• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.787-796
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotic mixture on fecal ammonia, caecal microorganism, immune response, egg quality and production in layer under heat stress (HS).A total of four hundred 50 week olds Hy-Line Brown layers were randomly divided into four groups of 100 heads each: C (control, room temperature $25^{\circ}C$), HS (heat stress $33^{\circ}C$), PM (HS plus probiotic mixture 500, 750 mg/kg of diets). Egg production, egg quality, spleen weight, blood IgG and lymphocyte concentrations were increased in the PM group compared to the HS group, while mortality, the heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L) ratio, and corticosterone levelswere significantly decreased. Lactobacillus was increased in the PM group compared to the HS group, but E. coli, coliform bacteria and aerobic bacteria were significantly reduced. Fecal ammonia production was significantly increased in the HS group compared to the PM group. In conclusion, the results of this study that these mixed probiotics can reduce the heat damage of the summer laying hens and can be an effective nutritional strategy to reduce odor generation from feces, and to improve egg quality and laying production through immune response and caecal microbial balance.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.80-90
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• 2008

Atopic dennatitis (AD) is one of the major public health problem. It has been reported that the prevalence of AD in children and adults are 10-20% and 1-3%, respectively. Westernization of food habits, urbanization, and environmental pollution are contributing factors toward the recent rise in prevalence. Excessive dietary restriction leads to chronic malnutrition in atopic dermatitis patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) on quality of diet and blood immune parameters in atopic dermatitis patients. The 19 atopic dermatitis patients (7 men and 12 women) admitted to K University Medical Center were studied. During the 12 weeks of intervention, the subjects were given MNT by a dietitian for 30-45 minutes every other week. MNT was comprised with general dietary therapy, intake of balanced meals, emphasis on n-3 fatty acid contents in foods, and food allergies. Anthropometric and dietary assessment and blood analysis were taken at baseline and after 12 weeks of MNT. After 12 weeks of MNT, the subjects' dietary qualities, including dietary diversity score (DDS), meal balance score (MBS) and dietary variety score (DVS) were significantly increased (p < 0.05). According to significantly increased intake of EPA and DHA, dietary n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio decreased to the recommended level for the atopic dermatitis patients (p < 0.05). These changes of dietary fatty acid consumption were reflected erythrocyte fatty acid composition. After 12 weeks of MNT, serum levels of IgE and IL-4 levels were significantly decreased, however, the levers of INF-$\{gamma}$, WBC, lymphocyte and TLC were not changed. As a conclusion, the individualized MNT improved the quality of diet in atopic dermatitis patients thereby influenced RBC fatty acid composition and IgE and IL-4 levels.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1461-1478
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• 2022

The maintenance of poultry gut health is complex depending on the intricate balance among diet, the commensal microbiota, and the mucosa, including the gut epithelium and the superimposing mucus layer. Changes in microflora composition and abundance can confer beneficial or detrimental effects on fowl. Antibiotics have devastating impacts on altering the landscape of gut microbiota, which further leads to antibiotic resistance or spread the pathogenic populations. By eliciting the landscape of gut microbiota, strategies should be made to break down the regulatory signals of pathogenic bacteria. The optional strategy of conferring dietary fibers (DFs) can be used to counterbalance the gut microbiota. DFs are the non-starch carbohydrates indigestible by host endogenous enzymes but can be fermented by symbiotic microbiota to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). This is one of the primary modes through which the gut microbiota interacts and communicate with the host. The majority of SCFAs are produced in the large intestine (particularly in the caecum), where they are taken up by the enterocytes or transported through portal vein circulation into the bloodstream. Recent shreds of evidence have elucidated that SCFAs affect the gut and modulate the tissues and organs either by activating G-protein-coupled receptors or affecting epigenetic modifications in the genome through inducing histone acetylase activities and inhibiting histone deacetylases. Thus, in this way, SCFAs vastly influence poultry health by promoting energy regulation, mucosal integrity, immune homeostasis, and immune maturation. In this review article, we will focus on DFs, which directly interact with gut microbes and lead to the production of SCFAs. Further, we will discuss the current molecular mechanisms of how SCFAs are generated, transported, and modulated the pro-and anti-inflammatory immune responses against pathogens and host physiology and gut health.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.251-259
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• 2005

