• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the phototoxic effects of blue light exposure on periodontal pathogens in both planktonic and biofilm cultures. Methods: Strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Porphyromonas gingivalis, in planktonic or biofilm states, were exposed to visible light at wavelengths of 400.520 nm. A quartz-tungsten-halogen lamp at a power density of $500mW/cm^2$ was used for the light source. Each sample was exposed to 15, 30, 60, 90, or 120 seconds of each bacterial strain in the planktonic or biofilm state. Confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) was used to observe the distribution of live/dead bacterial cells in biofilms. After light exposure, the bacterial killing rates were calculated from colony forming unit (CFU) counts. Results: CLSM images that were obtained from biofilms showed a mixture of dead and live bacterial cells extending to a depth of $30-45{\mu}m$. Obvious differences in the live-to-dead bacterial cell ratio were found in P. gingivalis biofilm according to light exposure time. In the planktonic state, almost all bacteria were killed with 60 seconds of light exposure to F. nucleatum (99.1%) and with 15 seconds to P. gingivalis (100%). In the biofilm state, however, only the CFU of P. gingivalis demonstrated a decreasing tendency with increasing light exposure time, and there was a lower efficacy of phototoxicity to P. gingivalis as biofilm than in the planktonic state. Conclusions: Blue light exposure using a dental halogen curing unit is effective in reducing periodontal pathogens in the planktonic state. It is recommended that an adjunctive exogenous photosensitizer be used and that pathogens be exposed to visible light for clinical antimicrobial periodontal therapy.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2005

Purpose: The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effect of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum on development of comprehension of basic medical knowledge and quality of semi-structured problem solving including scientific reasoning skill. This scientific reasoning contained five components including: size of simple, design of research cause-effect, construction of risk factor, analysis statistic of data, interpretation of result. Materials and Methods: Seoul National University Dental students (100) participated in this experience during two weeks, 2004. Forty eight multiple-choice questions (MCQ) concerned "Infection Control and Prevention" were asked before and after two sections of Lecture-Based Learning (LBL) and PBL (pretest-posttest control group design). A semi-structured problem in epidemiological research was asked to these students after two sections (posttest-only control group design). Data (mean and SD) were analysed using the t Test for two independent samples (p<.05), comparing PBL versus LBL. Results: Our analyse of scores show no difference between LBL and PBL in the development of comprehension of "Infection Control and Prevention". The quality problem solving (epidemiological research) was significantly different between the two groups (p=.029); specially, two components' scores of reflection on scientific reasoning cause-effect (p=.000) and interpretation of result (p=.001) were significantly better for PBL than for LBL. Conclusion: Theses results indicate that comparing LBL and PBL, PBL curriculum have not been disadvantaged in comprehension of basic knowledge, and have contributed to develop the scientific reasoning in problem solving.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2015

Streptococcus mutans triggers dental caries establishment by two major factors. One is synthesis of organic acids which demineralize dental enamel and the other is synthesis of glucans which mediate the attachment of bacteria to the tooth surface. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the ethanol extracts of Aconitum koreanum (A. koreanum ) on the growth and acid production of S. mutans. Ethanol extracts of the A. koreanum showed concentration dependent inhibitory activity against the growth and acid production of S. mutans, and produced significant inhibition at the concentration of 0.016 mg/ml compared to the control groups (p<0.05). The extracts inhibited S. mutans adherence to hydroxyapatite treated with saliva, and cell adherence was repressed by 50%, 54% at the concentration of 0.063, 0.125 mg/ml. On the study of activation of glucosyltransferase which synthesizes water insoluble glucan form sucrose, the ethanol extract of A. koreanum showed remarkable inhibition over the concentration of 0.016, 0.031, 0.063 and 0.125 mg/ml (p<0.05). Especially on the concentration of 0.063, 0.125 mg/ml, the extracts suppressed the glucan synthesis by 100%. We analyzed the component of the extracts of A. koreanum. The results showed that the extract of A. koreanum had strong phenolic compound, glycosides and organic acids. These results suggest that A. koreanum may inhibit the caries-inducing properties of S. mutans, and which may be related with strong phenolic compound, glycosides and organic acids.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and microbiological efficacy of adjunctive local delivery of minocycline (Periocline^®) in patients receiving supportive periodontal therapy (SPT) after initial treatment. Methods: The participants were 16 men and 8 women (age, 20-65 years) who had at least 15 natural teeth, underwent SPT for more than 1 year due to chronic periodontitis, had 4 or more periodontal pocket sites deeper than 5 mm, and showed >25% gingival bleeding on probing (BoP). They were randomly assigned to the test and control groups. In the test group, mechanical debridement and local antibiotic delivery were performed for all periodontal sulci/pockets; in the control group, mechanical debridement and saline irrigation were performed. In patients who underwent SPT for more than 1 year, clinical and microbiological examinations were performed at baseline and 1 and 3 months after SPT. The clinical examination included an assessment of the periodontal pocket depth, clinical attachment level, plaque index, and BoP. Microbial tests were performed using real-time polymerase chain reaction; the relative ratios of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum were determined. Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in clinical parameters at 1 and 3 months from baseline; there were no significant changes between months 1 and 3. Intergroup differences were insignificant. The microbiological analysis revealed no significant differences in P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum ratios across time points. While intergroup differences were insignificant, there was a tendency for the P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum ratios to decrease in the test group. Conclusions: Mechanical debridement in patients receiving maintenance therapy resulted in clinically significant improvement; the effectiveness of additional local delivery of antibiotics was not significant. The ratios of P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum showed a tendency to decrease in the test group, although it was not significant.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.334-340
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• 2010

