• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1071-1076
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• 2012

To investigate the antimicrobial and anti-halitosis effects of Alnus firma extracts and gallic acid (GA) isolated from A. firma, we measured their antimicrobial activities against oral pathogens and their inhibitory effects on the cell adhesiveness and acid production of oral pathogens. In addition, the levels of volatile sulfur compounds were determined by using oral chroma. The dichloromethane (DCM) fraction has broad antimicrobial activity, and the ethylacetate (EA) fraction showed a relatively high level of antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromons gingivalis. Especially, the GA and DCM fractions had significant inhibitory effects on the attachment and acid production of S. mutans and Streptococcus salivarius, respectively. The 2% MeOH extract of A. firma showed a significant inhibitory effect on the production of volatile oral compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and dimethyl sulfide, which can cause bad breath and halitosis. Two percent GA also had a significant inhibitory effect on the production of hydrogen sulfide. Our study showed that the active fractions and GA of A. firma could be suitable resources for development as a natural antibiotic agent for the treatment of infectious oral diseases.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.269-276
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• 2009

Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including nitric oxide (NO), could be associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases such as cancer and chronic inflammation. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) are known to play key roles in the development of these diseases. Cedrela sinensis leaves have been used in Asian countries as a traditional remedy for enteritis, dysentery and itching. In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of Cedrela sinensis leaves in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Powder of C. sinensis leaves was extracted with 95% ethanol and fractionated with a series of organic solvents including n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water. The dichloromethane (DCM) fraction strongly inhibited NO production possibly by down-regulating iNOS and COX-2 expression, as determined by Western blotting. Hydrogen peroxide-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was also effectively inhibited by the DCM fraction from C. sinensis leaves. In addition, C. sinensis inhibited LPS-mediated p65 activation via the prevention of IκB-$\alpha$ phosphorylation. Furthermore, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) such as ERK 1/2 and p38 were found to affect the expression of iNOS and COX-2 in the cells. Taken together, our data suggest that leaves of C. sinensis could be used as a potential source for anti-inflammatory agents.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.304-309
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• 2010

Scutellaria pinnatifida A. Hamilt. (Lamiaceae) is an endemic Turkish herb. This plant is also endemic to Iran, and grows abundantly in other central and western Asian countries. Several species of the Scutellaria are known for their traditional uses in the treatment of hypertension, arteriosclerosis, inflammatory diseases, hepatitis, allergy, cancer and diarrhoea. Free-radical-scavenging property, antibacterial activity and brine shrimp toxicity of the n-hexane, dichloromethane (DCM) and methanol (MeOH) extracts of S. pinnatifida were assessed using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay, the resazurin microtitre plate based assay, and the brine shrimp lethality assay, respectively. The DCM and MeOH extracts exhibited free-radical-scavenging property, with the $RC_{50}$ values of 0.362 and 0.127 mg/ml, respectively. Among the solid-phase extraction fractions of the MeOH extract, the 50% aqueous-MeOH fraction showed the highest level of free-radicalscavenging activity ($RC_{50}$ = 0.039 mg/ml). While the DCM extract showed low level of antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli, the MeOH extract was active against B. cereus, B. subtilis, E. coli and ampicillin-resistant E. coli. However, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the MeOH extract against these bacterial strains were >10 mg/ml. None of the extracts showed any significant toxicity towards brine shrimps ($LD_{50}$ = > 1.00 mg/ml).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.135-139
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• 1999

A new effective and economic method was developed, removing interferences such as chlorophyll and lipid from leaves with small amounts of reagents and solvents in order to analyse PAHs(Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). The extract from a soxhlet containing $4{\sim}5g$ of leaves and 100ml of dichlormethane and refluxed for 20 hrs was concentrated and eluted with 60ml of a hexane:dichloromethane (1:1) mixture through a column of 9mm wide inner diameter and 130mm long, packed from the bottom with 2.5g of $Al_2O_3$, 1.5g of $SiO_2$and 2g of anhydrous $Na_2SO_4$. The eluent was concentrated and loaded on a GPC column of 20mm wide inner diameter and 280mm long, packed with 12g of Bio-beads. The column was washed with 37ml of the hexane:dichloromethane(1:1) mixture. Another 43ml of the mixture was eluted as a PAH fraction and collected. This eluent was concentrated under gentle nitrogen to $50{\mu}l$ and analysed using GC-MS. The recoveries, obtained by comparing with the amounts of the internal standards of deuterated PAHs were $43.3{\sim}107.5%$(RSD $2.2{\sim}9.5%$).

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.578-582
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• 2002

Ethanol extract obtained from bark, roots, stem, leaves and seeds of 30 species of plants and mushroom, Dicyophora indusiata were examined antimicrobial effect on fish pathogenic bacteria, Listoneria anguillamm, Lactococcus garvieae, Streptococcus iniae by disk method. Ethanol extract of D. indusiata was found to be the most active against all fish pathogenic bacteria in test system. Ethyl acetate fraction from ethanol extract of D. indusiata showed the strongest compared with those from other solvent fractions such as dichloromethane, n-buthanol and water. The antimicrobial effect of ethyl acetate fraction was particularly evident against S. iniae.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.367-372
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• 2008

