• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.245-252
• /
• 2011

Antimicrobial peptides/proteins are ancient and naturally-occurring antibiotics in innate immune responses in a variety of organisms. Additionally, these peptides have been recognized as important signaling molecules in regulation of both innate and adaptive immunity. During mycobacterial infection, antimicrobial peptides including cathelicidin, defensin, and hepcidin have antimicrobial activities against mycobacteria, making them promising candidates for future drug development. Additionally, antimicrobial peptides act as immunomodulators in infectious and inflammatory conditions. Multiple crucial functions of cathelicidins in antimycobacterial immune defense have been characterized not only in terms of direct killing of mycobacteria but also as innate immune regulators, i.e., in secretion of cytokines and chemokines, and mediating autophagy activation. Defensin families are also important during mycobacterial infection and contribute to antimycobacterial defense and inhibition of mycobacterial growth both in vitro and in vivo. Hepcidin, although its role in mycobacterial infection has not yet been characterized, exerts antimycobacterial effects in activated macrophages. The present review focuses on recent efforts to elucidate the roles of host defense peptides in innate immunity to mycobacteria.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.26 no.10
• /
• pp.816-820
• /
• 2003

The chloroform extract of the aerial part of Limnophila geoffrayi showed antimycobacterial and antioxidant activities. Bioassay-guided fractionation has led to the isolation of the flavones nevadensin (5,7-dihydroxy-6,8,4'-trimethoxyflavone, 1) and isothymusin (6,7-dimethoxy-5,8,4'-trihydroxyflavone, 2). Both compounds 1 and 2 exhibited inhibition activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with equal MIC value of $200{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/mL$. Only compound 2 exhibited antioxidant activity against the radical scavenging ability of DPPH, with the $IC_{50}$ value of $7.7{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/mL$. The crude hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts as well as the pure compounds 1 and 2 did not exhibit mutagenic activity in the Bacillus subtilis recassay.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.507-511
• /
• 2004

From the flowers of Chromolaena odorata (Eupatorium odoratum) four flavanones, isosakuranetin (5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavanone) (1), persicogenin (5,3'-dihydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavanone) (2), 5,6,7,4'-tetramethoxyflavanone (3) and 4'-hydroxy-5,6,7-trimethoxyfla-vanone (4), two chalcones, 2'-hydroxy-4,4',5',6'-tetramethoxychalcone (5) and 4,2'-dihydroxy-4',5',6'-trimethoxychalcone (6), and two flavones, acacetin (5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavone) (7) and luteolin (5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxyflavone) (8) were isolated and identified. Compound 1 exhibited moderate antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis with the MIC value of 174.8 $\mu$M, whereas compounds 4,7, and 8 exhibited weak activity with the MIC values of 606.0, 704.2 and 699.3 $\mu$M respectively. Compound 7 showed moderate cytotoxicity against human small cell lung cancer (NCI-H187) cells with the MIC value of 24.6 $\mu$M, whereas compound 8 exhibited moderate toxicity against NCI-H187 cells and week toxicity against human breast cancer (BC) cells with the MIC values of 19.2 and 38.4 $\mu$M respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.236-245
• /
• 2012

The main mycobacterial infection in human is tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is the leading infectious cause of death in the world. Therefore there is continuing and compelling need for new and improved treatment for tuberculosis. The entire logic towards design of new compounds containing 4-hydroxy-N'-(1,3-thiazoldin- 2-yldene)benzohydrazide moiety is basically for superior antimycobacterial activity. The recent advances in QSAR and computer science have provided a systematic approach to design a structure of any compound and further, the biological activity of the compound can be predicted before synthesis. The 3D-QSAR studies for the set of 4-hydroxy-N'-(1,3-thiazoldin- 2-yldene)benzohydrazide and their derivatives were carried out by using V-life MDS (3.50). The various statistical methods such as Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR), Principle Component Regression(PCR) and K nearest neighbour (kNN) were used. The kNN showed good results having cross validated $r^2$ 0.9319, $r^2$ for external test set 0.8561 and standard error of estimate 0.2195. The docking studies were carried out by using Schrodinger GLIDE module which resulted in good docking score in comparison with the standard isoniazid. The designed compounds were further subjected for synthesis and biological evaluation. Antitubercular evaluation of these compounds showed that (4.a), (4.d) and (4.g) found as potent inhibitor of H37RV.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.94-99
• /
• 2014