Atopy is a highly prevalent and serious health problem. The prevalence and severity of asthma and allergic diseases have increased over recent decades, particularly in industrialized nations. Early life infections may protect against the development of atopy and allergic diseases like asthma. The inverse relationship between the incidence of atopy and childhood infections has led to the 'hygiene hypothesis', which suggests that diminished exposure to childhood infections in modern society has led to decreased Th1-type responses. Th1 and Th2 responses are counter-regulatory. Reduced Th1 may lead to enhanced Th2-type inflammation, which is important in promoting asthma and allergic disease via up-regulation of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13. It is now widely accepted that altered regulation of Th2 responses(and possibly the balance between Th1 and Th2 responses) is an important factor in the development of atopy. CpG DNA represent a novel class of drugs with substantial immunomodulatory properties. CpG DNA contain unmethylated motifs centered on the CpG dinucleotides, like bacterial DNA. These CpG DNA promote Th1 and regulatory type immune responses and suppress Th2 responses. In murine studies, CpG DNA are effective in prevention and treatment of asthma and allergic diseases. CpG DNA are just beginning to be tested in human asthma. While its precise mechanisms continue to be fully studied, CpG DNA offers considerable promise as a novel treatment for atopic inflammation. It may prove to be an important disease modifying therapy, or even curative therapeutic agent for asthma and allergic diseases.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.567-577
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• 2012

This paper introduces a new scheme to balance the DC bus voltages of a cascaded H-bridge converter which is used as a Distribution Static Synchronous Series Compensator (D-SSSC) in electrical distribution network. The aim of D-SSSC is to control the power flow between two feeders from different substations. As a result of different cell losses and capacitors tolerance the cells DC bus voltage can deviate from their reference values. In the proposed scheme, by individually modifying the reference PWM signal for each cell, an effective balancing procedure is derived. The new balancing procedure needs only the line current sign and is independent of the main control strategy, which controls the total DC bus voltages of cascaded H-bridge. The effect of modulation index variation on the capacitor voltage is analytically derived for the proposed strategy. The proposed method takes advantages of phase shift carrier based modulation and can be applied for a cascaded H-bridge with any number of cells. Also the system is immune to loss of one cell and the presented procedure can keep balancing between the remaining cells. Simulation studies and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method in the balancing of DC bus voltages.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.240-246
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• 2012

Natural killer (NK) cells play a pivotal role in early surveillance against virus infection and cellular transformation, and are also implicated in the control of inflammatory response through their effector functions of direct lysis of target cells and cytokine secretion. NK cell activation toward target cell is determined by the net balance of signals transmitted from diverse activating and inhibitory receptors. A distinct feature of NK cell activation is that stimulation of resting NK cells with single activating receptor on its own cannot mount natural cytotoxicity. Instead, specific pairs of co-activation receptors are required to unleash NK cell activation via synergy- dependent mechanism. Because each co-activation receptor uses distinct signaling modules, NK cell synergy relies on the integration of such disparate signals. This explains why the study of the mechanism underlying NK cell synergy is important and necessary. Recent studies revealed that NK cell synergy depends on the integration of complementary signals converged at a critical checkpoint element but not on simple amplification of the individual signaling to overcome intrinsic activation threshold. This review focuses on the signaling events during NK cells activation and recent advances in the study of NK cell synergy.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

