• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2008

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is ultimately an inflammatory state. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level are inflammatory markers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of the ESR, CRP and APACHE II score as prognostic factors for patient with ARDS. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 87 ARDS patients. The predictors (APACHE II score, ESR and CRP) and outcomes (mortality and length of the total hospital stay, the ICU stay and mechanical ventilator care) were obtained from the patients' records. The patients were grouped according to survival as the Survivor and Non survivor groups. We compared the APACHE II score, the ESR and the CRP level between the survivor group and the nonsurvivor group. We evaluated the correlation between the predictors and the outcomes. The initial ESR, CRP level and APACHE II score were checked at the time of ICU admission and the second ESR and CRP level were checked $3.3{\pm}1.2$ days after ICU admission. Results: Thirty-eight (43.7%) patients remained alive and 49 (56.3%) patients died. The APACHE II score was significantly lower for the survivor group than that for the non survivor group ($14.7{\pm}7.6$ vs $19.6{\pm}9.1$, respectively, p=0.006). The initial ESR and CRP level were not different between the survivor and non-survivor groups (ESR $64.0{\pm}37.8mm/hr$ vs $63.3{\pm}36.7mm/hr$, respectively, p=0.93, CRP $15.5{\pm}9.6mg/dl$ vs $16.3{\pm}8.5mg/dl$, respectively, p=0.68). The decrement of the CRP level for the survivor group was greater than that for the non survivor group ($-8.23{\pm}10.0mg/dl$ vs $-1.46{\pm}10.1mg/dl$, respectively, p=0.003). Correlation analysis revealed the initial ESR was positively correlated with the length of the total hospital stay and the ICU stay (correlation coefficient of the total hospital days: R=0.43, p=0.001, correlation coefficient of the ICU stay: R=0.39, p=0.014). Conclusion: The initial APACHE II score can predict the mortality of ARDS patients, and the degree of the early CRP change can be a predictor of mortality for ARDS patients. The initial ESR has positive correlation with the ARDS patients' duration of the total hospital stay and the ICU stay.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.1235-1241
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• 2012

Antioxidant properties and antioxidant compound contents in different parts of 14 commercial mushrooms were evaluated. Methanolic extracts from the entire mushroom, the pileus and the stipe, separately, were screened for their DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activities. Total ubiquinones (Coenzyme Qs; CoQs), total phenolic, and flavonoid contents were determined, in order to assess the extract's antioxidant activity. The portion of the mushroom selected had an effect on the results, with pileus methanolic extract exhibiting the greatest antioxidant effect (p<0.05). The analyzed mushrooms contained powerful antioxidants such as phenols (144.5~536.6 mg of gallic acid equivalents, mg GAE/100 g of dried weight, dw), flavonoids (3.7~31.2 mg of quercetin equivalents, mg QE/100 g dw) and ubiquinones (65.6~485.1 ${\mu}g$/100 g dw). Content of CoQ9 and CoQ10 in the 14 commercial mushrooms varied from 23.1 to 256.2 ${\mu}g$/100 g and from 16.1 to 238.3 ${\mu}g$/100 g, respectively. Phellinus linteus showed the highest antioxidant activity among all species due to the contribution of antioxidants such as phenols (530.5 mg GAE/100 g dw) and ubiquinones (308.8 ug/100 g dw). A positive linear correlation was demonstrated between free radical scavenging activity and total phenolic ($R^2=0.79$) and ubiquinone ($R^2=0.59$) contents in the pileus of mushrooms (p<0.05). Our data indicate that commercial mushrooms have potential as dietary sources of CoQs and phenolic antioxidants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.1205-1210
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• 2012

This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of Ligustrum ovalifolium H. (LOH) leaf extracts on RAW264.7 macrophages. Cell toxicity was determined by MTT assay. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of LOH extracts by measuring nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), inducible NOS (iNOS) production, and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression by Western blotting. LOH ethanolic extracts (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mg/mL) significantly suppressed LPS-stimulated production of NO. The intracellular ROS level also significantly decreased. LOH ethanolic extracts reduced the expression of iNOS and COX-2 proteins. The present results show that LOH ethanol extract has potent anti-inflammatory effects on RAW264.7 macrophages. These results also suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of LOH extracts may be related to the inhibition of LPS-stimulated ROS and NO production. Therefore, ethanolic extracts of LOH leaves may be utilized as a good source of functional foods for protection against inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.1049-1057
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to microbiologically evaluate common foods and preparation processes in three large (over 100 pyeong) western-style restaurants in Daegu. Microbiological testing was conducted for pathogens including E. coli, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli O157:H7, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Bacillus cereus, as well as total plate count and coliforms. Food samples selected for testing represent common menu items and preparation processes. These samples included: 1) hamburger steak (cooking process), 2) mashed potatoes (reheating process), and 3) salad (non-heating process). The results showed that E. coli and S. aureus were detected in the raw ground beef used to prepare hamburger steak, but they were not detected after cooking at $82{\sim}86^{\circ}C$, 10 min. Microbiological quality of the mashed potatoes was better after reheating than during storage in a refrigerator after cooking. Total plate count and coliforms increased, and E. coli was detected in the salad ingredients stored in the refrigerator before serving. In order to serve foods of good microbiological safety and quality in western-style restaurants, standard cooking and reheating temperatures must be maintained during the cooking and reheating processes, and sanitation standard operating procedures must be followed for washing and storage of non-heated and refrigerated menu items.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2006

