• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.119-124
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• 2022

Vaginal microbiome deeply influences vaginal health via production of messenger molecules. The healthy vaginal pH ranges between 3.5 and 4.5. However, dysbiosis of vaginal microbiome increases the pH level, leading to the incidence of vaginitis. The commensal vaginal bacterium Dermabacter vaginalis-which was isolated from the vaginal fluid of a Korean female-was incubated in acidic and neutral pH to simulate healthy and vaginitis conditions, respectively. The chemical profiles of the two different cultures were compared using HPLC. The compound showing distinctive difference between the two sets of data was presumed to be a chemical messenger, which was identified as cyclo(L-pro-L-met) by analysis of NMR, MS, and specific rotation data. Synthesis was achieved in three steps (overall yield 15%), enabling structure confirmation and antimicrobial evaluation against vaginal pathogens. Cyclo(L-pro-L-met) showed antifungal activity against Candida albicans, a major cause of vulvovaginal candidiasis.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.223-233
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• 2024

Objectives: The phytochemicals in the aerial parts of Euphorbia paralias (also known as Sea Spurge) and their anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities were investigated. Methods: The methanolic extract was characterized using GC-MS and HPLC techniques. The anti-inflammatory feature was estimated through a Human Red Blood Cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization technique, while the antimicrobial feature was evaluated by the disc diffusion agar technique, minimum bactericidal concentration, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) via micro-broth dilution method. Results: The GC/MS results demonstrated the existence of various phytochemicals, such as n-hexadecenoic acid, cis-11-eicosenoic acid, and methyl stearate, recognized for their anti-inflammatory and antibacterial features. The similarity of the phytochemical composition with other Euphorbia species emphasizes the genus-wide similarity. The anti-inflammatory activity exhibited a noteworthy inhibitory effect comparable to the reference drug indomethacin. The extract's antimicrobial potential was tested against a range of microorganisms, demonstrating significant action against Gram-positive bacteria and Candida albicans. The quantification of total phenolics and flavonoids further supported the therapeutic potential of the extract. Conclusion: The methanolic extract from E. paralias emerges as a successful natural source of important active constituents with potential applications as anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agents. This research provides a first step to valorize Euphorbia paralias insights as a source of worthwhile phytochemicals that have potential applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.371-376
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• 2009

The fruits of sweet cherry are highly appreciated by the consumer due to their precocity and quality, such as their sweetness, color and sourness. In this study, the hot-water extract and its sequential organic solvent fractions were prepared from domestic Napoleon sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) to investigate antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The hot-water extract contained about 40% sugars, and the solvent fraction yields for hexane, ethylacetate (EA), butanol, and water residue were 0.01%, 3.45%, 16.30%, and 80.24%, respectively. Contents of total polyphenol and total flavonoid of the fractions were 1.24~5.24%, and 0~3.76%, respectively. Among the fractions, EA fraction showed the highest total polyphenol and total flavonoid concentrations. Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of the extract and fractions revealed that EA fraction and butanol fraction contained strong antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.5~1.0 mg/mL. But the extract and fractions tested were not active to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In a while, only hexane fraction showed anti-Candida activity with 0.5~1.0 mg/mL of MIC. The fraction showed strong activity against different multi-antibiotics resistant strains such as C. albicans CCARM 14020. Antioxidative activity assay showed that EA fraction has a strong DPPH scavenging activity and a reducing power. The $IC_{50}s$ of vitamin E and EA fraction were 15.5 and $195.5\;{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Our results suggest that the fruit of P. avium L. has high potentials with anti-Candida and antioxidative activity.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 1991

Colonial morphology of the various yeasts grown on the yeast morphology agar me­dium containing orange-yellow pigments extracted from the fruits of Gardenia jasminoides (GJPM) was investigated in hopes of the differential identification of yeasts on primary cultures. Colonies of Candida lusitaniae and Ca. guilliermondii on GJPM turned to prussian blue within three days of incubation and Ca. tropicalis and Ca. viswanathii turned to bluish gray but the latter species turned to deep blue after 7 days. Ca. krusei, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Torulopsis glabrata showed neutral gray, grayish green, and baby blue respectively after one or two weeks. However, the colonies of Ca. albicans and parapsilosis remained unchanged even after 20 days. Colonial color of Cryptococ­cus neoformans showing brown to purple brown was distinguishable not only from buff color of Cr. laurentii after one or two weeks incubation but also from those of Candida spp. Growth of certain species was promoted on GJPM. The findings clearly showed that Ga. jasminoides pigments medium was useful to the morphological differentiation of medically important yeasts which were often encountered in sputum or other clinical specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.283-291
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• 2024

