• Title/Summary/Keyword: Preventive agents

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Anti-staphylococcal Bacteriocin from Enterococcus faecium

  • Kim, Kyung-Suk;Lee, Ung-Soo;Moon, Gi-Seong
    • Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.74-77
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    • 2010
  • Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is beginning to pose a social issue. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of effective anti-staphylococcal agents to eradicate antibiotic-resistant S. aureus in food systems and to treat the pathogen in clinical areas. To address this need, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from kimchi were screened for the production of anti-staphylococcal bacteriocin. From this screening, a bacteriocin generated by the MK3 strain, which was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as Enterococcus faecium, demonstrated antimicrobial activity against an S. aureus strain, and was designated enterocin MK3. Enterocin MK3 also demonstrated activity against other gram-positive bacteria, including several LAB and Listeria monocytogenes, but not gram-negative Escherichia coli. The molecular mass of enterocin MK3 was estimated as approximately 6.5 kDa on an SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) gel.

Effects of Costunolide Derived from Saussurea lappa Clarke on Apoptosis in AGS Stomach Cancer Cell Lines

  • Sun, Seung-Ho;Ko, Seong-Gyu
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.84-95
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    • 2006
  • Costunolide is an active sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the root of Saussurea lappa Clarke and is known to exhibit a variety of biological activities, including anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory effects. Nevertheless, the pharmacological pathways of costunolide have not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, its cytotoxic effects were examined using AGS gastric cancer cells. Its treatment resulted in apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The effects were attributed to the regulation of pro-apoptotic molecules and suppression of anti-apoptotic molecules. These results suggest that costunolide may be a candidate to deal with gastric cancers by chemopreventive agents.

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Are Beta Blockers New Potential Anticancer Agents?

  • Akbar, Shahid;Alsharidah, Mansour Saleh
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.22
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    • pp.9567-9574
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    • 2014
  • ${\beta}$-Blockers have been one of the most widely used and versatile drugs for the past half a century. A new potential for their use as anti-cancer drugs has emerged in the past few years. Various retrospective case control studies have been suggestive that use of ${\beta}$-blockers before the diagnosis of cancer could have preventive and protective effects against non-small cell lung carcinoma, melanoma, and breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers. Experimental and clinical observations are still inconclusive with some inconsistent findings. However, indications are pointing toward a positive role of some ${\beta}$-blockers against certain forms of cancers. This mini review is an effort to present the up to date published results of case-control studies and experimental findings.

Efficacy of Sanitizing Treatments for Feline Calicivirus as a Norovirus Surrogate Attached to Food and Food Contact Surfaces

  • Lee, Sung-Young;Kim, Kwang-Yup
    • Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.130-136
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    • 2010
  • Norovirus (NV) is becoming a major cause of foodborne illness in many countries. At present, very little is known about the survival of NV in the environment or the disinfection procedures needed to remove NV from contaminated surfaces. Feline calicivirus (FCV, $1{\times}10^{6.75}\;TCID_{50}/mL$) was used as a surrogate model for NV to investigate the effectiveness of sanitizing treatments for the viruses attached to food and food contact surfaces. Ammonium chloride (2%), organic acids (3000 ppm), and ethanol (70%) were most effective, providing $4\;log_{10}$ (99.99%) reductions in FCV titers on food or food contact surfaces. The disinfection efficacies of most agents on ceramic and glass surfaces were greater than stainless steel. The results from this study can be applied in the food industry to reduce NV-associated foodborne illnesses.

Weissella confusa Strain PL9001 Inhibits Growth and Adherence of Genitourinary Pathogens

  • Lee, Yeon-Hee
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.680-685
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    • 2004
  • The capability of lactic acid bacteria (LABs) to adhere to intestinal epithelial cells and vaginal epithelial cells is an important factor in the formation of a barrier to prevent the colonization of pathogenic bacteria. In addition, the ability to coaggregate with pathogens and production of antimicrobial agents also allow LABs to fight against pathogens. In this work, Weissella confusa PL9001 was tested for its ability to inhibit the growth and adherence of genitourinary pathogens, including Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), isolated from the urine of hospitalized female patients. W. confusa PL9001 was found to coaggregate with the four pathogens, as observed with a light microscope and scanning electron microscope. In competition, exclusion, and displacement tests, the adherence of the pathogens to T24 bladder epithelial cells was also inhibited by W. confusa PL9001. Accordingly, these results suggest that W. confusa PL9001 is potentially useful for both preventive and therapeutic treatment of genitourinary infections.

Screening of Korea Traditional Herbal Medicines with Inhibitory Activity on Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) Formation (한약재의 최종당화산물 생성저해활성 검색)

  • Jang, Dae-Sik;Lee, Yun-Mi;Kim, Young-Sook;Kim, Jin-Sook
    • Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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    • v.37 no.1 s.144
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    • pp.48-52
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    • 2006
  • Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are largely involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. As part of our ongoing project directed toward the discovery of preventive and/or delay agents for diabetic complications from natural sources, 92 Korean traditional herbal medicines have been investigated with an in vitro evaluation system using AGEs inhibitory activity. Of these, 17 herbal medicines exhibited a significant inhibitory activity against AGEs formation. Particularly, 9 herbal medicines, i.e., Cinnamomi Cortex, Artemisiae Argyi Herba, Ammoni Tsao-ko Fructus, Menthae Herba, Amomi Semen, Polygoni Avicularis Herba, Lycopi Herba, Salviae Radix, and Nelumbinis Semen showed more potent inhibitory activity (2-4 fold) than the positive control aminoguanidine.

CHEMOPREVENTION OF SMOKE-RELATED DNA DAMAGE AND CANCER

  • Flora, Silvio-De;Roumen Balansky;Carlo Bennicelli;Anna Camoirano;Maria Bagnasco;Cristina Cartiglia;Elena Tampa;Mariagrazia Longobardi;Alberto Izzotti;Fransesco D Agostini
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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    • 2001.10a
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    • pp.50-51
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    • 2001
  • DNA damage is an essential step in the pathogenesis of cancer and probably of other chronic degenerative conditions related to cigarette smoke (CS), such as atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathies, etc. Although the major goal of primary prevention is to refrain from smoking, chemoprevention by means of dietary and pharmacological agents provides a complementary preventive strategy. In spite of its overwhelming epidemiological importance, experimental studies evaluating CS as a complex mixture are relatively scanty.(omitted)

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CHEMOPREVENTION OF SMOKE-RELATED DNA DAMAGE AND CANCER

  • Flora, Silvio-De;Roumen Balansky;Carlo Bennicelli;Anna Camoirano;Maria Bagnasco;Cristina Cartiglia;Elena Tampa;Elena Tampa;Mariagrazia Longobardi;Alberto Izzotti
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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    • 2001.10b
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    • pp.7-8
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    • 2001
  • DNA damage is an essential step in the pathogenesis of cancer and probably of other chronic degenerative conditions related to cigarette smoke (CS), such as atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathies, etc. Although the major goal of primary prevention is to refrain from smoking, chemoprevention by means of dietary and pharmacological agents provides a complementary preventive strategy. In spite of its overwhelming epidemiological importance, experimental studies evaluating CS as a complex mixture are relatively scanty.(omitted)

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