• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.81-95
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• 2023

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide, ranking third after lung and breast cancer in terms of global prevalence. With an expected 1.93 million new cases and 935,000 deaths in 2020, it is more prevalent in males than in women. Evidence has shown that during the later stages of colon cancer, STAT1 promotes tumor progression by promoting cell survival and resistance to chemotherapy. Recent studies have shown that inhibiting STAT1 pathway leads to a reduction in tumor cell proliferation and growth, and can also promote apoptosis in colon cancer cells. One of the recent approaches in the field of drug discovery is drug repurposing. In drug repurposing approach we have virtually screened FDA database against STAT1 protein and their interactions have been studied through Molecular docking. Cross docking was performed with the top 10 compounds to be more specific with STAT1 comparing the affinity with STAT2, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5a, STAT5b and STAT6. The drugs that showed higher affinity were subjected to Conceptual - Density functional theory. Besides, the Molecular dynamic simulation was also carried out for the selected leads. We also validated in-vitro against colon cancer cell lines. The results showed mainly Acetyldigitoxin has shown better binding to the target. From this study, we can predict that the drug Acetyldigitoxin has shown noticeable inhibitory efficiency against STAT1, which in turn can also lead to the reduction of tumor cell growth in colon cancer.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.432-440
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• 2023

Irrational and injudicious use of antibiotics, easy availability of them as over-the-counter drugs in economically developing countries, and unavailability of regulatory policies governing antimicrobial use in agriculture, animals, and humans, has led to the development of multi-drug resistance (MDR) bacteria. The use of medicinal plants can be considered as an alternative, with a consequent impact on microbial resistance. We tested extracts of Piper longum fruits as new natural products as agents for reversing the resistance to antibiotics. Six crude extracts of P. longum fruits were utilized against a clinical isolate of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.The antibiotic susceptibility testing disc method was used in the antibiotic resistance reversal analysis. Apart from cefoxitin and erythromycin, all other antibiotics used (lincosamides [clindamycin], quinolones [levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin], and aminoglycosides [amikacin and gentamicin]) were enhanced by P. longum extracts. The extracts that showed the greatest synergy with the antibiotics were EAPL (ethyl acetate [extract of] P. longum), n-BPL (n-butanol [extract of] P. longum), and MPL (methanolic [extract of] P. longum The results of this study suggest that P. longum extracts have the ability to increase the effectiveness of different classes of antibiotics and reverse their resistance. However, future studies are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind the synergy between antibiotic and phytocompound(s) and identify the active biomolecules of P. longum responsible for the synergy in S. aureus.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.791-807
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• 2021

Vasculitis is a systemic disease, characterized by inflammation of the vascular wall. Although rare, it is sometimes life-threatening due to diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage or acute glomerulonephritis. Besides primary vasculitis, whose cause is unknown, numerous conditions such as autoimmune diseases, drugs, infections, and tumors can cause secondary vasculitis. Vasculitis displays various non-specific symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings; hence, diagnosis of the disease requires integration of various results including clinical features, imaging findings, autoantibody tests, and pathological findings. In this review, we have discussed the clinical, radiologic, and pathological features of vasculitis. Further, we elaborated the imaging findings and differential diagnosis of typical vasculitis that frequently involves the lung and introduced a new international classification of vasculitis, the Diagnostic and Classification Criteria in Vasculitis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2024

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) has memory impairment associated with aggregation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Although anti-amyloid β (Aβ) protein antibody and chemical drugs can be prescribed in the clinic, they show adverse effects or low effectiveness. Therefore, the development of a new drug is necessarily needed. We focused on the cognitive function of Panax ginseng and tried to find active ingredient(s). We isolated panaxcerol D, a kind of glycosyl glyceride, from the non-saponin fraction of P. ginseng extract. Methods: We explored effects of acute or sub-chronic administration of panaxcerol D on cognitive function in scopolamine- or Aβ_25-35 peptide-treated mice measured by several behavioral tests. After behavioral tests, we tried to unveil the underlying mechanism of panaxcerol D on its cognitive function by Western blotting. Results: We found that pananxcerol D reversed short-term, long-term and object recognition memory impairments. The decreased extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) or Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in scopolamine-treated mice was normalized by acute administration of panaxcerol D. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), caspase 3, NF-kB p65, synaptophysin and brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression levels in Aβ_25-35 peptide-treated mice were modulated by sub-chronic administration of panaxcerol D. Conclusion: Pananxcerol D could improve memory impairments caused by cholinergic blockade or Aβ accumulation through increased phosphorylation level of ERK or its anti-inflammatory effect. Thus, panaxcerol D as one of non-saponin compounds could be used as an active ingredient of P. ginseng for improving cognitive function.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.48.1-48.13
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• 2022