This study compared and evaluated the antibacterial activities and MIC of snowberry extract and fermented extract. For antibacterial activity, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Candida Albicans were used. Antimicrobial activity and MIC were measured at concentrations of 10, 50, 100, and 200 mg/mL. Antibacterial activity was measured using the 8mm paper disc method. In the case of snowberry extract, it was confirmed that the root extract showed antimicrobial activity at concentrations of 100 mg/mL and 200 mg/mL, and in the case of fermented extract, it showed antimicrobial activity at 200 mg/mL. As a result of the MIC, for fermentation in snowberry leaf and root extracts, the minimum inhibitory concentration for each bacterium was confirmed in stem extracts. The above results indicate that the antibacterial properties of snow berries are improved by fermentation.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2002

Background : To delineate the changes in the causative agents of neonatal sepsis and their antimicrobial susceptibilities in the neonatal intensive care unit and nursery of Hanyang University Hospital during the past 10 years. Methods : Hospital records of 15,144 patients hospitalized at the NICU and nursery of Hanyang University Hospital from 1989 to 1998 were reviewed and neonates diagnosed of neonatal sepsis were sorted and included in the study. The study period was divided into Period A(the first 5 years) and Period B(the second 5 years) to analyse causative agents and their antimicrobial susceptibilities. Results : Neonatal sepsis was diagnosed in 170 patients(1.1%{Period A 1.2%, Period B 1.0%}) among the total of 15,144 inpatients. Two hundred isolates(Period A 109 isolates, Period B 91 isolates) were identified in 186 blood cultures(Period A 99 cultures, Period B 87 cultures) from 170 patients(Period A 91 patients, Period B 79 patients). The average age at the onset of the disease, when the initial blood culture was drawn, was 12.3 days old(Period A 8.8 days, Period B 16.3 days), and the proportion of the early onset disease was 34.7% in Period A and 23.0% in Period B, indicating that neonatal sepsis developed earlier during Period A. Among the isolated organisms including Gram positive bacteria[132(66.0%)], Gram negative bacteria [60(30.0%)], and fungi[8(4.0%)], coagulase negative Staphylococcus(CNS) was the most common organism(69/34.5%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus(36/18.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae(17/8.5%), Enterococcus(12/6.0%), Enterobacter cloacae(8/4.0%), Escherichia coli(6/3.0%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosae(5/2.5%). The isolated fungi were Candida parapsilosis, Candida albicans, and Trichosporon pullulans. CNS, S. aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii were isolated more frequently in Period A compared to Period B. Antimicrobial susceptibilities of CNS and S. aureus to methicillin and the first generation cephalo sporins were decreased in Period B compare to Period A, those to aminoglycosides were increased in Period B, and vancomycin resistant strains were not identified. K. pneumoniae, Enterococcus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa were isolated less frequently in Period B, compared to Period A. For K. pneumoniae, antimicrobial susceptibilities to the first generation cephalosporins were low in both Periods A and B, those to tobramycin and gentamicin were increased in Period B, and those to amikacin, ceftriaxone, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole were high in both Periods A and B. Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Enterococcous to ampicillin, penicillin, and the first generation cephalosporins were decreased in Period B, but vancomycin resistant strains were not identified. Conclusion : The occurrence rate of neonatal sepsis during the past 10 years in the NICU and nursery of the Hanyang University hospital was 1.1%, and the most common causitive agents were CNS and S. aureus, to which the antimicrobial susceptibilities to the first line drugs decreased in the later half of the study period with no vancomycin resistant isolates identified. Group B Streptococcus known to be the most common agent causing neonatal sepsis was not identified, and K. pneumoniae was isolated more commonly during the later half of the study period without decreased antimicrobial susceptibilities.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1259-1268
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• 2016

