• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.398-405
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• 2015

Background: Ginseng has been used as a tonic for invigoration of the human body. In a previous report, we identified a novel candidate responsible for the tonic role of ginseng, designated gintonin. Gintonin induces $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ transient in animal cells via lysophosphatidic acid receptor activation. Gintonin-mediated $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ transient is linked to anti-Alzheimer's activity in transgenic Alzheimer's disease animal model. The previous method for gintonin preparation included multiple steps. The aim of this study is to develop a simple method of gintonin fraction with a high yield. Methods: We developed a brief method to obtain gintonin using ethanol and water. We extracted ginseng with fermentation ethanol and fractionated the extract with water to obtain water-soluble and water-insoluble fractions. The water-insoluble precipitate, rather than the water-soluble supernatant, induced a large $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ transient in primary astrocytes. We designated this fraction as gintonin-enriched fraction (GEF). Results: The yield of GEF was approximately 6-fold higher than that obtained in the previous gintonin preparation method. The apparent molecular weight of GEF, determined using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was equivalent to that obtained in the previous gintonin preparation method. GEF induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ transient in cortical astrocytes. The effective dose (ED50) was $0.3{\pm}0.09{\mu}g/mL$. GEF used the same signal transduction pathway as gintonin during $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ transient induction in mouse cortical astrocytes. Conclusion: Because GEF can be prepared through water precipitation of ginseng ethanol extract and is easily reproducible with high yield, it could be commercially utilized for the development of gintoninderived functional health food and natural medicine.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1031-1039
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of extracts from silkworm Bombyx mori L. fermented with Bacillus subtilis KACC 91157 at levels of 5%(v/w) and 10%(v/w) in Sprague-Dawley rats intoxicated with 1%(w/w) orotic acid (OA) for 10 days. The rats were divided into a normal group (N), a control group (C: OA), and treatment groups (SP10: OA + 10% extracts from B. mori L.; BSP5: OA + 5% extracts from B. mori L. fermented with B. subtilis KACC 91157; BSP10: OA + 10% extracts from B. mori L. fermented with B. subtilis KACC 91157). Serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) increased following OA feeding, but the rise was slightly reduced by administration of BSP10. The total lipid, free fatty acid, phospholipid, total cholesterol, and triglyceride contents in serum were significantly lower in the OA treatment groups than in the N group. However, the contents slightly increased following the administration of BSP10. Glutathione concentrations in liver and serum were reduced in the OA-induced fatty liver, but they increased following the administration of BSP10. Hepatocytes in the OA-induced fatty liver contained numerous large droplets. However, SP10, BSP5, and BSP10 feeding prevented OA-induced lipid droplet accumulation in hepatocytes. Accordingly, extracts from silkworm powder fermented with B. subtilis could be an ideal material as a dietary supplement in healthy functional foods to improve the effects of fatty liver.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1383-1391
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• 2016

The fungal strain EML-DML3PNa1 isolated from leaf of white dogwood (Cornus alba L.) showed strong nematicidal activity with juvenile mortality of 87.6% at a concentration of 20% fermentation broth filtrate at 3 days after treatment. The active fungal strain was identified as Aspergillus oryzae, which belongs to section Flavi, based on the morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of the ITS rDNA, calmodulin (CaM), and β-tubulin (BenA) genes. The strain reduced the pH value to 5.62 after 7 days of incubation. Organic acid analysis revealed the presence of citric acid (515.0 mg/kg), malic acid (506.6 mg/kg), and fumaric acid (21.7 mg/kg). The three organic acids showed moderate nematicidal activities, but the mixture of citric acid, malic acid, and fumaric acid did not exhibit the full nematicidal activity of the culture filtrate of EML- DML3PNa1. Bioassay-guided fractionation coupled with ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR and EI-MS analyses led to identification of kojic acid as the major nematicidal metabolite. Kojic acid exhibited dose-dependent mortality and inhibited the hatchability of M. incognita, showing EC₅₀ values of 195.2 μg/ml and 238.3 μg/ml, respectively, at 72 h post-exposure. These results suggest that A. oryzae EML-DML3PNa1 and kojic acid have potential as a biological control agent against M. incognita.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.195-199
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• 1996