With the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, which are randomly mutated, the dominant strains in regions are changing globally. The development of preclinical animal models is imperative to validate vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 variants. The objective of this study was to develop a non-human primate (NHP) model for SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infection. Cynomolgus macaques infected with Delta variants showed infectious viruses and viral RNA in the upper (nasal and throat) and lower respiratory (lung) tracts during the acute phase of infection. After 3 days of infection, lesions consistent with diffuse alveolar damage were observed in the lungs. For cellular immune responses, all macaques displayed transient lymphopenia and neutrophilia in the early stages of infection. SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant spike protein-specific IgM, IgG, and IgA levels were significantly increased in the plasma of these animals 14 days after infection. This new NHP Delta variant infection model can be used for comparative analysis of the difference in severity between SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and may be useful in the efficacy evaluation of vaccines and universal therapeutic drugs for mutations.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.853-869
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• 2000

Background : Following several decades of decline, the incidence of tuberculosis has recent1y begun to increase in many countries of this the control of this disease has been impeded by the emergence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The development of rapid diagnostic methods and effective new drugs are needed to control MDR-TB. One of the new drugs for MDR-TB is rifabutin (RBU) which has been known to be effective in some patients with MDR-TB. A few reports showed that some types of mutations of the rpoB gene, which were known to be present in 96-98% of rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis, were associated with the rifampicin-resistant but RBU-susceptible phenotype. This study was performed to investigate the correlation between RBU susceptibility and the patterns of rpoB gene mutations in Korean MDR-TB. Methods : Sixty-five clinical isolates of multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, gathered from patients who visited the Asan Medical Center from July 1997 to June 1999, were investigated. Clinical responses to rifabutin-containing regimen were evaluated. An RBU susceptibility test and sequencing analysis of rpoB gene were performed, and the results were analyzed to confirm which mutations correlated with RBU-susceptible MDR-TB. Results : Fifty-three of 56 (95%) clinical isolates of MDR-TB had 60 mutations of the rpoB gene. The most frequent mutations were found at codon 531 (43%), and two mutations were combined in seven clinical isolates. Five of 53 (10%) clinical isolates showed the RBU-susceptible phenotype, and in them the characteristic patterns of point mutations were found at codon 509, 516, and 526. Conclusion : The frequency and pattern of mutations of the rpoB gene of Korean MDR-TB isolates were similar to those in western countries, where the prevalence of tuberculosis is low, but some show RBU-susceptible phenotypes. RBU-susceptible MDR-TB isolates showed the characteristic pattern of mutations of the rpoB gene which could be used to rapidly diagnose RBU susceptibility.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.117-130
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• 2008

Korean traditional medicine has been used for the treatment of the various diseases based on both oriental medicinal theory and clinical trials. Thus, the prescriptions of Korean traditional medicine would be useful for the development of new therapeutics. This research focuses on the fundamental study in Korean traditional prescriptions for the development of new hepatoprotective agents. We found two prescriptions. Injinho-Tang and Osumogwa-Tang, showed the significant DPPH free radical scavenging and hepatoprotective effect, respectively. It is well-known that free radical scavenging effect is related to the prevention of various pathological events including liver injury. This paper deals with hepatoprotective effects on tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells, free radicals scavenging on both DPPH and superoxide of above two prescriptions. Hot water extract of Injinho-Tang did not show the significant hepatoprotective effect on tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells, however, it shows the significant scavenging effects for both DPPH and superoxide radicals. On the other hand, all of the hot water extracts of constituent herbal drugs in Injinho-Tang exhibited the promising protective effect on tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells. Of these, water extract of Rhei Rhizoma showed the most prominent effect on tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells. Bioassay-guided fractionation of Rhei Rhizoma extract has furnished four compounds, and their chemical structures have been identified by comparison of their spectral data with those of literature as chrysophanol (1), emodin (2), 3,5-dihydroxy-4'- methoxystilbene (3), and rhapontigenin (4), respectively. Among the isolated compounds, compounds 2-4 revealed the significant hepatoprotective effect in vitro when their $EC_{50}$ values compare with that of silybin, as a positive control. It also exhibited that emodin possessed the most hepatoprotective effect among these active compounds. In case of Osumogwa-Tang, its hot water extract showed the moderate protective effect on tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells. Hot water extract of Chaenomelis Fructus, one of the constituent herbal drug of this prescription, exhibited the significant hepatoprotective effect with $EC_{50}$ value of $7.8{\pm}0.1\;{\mu}g/ml$, however, it showed strong cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells above the concentration of $25\;{\mu}g/ml$. It was revealed that both hot water extract of Evodiae Fructus and its butanol soluble fraction showed the moderate hepatoprotective effect but concentration-dependent activity in Hep G2 assay system. Two quinolone alkaloids, evocarpine and dihydroevocarpine, also tested for their hepatoprotective effects on tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in Hep G2 cells, however, these two compounds derived from the Evodiae Fructus as the major constituents did not show in vitro hepatoprotective effect. From these results, it would be necessary to further isolation of its hepatoprotective compounds from the butanol soluble fraction of the hot water extract of Evodiae Fructus.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2009

