• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.785-793
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• 2013

We studied the effects of 2 different dosages of high-molecular-weight poly-${\gamma}$-glutamic acid (hm ${\gamma}$-PGA) derived from Bacillus subtilis chungkookjang on lipid metabolism in a high-fructose diet-induced hypertriglyceridemic animal model. For 4 weeks, rats were fed either AIN-93 diet (normal control, NC; n = 10) or modified AIN-93 diet in which cornstarch was substituted with 63% fructose (n = 30) to induce hypertriglyceridemia. After 4 weeks, the hypertriglyceridemic rats were treated with daily oral doses of 0 mg (hypertriglyceridemic control, HC), 2.5 mg (hypertriglyceridemic, low hm ${\gamma}$-PGA, HL), or 5 $mg{\cdot}kg{\cdot}bw^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$ (hypertriglyceridemic, high hm ${\gamma}$-PGA, HH) hm ${\gamma}$-PGA for 4 weeks. The HL and HH groups exhibited significantly lower levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and free fatty acids than the HC group. The administration of hm ${\gamma}$-PGA reduced serum ALT and AST levels. The activities of lipogenic enzymes such as hepatic malic enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase as well as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase mRNA expression were significantly decreased by hm ${\gamma}$-PGA administration (p < 0.05). These results indicate that hm ${\gamma}$-PGA has an anti-hypertriglyceridemic effect in high-fructose diet-induced hypertriglyceridemic rats.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.167-170
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• 2004

Lactic acid bacteria (LABs) have been proposed as a potential oral allergy-therapeutic means of modulating immune phenotype expression in vivo, via promoting or reducing cytokine production. This study investigated the ability of LABs to suppress allergic response via modulating cytokine production in mice splenocytes. BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally primed with ovalbumin together with alum adjuvant to invoke antigen-specific Th1/Th2 cytokine-secreting cell populations in splenocytes. Spleen cells from mice fed with Lactobacillus confusus PL9001 (KCCM-10245), L. fermentum PL9005 (KCCM-10250), L. plantarum PL9011 (KCCM-10358), and Bifidobacterium infantis PL9506 (KCCM-10406) suppressed the levels of Th2 cell cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-5 during antigen sensitization. In addition, all mice fed with LABs induced secretion of Th1 cell cytokines such as IL-2 in splenocytes. These results suggested that LABs are anti-allergic agents, in view of their Th1/anti-Th2 immunoregulation.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.227-231
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• 2007

Many of antimicrobial components used in the mouthwash have disadvantages such as coloring of periodontal tissue and homing sensation. To find the more biocompatible antimicrobial agent, we have screened the 2,125 kinds of natural plant extracts obtained from by the Plant Extract Bank (Daejeon, Korea). The antimicrobial activity was determined by spectrophotometric growth inhibition assay for the major dental pathogens. For the Porphyromonas gingivalis, 19 plant extracts had an antimicrobial activity, 17 plant extracts for the Prevotella intermedia, 45 plant extracts for the Haemophilus actinomycetemcomitans and 85 plant extracts for the Streptococcus mutans. Among these effective extracts, 8 kind of natural plant extracts had an antimicrobial activity for more than 3 species of dental pathogens. In our experiment, Cudrania tricuspidata, Morus bombycis and Mallotus japonicas have antibacterial effects on the all kinds of major dental pathogens. Therefore these plant extracts have a possibility to be a candidate for major antibacterial components in dental products.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.633-639
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• 2005

Frequently used for humans as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, naproxen has been known to induce ulcerative gastric lesions. The present study was undertaken to investigate the in vivo therapeutic effect of astaxanthin, isolated from a Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous mutant, against naproxen-induced gastric antral ulceration in rats. The rats were treated with three doses of astaxanthin [1, 5, and 25 mg/kg body weight (B.W.), respectively] once daily for 2 weeks after pretreatment of 80 mg of naproxen/kg B.W. twice daily for 3 days, while the control rats received only 80 mg of naproxen/kg B.W. twice daily for 3 days. The oral administration of astaxanthin (1,5, and 25 mg/kg B.W.) showed a curative effect against naproxen (80 mg/kg B.W.)-induced gastric antral ulcer and reduced the elevated lipid peroxide level in gastric mucosa. In addition, astaxanthin treatment resulted in significant increase in the activities of radical scavenging enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. A histologic examination clearly proved that acute gastric mucosal lesion induced by naproxen nearly disappeared after the astaxanthin treatment. These results suggest that astaxanthin eliminated the lipid peroxides and free radicals induced by naproxen and may be a potential candidate for remedy of gastric ulceration.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.415-420
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• 2004

