresh noodles was increased by the addition of lyophilized Perilla leaves. Next, we tested the effect of the addition of sesame leaves on microbial growth. No microbes were found in the fresh noodles in the absence or presence of sesame leaves at day 0. When the noodles were stored for 3 days, the greatest number of bacteria was detected in the noodles without perilla leaves while addition of perilla leaves lowered the amount of bacteria in the noodles. We then performed the sensory test. For the raw perilla leaf extract addition, the noodles with 9% of extract exhibited the highest in appearance, flavor, color (6.47), texture (6.60), and overall acceptability (7.67). Texture was the highest in the ones with 3% (6.87) and 5% (6.20) of extracts added. Overall acceptability (7.07) was the best when 3% perilla leaves were added. Overall, 9% addition of raw perilla leaf extract or 3% addition of lysophilized perilla leaves showed optimal tastes.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2008

This study was performed to evaluate the physico-chemical properties of fermented sausages containing probiotic starter cultures (LK-30 plus, Lactobacillus plantarum 155 and 167, and Pediococcus damnosus L12) with reduced fat levels, and to determine the optimum condition for the manufacture of these products. Although low-fat fermented sausages were reduced fat content at the amount of 90% and the ripening time by 1-2 weeks, as compared to regular-fat counterpart, they became harder and had many winkles outside due to the extreme drying. In addition, fat level in fermented sausages affected the composition and shear force values. During ripening, pH, lightness and yellowness values tended to decrease, however, microbial counts of inoculated lactic acid bacteria were increased up to $10^8-10^9cfu/g$ within 3 days and remained constant thereafter. Low-fat fermented sausages had higher microbial counts than regular-fat ones. Although the inoculated probiotic starter cultures alone had the functional properties, such as cholesterol reduction, anti-high blood pressure and antimicrobial activity, they did not have distinctive characteristics in the fermented sausages. Based on these results, the low-fat fermented sausages were successfully manufactured, but a little bit increased fat level and improved functional properties in the fermented sausages would be required to have better quality as compared to regular-fat counterparts.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.280-287
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• 2015

Probiotics are microbial food supplements or components of bacteria which have traditionally been added to dairy foods for extra health boost. Our aim was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Bifidobacterium adolescentis SPM0212 as probiotics, which we previously found has potential anti-hepatitis B virus activity. The study was conducted using Wistar albino rats and probiotics were treated orally for 9 days consecutively and acute liver injury was induced by administration of carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) on the 7th and 8th days. Liver damage was assessed by quantifying serum activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), as well as by histopathological examination. B. adolescentis SPM0212 significantly prevented the elevation of SGOT and SGPT levels, and reduced the negative effect of $CCl_4$ on body and organ weights. Histopathological study revealed the livers of the carbon tetrachloride treated rats showed almost complete loss of normal hepatocyte architecture, but that rats treated with B. adolescentis SPM0212 showed minimal damage and normal hepatocyte architecture. Our results suggest that B. adolescentis SPM0212 be considered useful probiotics for protecting the liver from xenobiotics and hepatitis B virus, and as well as useful as a functional food for maintaining human health.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 2013

Burkholderia pyrrocinia CAB08106-4 has an anti-bacterial effect on Garlic White Rot caused by Sclereotium cepivorum and Sclereotium sp.. It is an environmentally friendly microbial product that prevents and controls a variety of phytopathogens involving Garlic White Rot caused by Sclereotium cepivorum and Sclereotium sp.. The aim of this study was to assess and to compare the pathogenicity of Burkholderia pyrrocinia CAB08106-4 by single exposure of rats through several routes such as oral, intranasal and intravenous. For the acute toxicity / pathogenicity study, the animals were sacrificed on days 3, 7, 14 and 21, and macroscopically observed their organs to examine the numbers of internally-retained pesticidal microbes. Clinical examinations were performed daily during administration period, and body weight gain was evaluated. In the study, no clinical sign, weight gain and mortality were observed in relation to the administration of test article. The significant changes of internal/external microbes by test article were not detected. The pathological findings in relation to the administration of the test article in the necropsy were not observed. It could be concluded that the microorganism was not toxic or pathogenic in rats via oral, intranasal and intravenous route.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.151-151
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• 2012

A new plasma process, i.e., the combination of PIII&D and HIPIMS, was developed to implant non-gaseous ions into materials surface. HIPIMS is a special mode of operation of pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering, in which high pulsed DC power exceeding ~1 kW/$cm^2$ of its peak power density is applied to the magnetron sputtering target while the average power density remains manageable to the cooling capacity of the equipment by using a very small duty ratio of operation. Due to the high peak power density applied to the sputtering target, a large fraction of sputtered atoms is ionized. If the negative high voltage pulse applied to the sample stage in PIII&D system is synchronized with the pulsed plasma of sputtered target material by HIPIMS operation, the implantation of non-gaseous ions can be successfully accomplished. The new process has great advantage that thin film deposition and non-gaseous ion implantation along with in-situ film modification can be achieved in a single plasma chamber. Even broader application areas of PIII&D technology are believed to be envisaged by this newly developed process. In one application of non-gaseous plasma immersion ion implantation, Ge ions were implanted into SiO2 thin film at 60 keV to form Ge quantum dots embedded in SiO2 dielectric material. The crystalline Ge quantum dots were shown to be 5~10 nm in size and well dispersed in SiO2 matrix. In another application, Ag ions were implanted into SS-304 substrate to endow the anti-microbial property of the surface. Yet another bio-application was Mg ion implantation into Ti to improve its osteointegration property for bone implants. Catalyst is another promising application field of nongaseous plasma immersion ion implantation because ion implantation results in atomically dispersed catalytic agents with high surface to volume ratio. Pt ions were implanted into the surface of Al2O3 catalytic supporter and its H2 generation property was measured for DME reforming catalyst. In this talk, a newly developed, non-gaseous plasma immersion ion implantation technique and its applications would be shown and discussed.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.218-226
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• 2016