Purpose: Recently, the incidence of early gastric cancer (EGC) patients is rapidly increased in Korea. However, they're often not perceptible by surgical palpation or inspection. The aim of this study is 1) to develope a software that can locate the tumor and measure the mucosal distance from an anatomic landmark to the tumor using CT gastrography and 2) to compare the distance measured by the developed software with the distance measured by the pathologic findings. Materials and Methods: Between January 2004 and September 2005, sixty patients (male=45, female=15, mean 57.8 years old) estimated for EGC with preoperative CT scans and undergone gastrectomies in Kyungpook National University Hospital were enrolled in this study. Preoperative CT scans were performed after insufflations of room air via 5 Fr NG tube. The scans included the following parameters: (slice thickness/reconstruction interval: 0.625 mm, kVp: 120, mAs: 200). 3D volume rendering and measurement of the surface distance from the pylorus to the EGC were performed using the developed software. Results: The average difference between the lesion to pylorus distances measured from pathologic specimens and CT gastrography was $5.3{\pm}2.9\;mm(range,\;0{\sim}23\;mm)$. The lesion to pylorus distance measured from CT gastrography was well correlated with that measured from the pathologic specimens (r=0.9843, P<0.001). Conclusion: These results suggest that the surface distance from an anatomic landmark to the EGC can be measured accurately by CT gastrography. This technique could be used for preoperative localization of early gastric carcinomas to determine the optimal extent of surgical resection.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.142-154
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• 2010

The protein-bound innerpolysaccharides (IPS) produced by suspended mycelial cultures of Inonotus obliquus have promising potentials as an effective antidiabetic as well as an immunostimulating agents. To enhance IPS production, intensive strain improvement process should be carried out using large amount of UV-mutated protoplasts. During the whole strain-screening process, the stage of solid growth-culture was found to be the most time-requiring step, thus preventing rapid screening of high-yielding producers. In order to reduce the cell growth period in the solid growth-stage, therefore, solid growth-medium was optimized using the statistical methods such as (i) Plackett-Burman and fractional factorial designs (FFD) for selecting positive medium components, and (ii) steepest ascent (SAM) and response surface (RSM) methods for determining optimum concentrations of the selected components. By adopting the medium composition recommended by the SAM experiment, significantly higher growth rate was obtained in the solid growth-cultures, as represented by about 41% larger diameter of the cell growth circle and higher mycelial density. Sequential optimization process performed using the RSM experiments finally recommended the medium composition as follows: glucose 25.61g/L, brown rice 12.53 g/L, soytone peptone 12.53 g/L, $MgSO_4$ 5.53 g/L, and agar 20 g/L. It should be noted that this composition was almost similar to the medium combinations determined by the SAM experiment, demonstrating that the SAM was very helpful in finding out the final optimum concentrations. Through the use of this optimized medium, the period for the solid growth-culture could be successfully reduced to about 8 days from the previous 15~20 days, thus enabling large and mass screening of high producers in a relatively short period.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.220-229
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• 2009

