• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.368-376
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• 1999

Twenty-four Oriental herbal medicines including Platycodi Radix and Scutellariae Radix, etc., which have been used for the cure of hyperlipidemia, coronary heart, disease were evaluated for the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A(HMG-CoA) reductase inhibition and antioxidant effect on a free radical, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) in vitro, and antihyperlipidemic effect on hyperlipidemic rats induced by Triton WR-1339 in vivo. 80% MeOH extract of eight herbs including Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix Rubra, Moutan Cortex Radicis, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam, Cinnamomi Ramulus and Crataegi Fructus inhibited the HMG-CoA reductase activities and exhibited a radical-trapping action on a stable free radical, DPPH. On Triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipidemic rats, four herbs including Scutellariae Radix, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam and Cinnamomi Ramulus showed respectively the significant suppression of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipid and LDL-cholesterol levels and serum transaminase(ALT and AST) activities. From these results, it is suggested that each 80% MeOH extract of Scutellariae Radix, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam and Cinnamomi Ramulus have effective antihyperlipidemic action against hyperlipidemia.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2013

Bamboo leaves (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel ex J. Houz (Poacea)) have a long history of food and medical applications in Asia, including Japan and Korea. They have been used as a traditional medicine for centuries. We investigated the mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity of a bamboo leaf extract (BLE) on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-${\alpha}$)-induced monocyte adhesion in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Exposure of HUVECs to BLE did not inhibit cell viability or cause morphological changes at concentrations ranging from 1 ${\mu}g/ml$ to 1 mg/ml. Treatment with 0.1 mg/ml BLE caused 63% inhibition of monocyte adhesion in TNF-${\alpha}$-activated HUVECs, which was associated with 38.4% suppression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression. Furthermore, TNF-${\alpha}$-induced reactive oxygen species generation was decreased to 47.9% in BLE treated TNF-${\alpha}$-activated HUVECs. BLE (0.05 mg/ml) also caused about 50% inhibition of interleukin-6 secretion from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocyte. The results indicate that BLE may be clinically useful as an anti-inflammatory or anti-oxidant for human cardiovascular disease including atherosclerosis.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.425-434
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• 2011

Objectives : Hypothyroidism is the most common pathological disease of the endocrine system. Morinda Officinalis Radix has been used in treatment of Yang deficiency. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of Morinda Officinalis Radix on a rat model of hypothyroidism induced by 6-propyl, 2-thiouracil (PTU). Methods : Two-month-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were used with injection of PTU which induced rats into hypo-thyroidism. During 2 weeks, rats were treated with Morinda Officinalis Radix and thyroxine. Body weights were checked every week, the after 4 weeks, biochemical analyses were performed. The levels of T3, T4 and TSH was measured by EILSA. Results : In the Morinda Officinalis Radix group, we could observe the level of T4 significantly increased and TSH level significantly decreased. Conclusions : Morinda Officinalis Radix could help the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones under PTU suppression. There is no harm effect on liver and kidney function, or other metabolism. According to these results it could help to treat hypothyroidism patients and relieve their symptoms.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2015

Endophytes provide multifarious benefits such as promotion of plant growth and yield, suppression of phyto-pathogens, phosphate solubilising and fixation nitrogen. A study has been carried out to explore growth promotion and antifungal activities of endophytes of mulberry (Morus spp.). Endophytic bacteria were isolated from mulberry plants and studied their cultural, morphological characters, growth promotion as well as their antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia bataticola and Fusarium oxysporum , two mulberry root rot associated pathogens. Except two isolates, all bacteria were colourless and the colony size of eight isolates was small. The margin of five isolates was irregular and the consistency of three isolates was creamy, six isolates was slimy and one was mucoid. Texture of seven isolates was convex and others were flat. Eight isolates were gram positive and the rest Gram negative, five were cocci and others were bacilli (rod shaped). Four isolates were motile and all were catalase positive and only three isolates were oxidase positive. Spore staining was positive only for two isolates. The growth promotion study showed that there was significant difference in root length and seedling length. The antagonistic effect of the bacterial isolates was tested against R. bataticola showed significant (p <0.05) influence of the bacteria, days after inoculation and their interaction on the inhibition of fungal growth. The isolate En-7 completely inhibited the fungus followed by En-5 (66.67%). The bacterial isolates significantly (p <0.05) inhibited growth of F. oxysporum in PDA. The mean inhibition was higher (70.45%) in case of En-7 followed by En-8 (68.65%) and En-10 (66.44%). The study reveals that some endophytic bacteria associated with mulberry have growth promotion and antifungal activity and could be explored for promotion of mulberry growth and managing root rot disease.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.450-456
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• 2006