It is well known that smoking as well as drinking is a factor of stomatopathy, however there are few investigations about comparison of oral flora between smokers and non-smokers. In this study, we isolated the oral flora of 30 smokers and 30 non-smokers and cultured them on blood agar plates. The isolated pathogenic microorganisms were tested for antibiotic susceptibility and resistance using the Kirby-Bauer antibiotic testing method. Each colony was stained using the Gram staining method and was identified by an automatic identifier, known as the VITEK system. We isolated 41 colonies from smokers' oral cavity, and they were sorted as 63% of Gram-positive cocci, 29% of Gram-negative cocci, 3% of Gram-positive bacilli, and 5% of Gram-negative bacilli by gram staining, whereas 38 colonies were isolated from non-smoters' oral cavity, and their proportions were 55% of Gram-positive cocci, 26% of Gram-negative cocci, 3% of Gram-positive bacilli, and 16% of Gram-negative bacilli. The VITEK system revealed specific distribution of bacteria species that Streptococcus mutans (6/41), Gemella morillorum (6/41), Streptococcus oralis (2/41), Streptococcus pneumoniae (1/41), Staphylococcus aureus (3/41), Streptococcus anginosus (1/41), Streptococcus intermedius (1/41), Streptococcus uberis (1/41), and Streptococcus sanguinis (1/41) in smokers oral cavity whereas Streptococcus sanguinis (8/38), Staphylococcus aureus (1/38), Staphylococcus auricularis (1/38), Streptococcus uberis (1/38), Streptococcus intermedius (1/38), Streptococcus mutans (1/38), and Streptococcus oralis (1/38) in those of non-smokers'. Three cases of Staphylococcus aureus from smokers produced Beta-lactamase and were identified methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However one case of Staphylococcus aureus from non-smoker did not produce Beta-lactamase and was sensitive to methicillin. In conclusion, the distribution of oral flora was different between smokers' and non-smokers' oral cavity, especially Gemella morillorum and MRSA were predominantly found in smoker's oral cavity. These results are useful in the treatment and prevention of patients with stomatopathy caused by smoking.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.133-144
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• 1986

This study was undertaken to assess the effect of ginseng administration on T lymphocyte induced local xenogenic graft-versus-host(GVM) reactions which were induced with thymocyte, spleen cell and lymph node cell of ICR mice. Mice received daily 10mg of 70% alcohol ginseng extract oral1y for 100days and control mice remained untreated for the same period of time. The cells from donor mice were injected intradermally into the closely shaven abdominal skin of Sprague-Dawley rats for GVH tests. The thymocyte from control(ginseng-untreated) mice showed a negative local GVH reaction, whereas thymocyte from experimental(ginseng-treated) mice showed a positive reaction with the rate of 17.4%. When spleen cells were injected, the incidence of positive local GVH reaction was 66.7% among ginseng-treated mice, as opposed to incidence of 45.5% of positive local GVH reaction among control mice. The incidence of positive local GVH reaction of the lymph node cells when injected into a recipient was 71.4% among ginseng-treated mice as compared with that of 18.9% among control mice. The relationship between spleen cell inoculum and intensity of the local GVH reaction was assessed in ginseng-untreated mice. The intensity of GVH reaction clearly appears to be dose related. In ginseng-treated mice, a minimum of $1{\times}10^7$ spleen cell was required for production of positive local GVH reaction with almost linear relationship up to an inoculum of $5{\times}10^8$ cells. In control mice, however, a minimum of $1{\times}10^8$ spleen cells was required for positive GVH reaction. These results strongly suggest that the ginseng administration augments significantly the local xenogenic GVH reaction which was used to assess T lymphocyte function and immunocompetence of mice and in addition to this, these results appear to support previous suggestions that the local GVH reaction consitutes a qualitative test of the functional activity of T lymphocytes. These results may be the first to induce local GVH reaction, employing rats as recipient and mice as donor. This study was also desingned to investigate some of the effects of ginseng extract on lymphocyte-macrophage interactions. This was accomplished by in vitro quantification of 1) migratory inhibitory factor(MIF) synthetic capacity of splenic lymphocytes in mice previously primed with ginseng 2) MIF responsiveness of mouse peritoneal macrophages or chicken peripheral leucocytes under the presence of ginseng extract 3) migration ability of chicken peripheral leucocytes by direct stimulation of ginseng extract or ginseng saponin and 4) immunosuppressive effects of immunosuppressants such as cyclophosphamide, cyclosporin A or dexamethasone. Mice divided equally into the ginseng and the saline groups, which received intraperitoneally daily 0.2ml of ginseng absolute alcohol-extract(5mg/ml) and same amount of saline for 15 days, respectively. The cellular immune responsiveness of these mice was assayed 15 days after ginseng pretreatment. Splenic lymphocytes of mice treated with ginseng, when stimulated with sensitized specific-antigen such as sheep red blood cells or toxoplasmin, or with polyclonal activator concanavalin A, produced significantly more MIF than those of control saline group. MIF responsiveness of normal mouse macrophages was significantly augmented when assayed under the presence of ginseng extract (1mg/ml). The migratory ability of normal chicken leucocytes in the absence of MIF was significantly decreased by the stimulation of ginseng extract alone. MIF response was significantly decreased by immunosuppressants and this impaired response was not restored by ginseng pretreatment. This study was additionally performed to evaluate the effect of ginseng on the expulsion of adult Trichinella spiralis in mice. ICR mice were infected experimentally by esophageal incubation of 300 T. spiralis infective muscle larvae prepared by acid-pepsin digestion of infected mice. and received oral administration of 70% alcohol ginseng extract(10mg/mouse/day) for the indicated days plus 4 days before infection. At various times after infection, the number of adult T. spiralis worms in small intestines was determined. Interestingly, ginseng-treatment was accompanied by accelerated expulson of T. spiralis. These results led to the conclusion that Panax ginseng caused some enhancing effect on GVH reaction, macrophage migration inhibition reaction and expulsion of T. spiralis. In addition these results suggested that the mechanisms responsible for this enhancement of ginseng may be chiefly or partially due to nonspecific stimulation of cell-mediated immune response.