Immunoprophylatic effect of IgY against B. bronchispetica was proven with 100% preventive rate in mice administrated with IgY with antibody titer 1:640~1:2,560. Intramuscular administration was more efficient than oral administration. This phenomenon was also observed in the therapeutic effects of IgY after challenge with B. bronchseptica in mice. In the field trials with the egg yolk antibodies from hens immunized with combined antigens with B. bronchiseptica and parvovirus, curing rates in dogs with severe clnical signs such as bloody diarrhea were 81.6% and 86.7% by intramuscular or subcutaneous administration of IgY, respectively. Safety of the antibodies in dogs was proven without any side effects such as vomiting, edema, fever, etc. by adminstration of double doses for 7 days. These results indicated that the egg yolk antibodies could be used as effective prevention and treatment of alimentary and respiratory diseases in dogs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.921-929
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• 2011

Stimulation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling followed by increase of glucose uptake in L6 myotubes were studied with organic solvent extract of Malva verticillata (MV) seeds. Ethanol extract of M. verticillata seeds (MVE) significantly increased the phosphorylation level of AMPK, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), and glucose uptake in L6 myotube cells. The MVE was fractionated with n-hexane (MVE-H), chloroform (MVE-C), ethylacetate (MVE-E), n-butanol (MVE-B), and water (MVE-W). MVE-H (150 ${\mu}g$/ml) showed the highest phosphorylating activity and increased glucose uptake by 2.3-fold. Oral administration of MVE-H (40 mg/kg) for 4 weeks to type 2 diabetic (db/db) mice reduced non-fasting and fasting blood glucose levels by 17.1% and 23.3%, respectively. Phosphorylation levels of AMPK and ACC in the soleus muscle and liver tissue of db/db mice were significantly increased by the administration of MVE-H. MVE-H was further fractionated using preparative HPLC to identify the AMPK-activating compounds. The NMR and GC-MS analyses revealed that ${\beta}$-sitosterol was a major effective compound in MVE-H. Phosphorylation levels of AMPK and ACC, and glucose uptake were significantly increased by the treatment of MVE-S (${\beta}$-sitosterol) isolated from M. verticillata to L6 cells, and these effects were attenuated by an AMPK inhibitor (Compound C) pretreatment. These results, taken together, demonstrate that increased glucose uptake in L6 myotubes by MVE-H treatment is mainly accomplished through the activation of AMPK. Our finding suggests that the extract isolated from M. verticillata seed would be beneficial for the treatment of metabolic disease including type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.430-435
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• 2013

Multidrug resistance, especially multidrug efflux mechanisms that extrude structurally unrelated cytotoxic compounds from the cell by multidrug transporters, is a serious problem and one of the main reasons for the failure of therapeutic treatment of infections by pathogenic microorganisms as well as of cancer cells. Streptococcus mutans is considered one of the primary causative agents of dental caries and periodontal disease, which comprise the most common oral diseases. A fragment of chromosomal DNA from S. mutans KCTC3065 was cloned using Escherichia coli KAM32 as host cells lacking major multidrug efflux pumps. Although E. coli KAM32 cells were very sensitive to many antimicrobial agents, the transformed cells harboring a recombinant plasmid became resistant to several structurally unrelated antimicrobial agents such as tetracycline, kanamycin, rhodamin 6G, ampicillin, acriflavine, ethidium bromide, and tetraphenylphosphonium chloride. This suggested that the cloned DNA fragment carries a gene encoding a multidrug efflux pump. Among 49 of the multidrug-resistant transformants, we report the functional gene cloning and characterization of the function of one multidrug efflux pump, namely MdeA from S. mutans, which was expressed in E. coli KAM32. Judging from the structural and biochemical properties, we concluded that MdeA is the first cloned and characterized multidrug efflux pump using the proton motive force as the energy for efflux drugs.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.619-626
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• 1998