Strain improvement and morphology investigation in bioreactor cultures were undertaken in suspended cultures of Phellinus linteus mycelia for mass production of protein-bound polysaccharides(soluble ${\beta}$-D-glucan), a powerful immuno-stimulating agent. Phellineus sp. screened for this research was identified as Phellinus linteues through ITS rDNA sequencing method and blast search, demonstrating 99.7% similarity to other Phellinus linteus strains. Intensive strain improvement program was carried out by obtaining large amounts of protoplasts for the isolation of single cell colonies. Rapid and large screening of high-yielding producers was possible because large numbers of protoplasts ($1{\times}10^5{\sim}10^6\;protoplasts/ml$) formed using the banding filtration method with the cell wall-disrupting enzymes could be regenerated in relatively high regeneration frequency($10^{-2}{\sim}10^{-3}$) in the newly developed regeneration medium. It was demonstrated that the strains showing high performances in the protoplast regeneration and solid growth medium were able to produce 5.8~6.4%(w/w) of ${\beta}$-D-glucan and 13~15 g/L of biomass in stable manners in suspended shake-flask cultures of P. linteus mycelia. In addition, cell mass increase was observed to be the most important in order to enhance ${\beta}$-D-glucan productivity during the course of strain improvement program, since the amount of ${\beta}$-D-glucan extracted from the cell wall of P. linteus mycelia was almost constant on the unit biomass basis. Therefore we fully investigated the fungal cell morphology, generally known as one of the key factors affecting cell growth extent in the bioreactor cultures of mycelial fungal cells. It was found that, in order to obtain as high cell mass as possible in the final production bioreactor cultures, the producing cells should be proliferated in condensed filamentous forms in the growth cultures, and optimum amounts of these filamentous cells should be transferred as active inoculums to the production bioreactor. In this case, ideal morphologies consisting of compacted pellets less than 0.5mm in diameter were successfully induced in the production cultures, resulting in shorter period of lag phase, 1.5 fold higher specific cell growth rate and 3.3 fold increase in the final biomass production as compared to the parallel bioreactor cultures of different morphological forms. It was concluded that not only the high-yielding but also the good morphological characteristics led to the significantly higher biomass production and ${\beta}$-D-glucan productivity in the final production cultures.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2018

The larva of the white-spotted flower chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae), is known to have important medicinal properties, such as anti-cancer activity. However, the consumer market for the larvae is depressed because of its high production cost which needs to be reduced. This study was carried out to evaluate two spent mushroom substrates as food source for chafer larvae to improve the productivity and reduce production cost. The larvae were fed with spent substrates of king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) (P-SMS) and shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) (L-SMS), with a control of fermented oak sawdust. Effects of the diets on the development of P. brevitarsis seulensis and contents of minor nutrient components in the larvae produced were examined. In the P-SMS diet, the larval rearing period was shorter at 16.2 days, while the rate of larval weight gain and the cocoon weight were higher at 156.3% and 4.1 g, respectively, than that in the L-SMS diet. The pupation rate was 100% and the adult emergence was higher at 93.3% in the P-SMS diet than in the L-SMS diet with no difference to the control diet. In the P-SMS diet, the total nitrogen content during rearing was higher at 10.28% and the minor nutrient component, particularly Fe (145.8 mg/kg), was higher than that in other diets. The oviposition preference of adults showed no significant difference among the diets. Economic analysis showed that P-SMS costs approximately 667,960 Won less per 100 kg of larvae produced, compared to that of the control diet.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.431-438
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• 2007

In the present study, twenty eight marine algae species were evaluated for their antiproliferative effect on HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Among these, the methanolic extract of Symphyocladia latiuscula (SL Ex) showed the highest inhibitory activity on HT-29 cell growth. In this study, we examined the mechanism by which SL Ex inhibited the HT-29 cell growth. Cells were cultured with various concentrations of $(0{\sim}20{\mu}g/mL)$ SL Ex. The SL Ex substantially decreased the viable cell numbers and induced apoptosis of HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent manner Western blot analyses of total cell lysates revealed that SL Ex increased the levels of cleaved caspase-8, -9, -7, and -3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in HT-29 cells. In addition, SL Ex increased truncated Bid levels but moderately decreased Bax levels at only $20{\mu}g/mL$. Furthermore, SL Ex did not affect Bcl-2 protein levels but increased the levels of Fas in HT-29 cells. The present results indicate that SL Ex inhibits cell growth via inducing apoptosis in human colon cancer cells. The mechanism of apoptosis induction by SL Ex involves caspase-8 activation leading to changes in mitochondrial events and subsequent activation of the caspase-7/caspase-3 cascade. Our finding may lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of colon cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.938-947
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• 2016

Antioxidant activities and neuroprotective effects of ethyl acetate fraction from Dendropanax morbifera (EFDM) against high glucose-induced oxidative stress and neurotoxicity were investigated to confirm their physiological activities. An 80% ethanolic extract of D. morbifera showed the highest contents of total phenolic compounds as well as 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activities. The extract was fractionated using several solvents, and the ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest activities in ferric reducing/antioxidant power and malondialdehyde inhibitory assays. To evaluate the neuroprotective effect based on antioxidant activities, cell viability was assessed using PC12 and MC-IXC cells in $H_2O_2$- and high glucose-induced cytotoxic assays, respectively. EFDM evidently showed neuroprotective effects in all cells (neuron-like PC12 cells and human brain-originated neuroblastoma MC-IXC cells). Inhibitory effect of the extract on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as an acetylcholine-hydrolyzing enzyme was performed to examine the effect on cognitive function. EFDM presented an AChE inhibitory effect. Finally, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the major phenolic compound of EFDM is probably a rutin.