We have cloned several E. coli sfs genes which stimulate mal gene expression with $crp^{{\ast}1}$). One the genes (pPVC2) was sequenced and potential CRP binding site is located in the upstream of the putative promoter in the regulatory region. In order to investigate the regulation of the sfs1 gene by the cAMP-CRP complex, we have constructed the sfs-lacZ fusion gene in this research. The overall transcriptional stimulations of sfs1 gene in the presence cAMP were confirmed by ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activity and Western blot analysis of sfs1-lacZ fusion gene. Transcriptional regulation by cAMP-CRP was also confirmed by Northern blot analysis. End-labelled DNA of the DNA fragment in sfs1 regulation region were used for gel retardation assay to examine the CRP-DNA complex in the presence of cAMP. Results here indicate that CRP binding site in the regulatory region of sfs1 gene is positive regulator for the expression of sfs1 gene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2019

In previous studies, we confirmed the effective antimicrobial activity of fermented Dendropanax morbifera leaf/branch extracts with Lactobacillus plantarum ilchiwhangchil 1785 and Lactobacillus plantarum ilchiwhangchil 2020. In this study, we investigated the hair growth effect of D. morbifera leaf/branch extracts fermented with L. plantarum ilchiwhangchil 1785 and L. plantarum ilchiwhangchil 2020 on human hair dermal papilla cells. The growth rate of human hair dermal papilla cells treated with fermented extracts in the range of 1 to $10{\mu}g/ml$ significantly increased in a concentration-dependent manner, without increasing cell death. Double staining studies showed that the growth of cells treated with fermented D. morbifera leaf/branch extracts was more active than that of control cells. Moreover, the cells treated with the fermented D. morbifera leaf/branch extracts exhibited a 18.84% and 23.31% increase in cell mobility, respectively, as compared with that of the untreated cells. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the active agents responsible for hair growth. The results showed that the content of ${\beta}$-sitosterol, which is known to affect hair growth, increased about 10 times in the fermentation process of D. morbifera leaf/branch extracts. Taken together, the findings confirm that fermented Dendropanax morbifera leaf/branch extracts promote hair growth.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.846-853
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• 2019

Phytochemical compounds of Ligusticum striatum Makino are used as traditional medicinal herbs in Asia. These compounds are reported to have pain relief and antioxidant activities in gynecological and brain diseases. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant effects of Ligusticum fermented ethanol extract from Lactobacillus plantarum BHN-LAB 129 isolated from Kimchi, a Korean traditional food. The total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents increased by about 116.2% and 281.0% respectively, in the fermented Ligusticum extract as compared with those in the nonfermented Ligusticum ethanol extract. Superoxide dismutase-like (SOD), DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging, and reducing power activities increased by around 139.9%, 199.6%, 301.0%, and 137.1%, respectively, in the fermented Ligusticum ethanol extract as compared with these parameters in the nonfermented Ligusticum ethanol extract, respectively. In conclusion, the fermented Ligusticum ethanol extract with L. plantarum BHN-LAB 129 was effective in increasing the antioxidant effects. The bioconversion process in this study points to the potential of using Ligusticum to produce phytochemical-enriched natural antioxidant agents with high added value. The findings may prove useful in the development of improved foods and cosmetic materials.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.326-333
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• 2020

Nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide (NO) pathway is a major alternative source of NO and is essential for NO - dependent physiological functions in body. Food supplements having nitrate/nitrite can improve metabolic syndromes including hypertension through antioxidant activity or vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of fermented garlic (F. garlic) having high concentration of NO2- on changes in blood flow and nitric oxide synthesis in the cerebral cortex of rodents. The generation of nitric oxide detected by a chemi-luminescence detector was higher in F. Garlic compared with NaNO2 solution under artificial gastric juice with pH 2.0. Ether F. garlic or NaNO2 diluted with artificial cerebrospinal fluid was directly applied into around the needle probe of laser Doppler flow meter that was located on epidural surface of the cortex. Direct application of F. garlic resulted in increase of cerebral blood flow detected by a laser Doppler flow meter with a dose-dependent manner. Compared with NaNO2 solution, F. garlic produced changes in cerebral blood flow at lower concentration of NO2-. Pretreatment of methylene blue, a guanylyl cyclase inhibitor prevented upregulation of cerebral blood flow by the treatment of F. garlic. In addition, the application of F. garlic with 250, 500ppm of NO2- caused significantly the production of NO in the cortical tissue but NaNO2 solution with 500ppm of NO2- did not. In summary, these results suggested that F. garlic with high content of NO2- induce increase in cerebral blood flow through nitric oxide-dependent signal pathway.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.135-146
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• 2022

Obesity is closely associated with profound dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease. Recent reports have suggested that alterations in gut microbiota can be linked to diet-induced obesity. In this study, the anti-obesity effects of Weissella confusa WIKIM51 isolated from kimchi were investigated, as evidenced by: i) reduced lipid accumulation and downregulated adipogenesis-related genes in 3T3-L1 adipocytes; ii) suppressed gains in body weight and epididymal fat mass; iii) reduced serum lipid levels, for example, triglyceride and total cholesterol; iv) increased serum adiponectin levels and reduced serum leptin levels; v) downregulated lipogenesis and upregulated β-oxidation-related genes in the epididymal fat; and vi) altered microbial communities. The collective evidence indicate the potential value of W. confusa WIKIM51 as a functional food supplement for the prevention and amelioration of obesity.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.17-25
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• 2021

The recent surge in consumption of traditional liquor related to health, the results of analyzing the chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity by creating Kwaha-ju and Baekhwha-chun, which use Godubab as a method of treating glutinous and normal grains, are as follows. Kwaha-ju is mainly made of glutinous rice, 5.21~12.52% alcohol content, 1.07~2.47g/L in reducing sugar content, 3.22~3.77% pH, Baikhwha-chun alcohol content was 3~5%, except for some experimental groups, and pH was low. As a result of the spectrum analysis of traditional liquor, 50% of the experimental group in Baikhwa-chun is located in the negative area of PC1 such as overload, and some amino acids such as lactic acid, isoleucine, and choline are the main ingredients of glucose, xylose, and maltose. Therefore, the chemical properties and antioxidant activity of Kwaha-ju and Baikhwa-chun, which show similar composition ratio of traditional liquor materials, and use them as basic data to identify and manufacture traditional liquor fermentation through mutual analysis.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.631-636
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• 2022

Alcohol content, which is an important standard for Takju, a traditional multiple parallel fermentation liquor called makgeolli, is a factor that can affect the flavor. For alcohol content analysis, the distillation/hydrometry technique is mainly used. In this study, we analyzed the alcohol content of 14 commercially available Takju by the distillation/hydrometry technique and the improved GC method, respectively, after verifying the reliability of improved GC method. The precision and accuracy of the GC method were satisfactory, and LOQ and LOD were evaluated as 0.5% and 0.1% of ethanol contents, respectively. Among the three Takju exceeding the labelled alcohol content ±1, one Takju was quantitated as alcohol content 9.9% (by GC method) and 10.1% (distillation/hydrometry technique) exceeding labelled 6.0%. It was within the analytical error range of alcohol content for other two Takju, where the alcohol contents were exceeded -1.1%. The average precision (%RSD) of 14 Takju analyzed by the distillation/hydrometry technique (36.2%) and the GC method (12.8%), confirming that the GC method was better than the other. The improved GC method was evaluated to be effective in managing and improving the alcohol content standard of Takju with the wide range of alcohol content.