The critical etiologic factor in the development of dental caries is dental plaque. The main component of dental plaque is the mutan produced by Streptococcus mutans. The following results were obtained by using blue mutan to assess the factors affecting the mutan-digesting activity of Micromonospora aurantiaca isolated from oral cavity. Micromonospora aurantiaca digested more blue mutan in the minimal essential broth at pH 7.0 than at pH 5.5 or 8.5, and at $37^{\circ}C$ than at $32^{\circ}C\;or\;42^{\circ}C$. Blue mutan was similarly digested at the range of 1mM to 16mM of $CaCl_2$ and 0.1mM to 6.4 mM of $MgCl_2$, while being significantly digested at the concentration of 2.5mM of KCl. When the concentration of glucose was decreased in the minimal essential broth, the digestion of blue mutan was increased. When the culture supernatant of Micromonospora aurantiaca in the RL broth with 1% glucose or 0.5% mutan was mixed with 2 ${\times}$ BHIYS broth containing 0.5% yeast extract and 10% sucrose, the formation of artificial plaque on the orthodontic wires by Streptococcus mutans was inhibited(p<0.05). These results indicated that the production of mutanase was identified in the culture supernatant of Micromonospora aurantiaca, suppressing the formation of artificial plaque by Streptococcus mutans.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.274-282
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• 2012

The object of this study was to assess the efficacy of Polycan from Aureobasidium pullulans SM-2001, which is composed mostly of beta-1,3-1,6-glucan, on osteoarthritis (OA)-induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection and partial medial meniscectomy (ACLT&PMM). Three different dosages of Polycan (85, 42.5, and 21.25 mg/kg) were orally administered once a day for 84 days to male rats a week after ACLT&PMM surgery. Changes in the circumference and maximum extension angle of each knee, and in cartilage histopathology were assessed using Mankin scores 12 weeks after Polycan administration. In addition, cartilage proliferation was evaluated using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). As the result of ACLT&PMM, classic OA was induced with increases in maximum extension angles, edematous knees changes, and capsule thickness, as well as decreases in chondrocyte proliferation, cartilages degenerative changes, and loss of articular cartilage. However, these changes (except for capsule thickness) were markedly inhibited in all Polycan- and diclofenac sodium-treated groups compared with OA control. Although diclofenac sodium did not influence BrdU uptake, BrdU-immunoreactive cells were increased with all dosages of Polycan, which means that Polycan treatment induced proliferation of chondrocytes in the surface articular cartilage of the tibia and femur. The results obtained in this study suggest that 84 days of continuous oral treatment of three different dosages of Polycan led to lesser degrees of articular stiffness and histological cartilage damage compared with OA controls 91 days after OA inducement, suggesting that the optimal Polycan dosage to treat OA is 42.5 mg/kg based on the present study.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 1987

Previous studies have been performed for the sero-identification of selected species of Bacteroides by immunofluorescence antibody techniques and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using species-specific rabbit antisera to B. gingivalis, B. intermedius, and B. melaninogenicus. However, these studies have not commented on the serological cross-reactivity between these 3 species of black- pigmented Bacteroides. For the cross-reactivity study, antisera to B. gingivalis ATCC 33277, B. intermedius ATC C25261 and B. asaccharolyticus ATCC 25260 were raised from rabbits. Preliminary study for observing the cross-reactivity between these species was performed by indirect immunoflourescence technique. Immunoabsorption of the antisera was done with bacterial cells from the other species and the species-specificity of the antisera was conformed by the absence of reactivity with bacterial strains from the other species by indirect immunofluorescence technique and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Three representative unabsorbed antisera cross-reacted strongly with cells from the other species. Especially, anti-B. asaccharolyticus ATCC 25260 antiserum showed a strong cross-reactivity with B. gingivalis ATCC33277. After immunoabsorption of 3 representative antisera with the other species, the cross-reactivity was found only between B. gingivalis ATCC 33277 and B. asaccharolyticus ATCC 25260. Further study would be necessary to clarify the cross-reactivity between important oral black-pigmented Bacteroides from subgingival plaque or bacterial colonies for rapid identification.