The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antimycobacterial effects of hop plant, Humulus japonicus. Methanol extract of H. japonicus (MeOH extract) showed strong direct bactericidal effects against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro. Furthermore, the MeOH extract significantly inhibited M. tuberculosis growth in human macrophages. When five fractions obtained from MeOH extract were examined using the same methods, the hexane and ethyl acetate fractions showed bactericidal effects against M. tuberculosis in vitro, whereas the butanol and water fractions inhibited M. tuberculosis growth in macrophages. Because H. japonicus extract exhibited antimycobacterial activity against both free M. tuberculosis in culture medium and intracellular M. tuberculosis in human macrophages, this plant might be a good candidate for development of a new anti-tuberculosis drug.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.67 no.1
• /
• pp.32-36
• /
• 2009

We report a case of disseminated Mycobacterium intracellulare infection in a 31-year-old man who had been diagnosed as having dermatomyositis and systemic lupus erythematosus 3-years prior. The patient developed a left pleural effusion M. intracellulare was repeatedly isolated from the pleural fluid. After antimycobacterial treatment, the patient's pleural effusion resolved, but a left knee joint effusion developed newly and M. intracellulare was cultured from the joint fluid. At present, the patient has been taking antimycobacterial medication for 15 months but his left knee joint fluid remains positive for M. intracellulare. To our knowledge, this is the second reported case of disseminated NTM infection in a non-HIV infected patient in Korea.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.946-950
• /
• 2015

Recently, it has become a struggle to treat tuberculosis with the current commercial antituberculosis drugs because of the increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. We evaluated here the antimycobacterial activity of tamoxifen, known as a synthetic anti-estrogen, against eight drugsensitive or resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), and the active intracellular killing of tamoxifen on TB in macrophages. The results showed that tamoxifen had antituberculosis activity against drug-sensitive strains (MIC, 3.125-6.25 µg/ml) as well as drugresistant strains (MIC, 6.25 to 12.5 µg/ml). In addition, tamoxifen profoundly decreased the number of intracellular TB in macrophages in a dose-dependent manner.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.46-52
• /
• 2009

Although tuberculosis poses a significant health threat to the global population, it is a challenge to develop new and effective therapeutic strategies. Nitric oxide (NO) and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) are important in innate immune responses to various intracellular bacterial infections, including mycobacterial infections. It is generally recognized that reactive nitrogen intermediates play an effective role in host defense mechanisms against tuberculosis. In a murine model of tuberculosis, NO plays a crucial role in antimycobacterial activity; however, it is controversial whether NO is critically involved in host defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in humans. Here, we review the roles of NO in host defense against murine and human tuberculosis. We also discuss the specific roles of NO in the central nervous system and lung epithelial cells during mycobacterial infection. A greater understanding of these defense mechanisms in human tuberculosis will aid in the development of new strategies for the treatment of disease.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.26 no.10
• /
• pp.778-784
• /
• 2003

N'-(1-alkyl-2,3-dihydro-2-oxo-1H-3-indolyliden)-4-pyridinecarboxylic acid hydrazide derivatives, 3(a-g), were synthesized in a trial to overcome the resistance developed with the therapeutic uses of isoniazid (INH). The lipophilicity of the synthesized derivatives supersedes that of the INH as expressed by Clog p values. The synthesized compounds and INH were tested against bovin, human sensitive and human resist strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Compounds 3a, 3d, 3f and 3g with 1-unsubstituted, 1-propyl, 1-propynyl and 1-benzyl groups respectively exhibited equipotent growth inhibitory activity (MIC 10 $\mu$mol) against the tested strains as compared with INH however the later has no activity against human resist strain. Pharmacokinetic study revealed that the rate and extent of absorption of the tested derivatives (3d and 3f) significantly higher than that of INH (p＜0.05). The relative bioavailabilities ($F_R%$) were 183.15 and 443.25 for 3f and 3d respectively as compared to INH. These results preliminary indicate the possible use of the prepared derivatives for treatment of tuberculosis infections in order to overcome the resistance developed with INH.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.738-744
• /
• 2015

Tuberculosis is one of the most threatening infectious diseases to public health all over the world, for which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the etiological agent of pathogenesis. Ursolic acid (UA) has immunomodulatory function and exhibits antimycobacterial activity. However, the intracellular killing effect of UA has yet to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intracellular killing effect of UA during mycobacterial infection. The intracellular killing activity of UA was evaluated in the macrophage cell line THP-1 by the MGIT 960 system as well as by CFU count. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the level of nitric oxide (NO) were measured using DCF-DA and Griess reagent, respectively. Phagocytosis was observed by a fluorescence-based staining method, and the colony forming units were enumerated on 7H11 agar medium following infection. In addition, MRP8 mRNA expression was measured by qRT-PCR. UA significantly decreased the number of intracellular Mycobacterium through generation of ROS and NO. In addition, it profoundly activated the phagocytosis process of THP-1 cells during MTB-infection. Furthermore, our data demonstrated that UA activated the phagocytosis process in human monocyte cells through MRP8 induction. These data suggest that UA firmly contributes to the intracellular killing effect of macrophages during mycobacterial infection.