• Mycobiology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.158-162
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• 2005

The immunomodulatory effect of aqueous extract of Inonotus obliquus, called as Chaga, was tested on bone marrow cells from chemically immunosuppressed mice. The Chaga water extract was daily administered for 24 days to mice that had been treated with cyclophosphamide (400 mg/kg body weight), immunosuppressive alkylating agent. The number of colony-forming unit (CFU)-granulocytes/macrophages (GM) and erythroid burst-forming unit (BFU-E), increased almost to the levels seen in non-treated control as early as 8 days after treatment. Oral administration of the extract highly increased serum levels of IL-6. Also, the level of $TNF-{\alpha}$ was elevated by the chemical treatment in control mice, whereas was maintained at the background level in the extract-treated mice, indicating that the extract might effectively suppress $TNF-{\alpha}$ related pathologic conditions. These results strongly suggest the great potential of the aqueous extract from Inonotus obliquus as immune enhancer during chemotherapy.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1625-1628
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• 2006

The (-)-pimara-9 (11), 15-dien-19-oic acid, acanthoic acid was extracted from the roots of Acanthopanax koreanum using bioassay-guided isolation of a MeOH extract. Acanthoic acid was assayed against Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus epidermidis causing dental caries and opportunistic pathogen. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of acanthoic acid against Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus epidermidis was 2 and 4 ${\mu}g/mL$, respectively, which was much lower than those of other natural antimicrobial agents such as 8 ${\mu}g/mL$ of tanshinone IIA. Acanthoic acid also significantly inhibited the growth of other cariogenic bacteria such as Streptococcus sobrinus and Streptococcus sanguis, and Streptococcus grodenii in the MIC range of 4${\sim}$32 ${\mu}g/mL$. Our findings suggest that acanthoic acid could be employed as a potential antibacterial agent for preventing dental caries and skin infections.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.360-367
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• 2020

Tuna skin byproduct extract (TSB) was used as a biocompatibility film base material, and its composite film with gellan gum (GG) was prepared. In addition, Pinus thunbergii cone extract (PTCE) was incorporated into the film to provide anti-oxidant and anti-bacteria activities. The tensile strength (TS) of the TSB/GG composite films increased with increasing GG content, whereas elongation at break (E) decreased. TSB/GG film at a ratio of 0.5:0.5 (w/w) showed the most desirable TS and E values. Based on scavenging free radical potentials and disc diffusion method results against growth of bacteria, antioxidant and anti-bacteria activities of films increased with increasing PTCE concentration. Accordingly, this study showed that TSB/GG could be used as a film material while the TSB/GG composite film containing PTCE can be utilized as functional packaging.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.276.2-276.2
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• 2002

Glycosaminoglycans(PT -Gag) were isolated from the porcine testis. From the PT -Gag. we obtained two different types of Gag fractions using Dowex macroporous Resin MSA-1 column. PT-Gag-1.5% NaCl and PT -Gag-16% NaCl. Various biological activities of the GAGs were examined in aspect of anticoagulant and immunomodulating activity. The anticoagulant activity of the GAGs was evaluated by activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT ) assay and thrombin time (TT) assay. The GAGs of porcine testis markedly increased the clotting times of both of aPTT and TT. showing that PT-Gag-16% NaCl was more effective than PT-Gag-1.5% NaCl. The immunomodulating activity of the GAGs was examined in relation to regulation of cytokine production of mutine peritoneal macrophages. Treatment with the GAGs promonently enhanced the prodution of cytokines. IFN-${\gamma}$, from macrophages. Taken together. GAGs isolated from porcine testis possess biological functions such as anticoagulant and immunomodulating activity.