Helicobacter pylori primarily colonizes the human stomach. Infection by this bacterium is associated with various gastric diseases, including inflammation, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer. Although there are antibiotic regimens for the eradication of H. pylori, the resistance of this species against antibiotics has been continuously increasing. The natural compound plumbagin has been reported as an antimicrobial and anticancer molecule. In this study, we analyzed the inhibitory effect of plumbagin on H. pylori strain ATCC 49503 as well as the expression of various molecules associated with H. pylori growth or virulence by immunoblotting and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses. We demonstrated the minimal inhibitory concentration of plumbagin on H. pylori through the agar dilution and broth dilution methods. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of plumbagin treatment on the expression of the RNA polymerase subunits and various virulence factors of H. pylori. Plumbagin treatment decreased the expression of RNA polymerase subunit alpha (rpoA), which is closely associated with bacterial survival. Moreover, the mRNA and protein levels of the major CagA and VacA toxins were decreased in plumbagintreated H. pylori cells. Likewise, the expression levels of urease subunit alpha (ureA) and an adhesin (alpA) were decreased by plumbagin treatment. Collectively, these results suggest that plumbagin may inhibit the growth, colonization, and pathogenesis of H. pylori by the mechanism demonstrated in this study.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.195-200
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• 2008

Saxifraga stolonifera (Saxifragaceae) is a perennial herbaceous plant growing in Korea, China, Japan and Russia. The aerial part has been used as herbal medicine for treatment of pneumonia, frostbite, inflammation and microbial infection. In this study, fresh juice and methanol extract were prepared from the aerial part of S. stolonifera, and their antimicrobial, antithrombin, and antioxidant activity were evaluated, respectively. The fresh juice showed weak antimicrobial activity against Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Candida albicans with ignorable DPPH scavenging activity. But, the methanol extract showed strong antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ of $37.5{\mu}g/mL$) with minor, broad-range antimicrobial activity. Antithrombin activities were not observed in fresh juice and extract, up to 1.5 mg/mL. Sequential organic solvent fractionation of methanol extract showed that $IC_{50}s$ of ethylacetate and the butanol fraction were 6.9 and $7.8{\mu}g/mL$, respectively, that is comparable with vitamin C or butylated hydroxytoluene. Analysis of component in extract and fractionates suggested that the antioxidants in fractions are diverse and the active substances have glycosylated phenolic structure. Our results suggest that the aerial part of S. stolonifera could be used as the natural source of potential antioxidant.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.2 s.75
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• pp.310-314
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• 2006

Allium fistulosum L. (Welsh onion) is a perennial herb that is widely cultivated throughout the world, especially in China, Japan and Korea. Although, various activities were reported, little is known about antimicrobial activity of A. fistulosum L.. In this study, strong antimicrobial substances, fistuloside A, B, and C were isolated from the edible parts of A. fistulosum L. and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated with pathogenic- or food-spoilage microorganism based on disk-diffusion assay, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) determination. Fistuloside A and fistuloside C showed strong antifungal activity and anti-Proteus activity, while fistuloside B is effective to only fungi. The fistuloside C showed a prominent antifungal activity with $3.1{\sim}6.2{\mu}g/ml$ of MIC and MFC. Our results indicated that fistuloside C has a prominent antifungal activity and support the use of A. fistulosum to treat microbial infection.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2009

Essential oils are mixture of volatile, lipophilic compounds originating from plants. Essential oils have potential biological effects, i.e., antibacterial, antifungal, spasmolytic and antiplasmodial activities and insect-repellent property. In this study, five essential oils, namely R, LG, FR, O, and NM, extracted from various aromatic plants were used to test their antimicrobial activity against the oral microorganisms. The effects of essential oils were investigated against eight important bacteria, Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Streptococcus sanguis (S. sanguis), Streptococcus anginosus (S. anginosus), Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans), Streptococcus sobrinus (S. sobrinus), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis), and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Essential oils, except NM, effectively inhibited the growth of tested oral pathogenic microorganisms dose-dependently. However, the essential oils didn't show a significant inhibitory effect against E. coli and S. epidermidis. Consequently, these results represented that essential oil-mediated anti-microbial activity was prominent against the oral pathogenic bacteria. For example, minimum bactericidal concentration(MBC) of R, LG, FR oil against A. actinomycetemcomitans was very low as 0.078 mg/mL. In addition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of R, LG, FR, O oil against S. mutans was low as 0.156 mg/mL in vitro.