Hydrazones of isonicotinic acid hydrazide, viz., N-isonicotinamido-furfuralaldimine (INH-FFL), N-isonicotnamido-cinnamalidine (INH-CIN) and N-isonicotnamido-3',4',5'-trimethoxybenzaldimine (INH-TMB) were prepared by reacting isonicotinic acid hydrazide with respective aromatic aldehydes, i.e., furfural, cinnamaldehyde or 3,4,5-trimethoxy-benzaldehyde. A new series of fifteen complexes of cobalt(II) with these new hydrazones, INH-FFL, INH-CIN and INH-TMB, were synthesized by their reaction with cobalt(II) salts. The infrared spectral data reveal that hydrazone ligands behave as a bidentate ligand with N, O donor sequence towards the $Co^{2+}$ ion. The complexes were characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, magnetic susceptibility, conductivity, infrared and electronic spectral measurements. Analytical data reveal that the complexes have general composition [Co($L)_2X_2]\;and\;[Co(L)_3](ClO_4)_2$ where L= INH-FFL, INH-CIN or INH-TMB and X = $Cl^-,{NO_3}-,\;NCS^-\;or\;CH_3COO^-.$ The thermal behaviour of the complexes were studied using thermogravimetrictechnique. Electronic spectral results and magnetic susceptibility measurements are consistent with the adoption of a six-coordinate geometry for the cobalt(II) chelates. The antimicrobial properties of cobalt(II) complexes and few standard drugs have revealed that the complexes have very moderate antibacterial activities.

• CELLMED
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.5.1-5.8
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• 2014

Healthcare-associated infection represents a frequent cause of mortality that increases hospital costs. Due to increasing microbial resistance to antibiotics, it is necessary to search for alternative therapies. Consequently, novel alternatives for the control of resistant microorganisms have been studied. Among them, plant antimicrobial protein presents enormous potential, with flowers being a new source of antimicrobial molecules. In this work, the antimicrobial activity of protein-rich fractions from flower tissues from 18 different species was evaluated against several human pathogenic bacteria. The results showed that protein-rich fractions of 12 species were able to control bacterial development. Due its broad inhibition spectrum and high antibacterial activity, the protein-rich fraction of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis was subjected to DEAE-Sepharose chromatography, yielding a retained fraction and a non-retained fraction. The retained fraction inhibits 29.5% of Klebsiella pneumoniae growth, and the non-retained fraction showed 31.5% of growth inhibition against the same bacteria. The protein profile of the chromatography fractions was analyzed by using SDS-PAGE, revealing the presence of two major protein bands in the retained fraction, of 20 and 15 kDa. The results indicate that medicinal plants have the biotechnological potential to increase knowledge about antimicrobial protein structure and action mechanisms, assisting in the rational design of antimicrobial compounds for the development of new antibiotic drugs.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.448-456
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• 2020

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, how well the explosive information and data are handled and used is recognized as a problem directly related to the competitiveness of the industry. In particular, the introduction of artificial intelligence technology in the medical field can be said to have a great social impact on its use, and this research was conducted to understand the trends of artificial intelligence according to the range of use case. In this study, the application of artificial intelligence in the healthcare field is divided into four scopes, (1) hospital solutions, (2) personal health care, (3) insurance, and (4) new drug development. Based on various cases and trends in artificial intelligence technology, this study tried to give directions on how to develop artificial intelligence in Korea. In this study, we wanted to find out the use cases of artificial intelligence in various areas of healthcare industry and describe the latest issues in healthcare to help the overall medical industry. The development of artificial intelligence-based medical systems has made it easier to manage the chronic patients, increased the accuracy of cancer or disease diagnosis, and helped developing new drugs faster and more efficiently. Through this study, the medical industry we wanted to give a direction to the future development of artificial intelligence in Korea.