Pseudomonas fluorescens MC07 is a growth-promoting rhizobacterium that suppresses mycelial growth in fungi such as Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium ultimum, Fusarium oxysporum, and Phytophthora capsici. To determine the role of the bacterium's antifungal activity in disease suppression, we screened 2,500 colonies generated by Tn5lacZ insertions, and isolated a mutant 157 that had lost antifungal activity. The EcoRI fragment carrying Tn5lacZ was cloned into pBluescript II SK(+) and used as a probe to isolate wild-type clones from a genomic library of the parent strain, MC07. Two overlapping cosmid clones, pEH4 and pEH5, that had hybridized with the mutant clone were isolated. pEH4 conferred antifungal activity to the heterologous host P.fluorescens strain 1855.344, whereas pEH5 did not. Through transposon mutagenesis of pEH4 and complementation analyses, we delineated the 14.7-kb DNA region that is responsible for the biosynthesis of an antifungal compound. DNA sequence analysis of the region identified 11 possible open reading frames (ORF), ORF1 through ORF11. A BLAST search of each putative protein implied that the proteins may be involved in an antifungal activity similar to polyketides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.379-386
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• 2011

The objective of this work was to investigate the ability of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas aureofaciens 63-28 to induce plant defense systems, including defense-related enzyme levels and expression of defense-related isoenzymes, and isoflavone production, leading to improved resistance to the phytopathogen Rhizoctonia solani AG-4 in soybean seedlings. Seven-day-old soybean seedlings were inoculated with P. aureofaciens 63-28, R. solani AG-4, or P. aureofaciens 63-28 plus R. solani AG-4 (P+R), or not inoculated (control). After 7 days of incubation, roots treated with R. solani AG-4 had obvious damping-off symptoms, but P+R-treated soybean plants had less disease development, indicating suppression of R. solani AG-4 in soybean seedlings. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities of R. solani AG-4-treated roots increased by 24.6% and 54.0%, respectively, compared with control roots. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activities of R. solani AG-4-treated roots were increased by 75.1% and 23.6%, respectively. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity in soybean roots challenged with P. aureofaciens 63-28 and P+R increased by 25.0% and 11.6%, respectively. Mn-SOD (S1 band on gel) and Fe-SOD (S2) were strongly induced in P+R-treated roots, whereas one CAT (C1) and one APX (A3) were strongly induced in R. solani AG-4- treated roots. The total isoflavone concentration in P+Rtreated shoots was 27.2% greater than the control treatment. The isoflavone yield of R. solani AG-4-treated shoots was 60.9% less than the control.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1755-1764
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• 2016

The application of Bacillus sp. in the biological control of plant soilborne diseases has been shown to be an environmentally friendly alternative to the use of chemical fungicides. In this study, the effects of bioorganic fertilizer (BOF) fortified with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQY 162 on the suppression of tomato bacterial wilt were investigated in pot experiments. The disease incidence of tomato wilt after the application of BOF was 65.18% and 41.62% lower at 10 and 20 days after transplantation, respectively, than in the control condition. BOF also promoted the plant growth. The SQY 162 populations efficiently colonized the tomato rhizosphere, which directly suppressed the number of Ralstonia solanacearum in the tomato rhizosphere soil. In the presence of BOF, the activities of defense-related enzymes in tomato were lower than in the presence of the control treatment, but the expression levels of the defense-related genes of the plants in the salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways were enhanced. It was also found that strain SQY 162 could secrete antibiotic surfactin, but not volatile organic compounds, to suppress Ralstonia. The strain could also produce plant growth promotion compounds such as siderophores and indole-3-acetic acid. Thus, owing to its innate multiple-functional traits and its broad biocontrol activities, we found that this antagonistic strain isolated from the tobacco rhizosphere could establish itself successfully in the tomato rhizosphere to control soilborne diseases.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.187-187
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• 2003