Natural killer (NK) cells play a crucial role in innate immune system and tumor surveillance. NK cells are derived from $CD34^+$hematopoietic stem cells and undergo differentiation via precursor NK cells in bone marrow (BM) through sequential acquisition of functional surface receptors. During differentiation of NK cells, many factors are involved including cytokines, membrane factors and transcription factors as well as microenvironment of BM. NK cells express their own repertoire of receptors including activating and inhibitory receptors that bind to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I or class I-related molecules. The balance between activating and inhibitory receptors determines the function of NK cells to kill targets. Binding of NK cell inhibitory receptors to their MHC class I-ligand renders the target cells to be protected from NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Thus, NK cells are able to discriminate self from non-self through MHC class I-binding inhibitory receptor. Using intrinsic properties of NK cells, NK cells are emerging to apply as therapeutic agents against many types of cancers. Recently, NK cell alloactivity has also been exploited in killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor mismatched haploidentical stem cell transplantation to reduce the rate of relapse and graft versus host disease. In this review, we discuss the basic mechanisms of NK cell differentiation, diversity of NK cell receptors, and clinical applications of NK cells for anti-cancer immunotherapy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.529-535
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• 2016

The NLRP3 inflammasome is activated by a variety of external or host-derived stimuli and its activation initiates an inflammatory response through caspase-1 activation, resulting in inflammatory cytokine IL-1β maturation and secretion. The NLRP3 inflammasome activation is a kind of innate immune response, most likely mediated by myeloid cells acting as a host defense mechanism. However, if this activation is not properly regulated, excessive inflammation induced by overactivated NLRP3 inflammasome can be detrimental to the host, causing tissue damage and organ dysfunction, eventually causing several diseases. Previous studies have suggested that mitochondrial damage may be a cause of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and autophagy, which is a conserved self-degradation process that negatively regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Recently, mitochondria-selective autophagy, termed mitophagy, has emerged as a central player for maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis through the elimination of damaged mitochondria, leading to the prevention of hyperinflammation triggered by NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In this review, we will first focus on the molecular mechanisms of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and NLRP3 inflammasome-related diseases. We will then discuss autophagy, especially mitophagy, as a negative regulator of NLPP3 inflammasome activation by examining recent advances in research.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.729-750
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• 1998

The purpose of this Review is to help activities of daily living by normalizing bodily functions through the use of negative pressure. Cupping therapy has been holding the important role as a form of treatment in ancient medicine of Oriental and Occidental country, and still being used widely due to it's effectiveness. Principle of Cupping therapy is to neutralize somatic dysfunctions by elimination of nonphysiological somatic fluid of hematoma through application of negative pressure on region of dermatomal meridian. The effectiveness of Cupping therapy as follows; 1) Effects on acid base balance of bodily fluid. 2) Through the reabsorption of subcutaneous hematoma, it affects on formation of immune system and produce the blood serum cleaning reaction. 3) By application of negative pressure on subcutaneous, induce renal system to produce steroid hormone. 4) By stimulating hemopoietic system, it maxmize the blood production level. Recently, Alternative medicine has been a focus due to it's nature of effectiveness and safety without adverse complication. Therefore, every family possess and use the cupping modality for preventive measure and/or treatment purpose in order to eliminate accumulated byproducts of body and clean the blood system.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.184-190
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• 2020

Radiation therapy (RT) has improved patient outcomes, but treatment-related complication rates remain high. In the conventional 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional conformal RT (3D-CRT) era, there was little room for toxicity reduction because of the need to balance the estimated toxicity to organs at risk (OARs), derived from dose-volume histogram data for organs including the lung, heart, spinal cord, and liver, with the planning target volume (PTV) dose. Intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) is an advanced form of conformal RT that utilizes computer-controlled linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation doses to the PTV. The dosimetric advantages of IMRT enable better sparing of normal tissues and OARs than is possible with 3D-CRT. A major breakthrough in the treatment of esophageal cancer (EC), whether early or locally advanced, is the use of proton beam therapy (PBT). Protons deposit their highest dose of radiation at the tumor, while leaving none behind; the resulting effective dose reduction to healthy tissues and OARs considerably reduces acute and delayed RT-related toxicity. In recent studies, PBT has been found to alleviate severe lymphopenia resulting from combined chemo-radiation, opening up the possibility of reducing immune suppression, which might be associated with a poor prognosis in cases of locally advanced EC.