In this study, we investigated antimicrobial peptide from the acidified muscle extract of Mytilus coruscus, which mostly inhabits China, Japan, and Korea, to develop a natural product-derived antibiotics substitution in terms of its abuse and restriction. Antimicrobial peptide was purified by $C_{18}$ reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and was detected as having a molecular mass of 6,701 Da by MALDI-TOF/MS. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified peak was obtained from edman degradation, and 20 identified residues shown 100% identity with the N-terminus region of sperm-specific protein and protamine-like PL-II/PL-IV precursor of Mytilus californianus. We also identified 60 open-reading frame (ORF) encoding amino acids with 183 bp of purified peptide based on the obtained amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of ORF showed 100% and the nucleotide sequence revealed 97.2% identity with the protamine-like PL-II/PL-IV precursor of Mytilus californianus. Synthesized antimicrobial peptide showed antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria, including Bacillus cereus (minimal effective concentration [MEC], $20.8{\mu}g/ml$), Bacillus subtilis (MEC, $0.2{\mu}g/ml$), Streptococcus mutans (MEC, $0.2{\mu}g/ml$), gram-negative bacteria including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MEC, $5.7{\mu}g/ml$), Escherichia coli (MEC, $2.6{\mu}g/ml$) and fungi, Candida albicans (MEC, $56.3{\mu}g/ml$). In addition, synthesized peptide showed stable activities under heat and salt conditions against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, but was inhibited by salt against only C. albicans. With these results, isolated peptide from M. coruscus could be an alternative agent to antibiotics for defending against pathogenic microorganisms, and helpful information to understand the innate immune system of marine invertebrates.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.210-216
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• 2007

Cosmetic products including skin and essence were manufactured to analyze the effect of green tea polyphenols addition. In addition, irradiation was applied to remove an undesirable color of green tea polyphenol(GTP), which may cause a problem in the marketing, of a final product; moreover, comparative studies were conducted with the cosmetic products on whether or not antiseptics were treated to verify its use for the development of non-antiseptic cosmetic products. Growth inhibition zones were shown in the microbial study except for Candida albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) of E. coli and C. albicans was 2,500 ppm but that of S. aureus was 1,000 ppm. The numbers of E. coli and S. aureus were reduced to undetected levels when 10,000 and 5,000 ppm of polyphenol were added, respectively. Results indicate that the addition of irradiated green tea polyphenol provides a good method to manufacture functional cosmetics including skin and essence with various biological activities such as antimicrobial activity without antiseptics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.695-700
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the anti-oxidant and anti-microbial activity of syringin isolated from Cortex Fraxini to investigate their potential for use as safe natural compounds. Purified syringin was dissolved in distilled water for each concentration and used in each experiment. Syringin showed higher 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging than butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) at a concentration of 50 ㎍/ml. In 2,2'-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging, activity was similar to that of BHT at all concentrations. In antioxidant protection factor measurement, activity of syringin slightly increased as the concentration increased, as did the inhibitory effect of thiobarbutric acid reactive substances. In evaluating anti-microbial activity, the clear zones of Listeria monocytogenes KCTC 13064, Staphylococcus aureus KCTC 1916, Escherichia coli KCTC 2571, and Helicobacter pylori HPKCTC B0150 at a concentration of 200 ㎍/ml were found to be 17.8 mm, 20.45 mm, 17.05 mm, and 16.8 mm, respectively, but no clear zone was observed in the case of Candida albicans ATCC 10231. The activity against water-soluble antioxidants was therefore superior to that against lipid-soluble antioxidants. Anti-microbial activity was examined by inhibiting growth against gram-positive and -negative strains, and anti-fungal activity was not observed. Based on the results of this study, syringin has possible applications as a natural anti-oxidant and anti-microbial material.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.28-35
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• 1998

An antimicrobial peptide producing bacterium, Bacillus subtilis A405, was screened and identified among 700 of antagonistic bacteria. The heat-resistant antimicrobial peptide, AMP-405, was purified from the broth culture of B. subtilis A405 through $20{\sim}40%$ ammonium sulfate precipitation and ultrafiltration. The AMP-405 exhibited strong antimicrobial activities against Botrytis cinerea, Cercospora sp., Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium digitatum, Celletotrichum gloeosporioides, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium ultimum, Pyricularia oryzae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp. and Candida albicans. The molecular weight of the peptide was about 3.0 kDa determined by SDS-PAGE, Native-PAGE and Tris-Tricine gradient electrophoresis, and composed of 9 kinds of amino acid such as aspartic acid, glycine, serine, glutamine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, tyrocine. To determine the efficiency of AMP-405 as a potential maintenance of fruits freshness, cherry tomato was srored at $25^{\circ}C$ for 2 weeks after treatment with $50{\mu}g/ml$ of AMP-405 and $10^{5}$ spores/ml of Botrytis cinerea simultaneously. Treatment with AMP-405 resulted in significantly less infection by Botrytis cinerea, than the treatment with tap water as a control.