Methylmercury (MeHg), one of the heavy metal compounds, can cause severe damage to the central nervous system in humans. Many reports have shown that MeHg is poisonous to human body through contaminated foods and has released into the environment. Despite many studies on the pathogenesis of MeHg-induced central neuropathy, no useful mechanism of toxicity has been established so far. In this study, two methods, cDNA Microarray and SSH, were performed to assess the expression profile against MeHg and to identify differentially expressed genes by MeHg in neuroblastoma cell line. TwinChip Human-8K (Digital Genomics) was used with total RNA from SH-SY5Y (human neuroblastoma cell line) treated with solvent (DMSO) and 6.25 uM (IC50) MeHg. And we performed forward and reverse SSH method on mRNA derived from SH-SY5Y treated with DMSO and MeHg (6.25 uM). Differentially expressed cDNA clones were sequenced and were screened by dot blot and ribonuclease protection assay to confirm that individual clones indeed represent differentially expressed genes. These sequences were identified by BLAST homology search to known genes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Analysis of these sequences may provide an insight into the biological effects of MeHg in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease and a possibility to develop more efficient and exact monitoring system of heavy metals as environmental pollutants.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.71-80
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• 2008

Objective: There is increasing evidence that chronic non-bacterial prostatitis is recognized to be a local inflammatory disease, and there is substantiating evidence to support the role of the inflammatory responses in its pathogenesis, and clinical value in the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy. Prunella vulgaris has been traditionally used in treatment of inflammatory diseases, including of scrofula, goiter, and allergy diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects of Prunella vulgaris on inflammatory cytokines and cytopathological alternation in the rat model of non-bacterial prostatitis induced by castration and $17{\beta}-estradiol$ treatment. Methods: Two-month-old rats were treated with $17{\beta}-estradiol$ after castration for induction of experimental non-bacterial prostatitis, which is similar to human chronic prostatitis in histopathological profiles. Prunella vulgaris as an experimental specimen, and testosterone as a positive control, were administered orally. The prostates were evaluated by histopathological parameters including the epithelial score and epithelial-stromal ratio for glandular damage, and the expression of inflammatory cytokine genes including the interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, IL-5, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$. Results: While prostates of control rats revealed severe acinar gland atrophy and stromal proliferation, the rats treated with Prunella vulgaris showed a diminished range of tissue damage. Epithelial score was improved in Prunella vulgaris over that of the control (P<0.05). The epithelial-stromal ratio was lower with Prunella vulgaris when compared to that of the control (P<0.05). In the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of inflammatory cytokine genes, Prunella vulgaris inhibited the expression of $IL-1{\beta}$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$ genes, while it modulated the expression of IL-5, which is an anti-inflammatory cytokine. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Prunella vulgaris may protect the glandular epithelial cells and also inhibit stromal proliferation in association with the immune modulation including the suppression of inflammatory cytokines and promotion of anti-inflammatory cytokine. From theses results, we suggest that Prunella vulgaris could be a useful remedy agent for treating chronic non-bacterial prostatitis.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.157-163
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• 2020

Chronic inflammatory airway diseases, such as chronic rhinosinusitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma, are associated with excessive mucus production. Hence, the regulation of mucus production is important for the treatment of upper and lower airway diseases. Eupatilin is a pharmacologically active ingredient obtained from Artemisia asiatica Nakai (Asteraceae) and exerts potent anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, and anti-tumor activities. In the present study, we investigated the effect of eupatilin on phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced MUC5AC and MUC5B expression in human airway epithelial cells. We found that eupatilin treatment significantly inhibited PMA-induced mucus secretion in PAS staining. In addition, qRT-PCR results showed that eupatilin dose-dependently decreased the mRNA expression of MUC5AC in human airway epithelial cells. Western blot and immunofluorescence assay also showed that PMA-induced protein expression of MUC5AC was inhibited by eupatilin treatment. Finally, we investigated MAPKs activity after stimulation with PMA using western blot analysis in human airway epithelial cells. The results showed that eupatilin downregulated the levels of phosphorylated p38, ERK, and JNK. In summary, the anti-inflammatory activities of eupatilin, characterized as the suppression of MUC5AC expression and secretion in human airway epithelial cells, were found to be associated with the inhibition of p38/ERK/JNK MAPKs signaling pathway of MUC5AC secretion.