Cellular protection against carcinogens could be achieved by the induction of phase 2 detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione S-transferase (GST), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO1). Nuclear transcription factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) binds to antioxidant response element (ARE) in the promoter region of these genes and the resulting transactivation occurs. In the present study the effect of gujeolcho (Chrysanthemum zawadskii) roots on the Nrf2-ARE pathway were investigated. C. zawadskii root extract was fractionated with a series of organic solvents and their ability to induce Nrf2-ARE pathway was examined. We separated the most potent dichloromethane (DCM) fraction into 12 sub-fractions and found several sub-fractions with strong effects on the Nrf2-ARE pathway. Fraction 4 strongly induced the ARE-reporter gene activity as well as Nrf2 expression. Sitosterol was isolated as a major compound in fraction 4 although its activity was not as potent as its mother fraction. These results indicate that C. zawadskii roots might be used as a potential natural chemopreventive source.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.42-47
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate the constituents of Sophora japonica(Leguminosae) bark. To isolate compounds, bark was extracted with ethanol and then partitioned with hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate and butanol successively. After partitioned, DCM fraction was subjected to column chromatography with various solvent system in silica gel and/or Sephadex LH-20. Structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including MS, ¹H, ¹³C and 2D-NMR experiments. Four compounds were isolated from the bark and identified as 3',7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone (cyclosin), puerol A, maackiain-3-O-𝛽-D-glucopyranoside (trifolirhizin), and 4', 5, 7-trihydroxyisoflavone (genistein). Among these compounds, cyclosin and trifolirhzin were first isolated from S. japonica.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.231-238
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• 2019

This study evaluated the antioxidant activity of the extract and fractions of Alnus firma. Alnus firma had the highest total phenolic content ($452.80{\pm}7.01{\mu}g$ gallic acid equivalents/mg) in a methanol (MeOH) fraction and the highest total flavonoid content ($112.29{\pm}11.14{\mu}g$ rutin equivalents/mg) and antioxidant capacity ($936.23{\pm}0.07{\mu}g$ ${\alpha}$-tocopherol equivalents/mg) in an ethylacetate (EA) fraction. The antioxidant activities of various solvent extract fractions of Alnus firma were evaluated using various antioxidant assays, including ${\beta}$-carotene-linoleate assay, reducing power assay, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, metal chelating activity assay, superoxide anion radical scavenging assay, and lipid peroxidation inhibition assay using the ferric thiocyanate method. These activities were compared with those of ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), gallic acid (GA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. First, at a $250{\mu}g/ml$ concentration, the EA and MeOH fractions of A. firma showed 92.43% and 89.20% DPPH radical scavenging activity, respectively. Second, $50{\mu}g/ml$ of the EA fraction exhibited 72.49% superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, a little greater than the same dose of GA (60.88%). Finally, 0.5 and 1 mg/ml of the EA fraction showed 73.45% and 73.29% inhibition of peroxidation in the ${\beta}$-carotene-linoleic acid system, respectively. The decreasing order of reducing power was EA fraction > n-butanol (BuOH) fraction > dichloromethane (DCM) fraction > n-hexane (HX) fraction. The results obtained in the present study indicated that Alnus firma can be used as an easily accessible potential source of natural antioxidants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.84-89
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• 2019

Previous screening of novel antibacterial agents revealed that some bacterial isolates exhibited antibiotic activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and that they showed antibacterial activity, even against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Among these isolates, one bacterial strain, BCNU 1204, was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa using phenetic and phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences. The maximum productivities of antimicrobial substances of BCNU 1204 were obtained after being cultured at $35^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 for 4 d in King's medium B (KMB). Dichloromethane (DCM) and ethylacetate (EA) extracts of P. aeruginosa BCNU 1204 exhibited strong antimicrobial activity, particularly against gram-positive bacteria. The EA extracts exhibited broad-spectrum activity against antibiotic resistant strains. Fraction 5-2, was obtained by recycling preparative liquid chromatography (LC) and preparative thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and was identified as phenazine-1-carboxylic acid belonging to phenazines using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were $25{\mu}g/ml$, $50{\mu}g/ml$, ${\geq}25{\mu}g/ml$, and ${\geq}50{\mu}g/ml$ for MRSA CCARM 3089, 3090, 3091, and 3095 strains, respectively. P. aeruginosa BCNU 1204 may be a potential resource for the development of anti-MRSA antibiotics. Additional research is required to identify the active substance from P. aeruginosa BCNU 1204.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.865-875
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• 2022

Background and Objectives: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment for heart failure. However, in pediatric and congenital heart disease (CHD) patients, current adult indications cannot be directly applied because of heterogeneity in anatomy and diagnosis. Therefore, CRT responses and clinical outcomes in these patients were investigated to derive possible candidates for CRT. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 16 pediatric and CHD patients who underwent CRT implantation at a single center in early (0.7±0.2 year) and late (4.7±0.3 years) follow-up period after CRT. Results: The median age at CRT implantation was 2.5 (0.3-37.2) years, and median follow-up duration was 6.3 (0.1-13.6) years. Thirteen had non-transvenous CRT. Two had congenital complete atrioventricular (AV) block with previous right ventricular pacing, 5 had dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) with left bundle branch block, and 9 had CHD. The mean ejection fraction of the systemic ventricle increased from 28.1±10.0% to 44.3±21.0% (p=0.003) in early and 51.8±16.3% (p=0.012) in late outcome. The mean functional class improved from 3.1±0.9 to 1.8±1.1 after CRT (p=0.003). Twelve patients (75%) showed improvement in ventricular function or functional class after CRT. Proportion of responders differed between patients without CHD (2/2 patients with complete AV block and 5/5 with DCM, 100%) and those with CHD (5/9, 56%), although statistical significance was not reached (p=0.088). Conclusions: CRT improved ventricular function and functional status according to the underlying condition in pediatric and CHD patients. However, further large and longer-term studies are needed to establish the guideline for the patient selection of CRT in these patients.