• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 1997

The molecular weight 30 kDa membrane protein of Toxoplusma Sondii (Toxoplasma 30 kDa) apparently conserved in most strains of T. gondii and sera of infected hosts. The present study aimed to elucidate Toxoplasmc 30 kDa as a useful diagnotic antigen for serodiagnisis of toxoplasmosis by ELISA and for induction of protective immunity. Murine spleen cells immunized with the membrane antigen of T. gondii were fused with mouse Sp2/0-Ag 14 myeloma cells. Out of 8 clones selected, five were IgG2b, the others belonged to IgG 1 and IgG2a. The 30 kDa antigen was distributed mainly on the surface membrane of tachyzoites by indirect fluorescence method. Murine peritoneal macrophages which were activated by 30 kDa antigen produced more amounts of NO2 compared with crude antigen-treated group, however there were no significant differences in toxoplamacidal activity between the two groups. Higher specificity of Toxoplosma 30 kDa antigen was recognized for serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis than the crude antigen. From these results, ToxopLasmo 30 kDa antigen enhances the cytotoxic effect of macrophages as well as a more reliable means for the serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis by ELISA. Key words: Toxoplosma gondii, 30 kDa antigen (p30), mouse, serodiagnosis, macrophage, cytotoxicity.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1715-1723
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• 2016

The heat extracts of six kinds of medicinal herbs (Scutellaria baicalensis, Sophora flavescens, Citrus unshiu pericarpium, Lonicera japonica, Perilla frutescens, Benincasa hispida) were tested for non-specific immune response and disease resistance effects related with fish diseases on olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. The preventive effects of 6 herbal mixtures against bacterial disease on cultured flounder were examined follow as feeding EP absorbed with the heat extract of six kinds of medicinal herbs. For feeding trial for 12th week, weight gain and serum analysis of fish fed various groups were not significant differences. Lysozyme activity of the 0.01 % treated group on 4th week showed significant increase. Histopathology of the administrated group for feeding period showed no particular signs of tissue degeneration. At 0.01% oral experimental group, relative percent survival (RPS) were only 50% to 75% for four weeks and eight weeks group by intraperitoneal injection with E. tarda. The results suggest that heat extracts of six kinds of medicinal herbs (0.01%) would be effective to enhance the nonspecific immunity and protective ability of olive flounder against fish pathogen.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.16.1-16.20
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• 2022

The gastrointestinal tract is the first organ directly affected by fasting. However, little is known about how fasting influences the intestinal immune system. Intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) capture antigens, migrate to secondary lymphoid organs, and provoke adaptive immune responses. We evaluated the changes of intestinal DCs in mice with short-term fasting and their effects on protective immunity against Listeria monocytogenes (LM). Fasting induced an increased number of CD103⁺CD11b^- DCs in both small intestinal lamina propria (SILP) and mesenteric lymph nodes (mLN). The SILP CD103⁺CD11b^- DCs showed proliferation and migration, coincident with increased levels of GM-CSF and C-C chemokine receptor type 7, respectively. At 24 h post-infection with LM, there was a significant reduction in the bacterial burden in the spleen, liver, and mLN of the short-term-fasted mice compared to those fed ad libitum. Also, short-term-fasted mice showed increased survival after LM infection compared with ad libitum-fed mice. It could be that significantly high TGF-β2 and Aldh1a2 expression in CD103⁺CD11b^- DCs in mice infected with LM might affect to increase of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells. Changes of major subset of DCs from CD103⁺ to CD103^- may induce the increase of IFN-γ-producing cells with forming Th1-biased environment. Therefore, the short-term fasting affects protection against LM infection by changing major subset of intestinal DCs from tolerogenic to Th1 immunogenic.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.912-918
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• 2007

Purpose : Breast milk contains several components that provide specific immunity and affect the maturation of the infant's immune system. Allergic disease (AD), including atopic eczema, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergy is characterized by an imbalance between cytokines produced by distinct T-helper cell subtypes. The aim of the study was to investigate the concentrations of cytokines and chemokines that were involved in allergic reactions in breast milk from allergic and nonallergic mothers and then analyse the effect of breastfeeding duration on the prevalence of allergic disease in the age of two. Methods : The breast milk samples were collected from mothers with AD (n=88) and without AD (n=47). Breast milk was collected at the second day (colostrum) and four weeks later (mature milk).The level of Interlukine (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, $TGF-{\beta}1$, $TGF-{\beta}2$, RANTES in breast milk were determined by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits according to the manufacturer's instructions. Results : Mothers with AD had a higher concentration of IL-8 in colostrum compared with those without AD (P=0.021). But, $TGF-{\beta}1$ and $TGF-{\beta}2$ were higher concentrated in colostrum of mother without AD (P=0.013, P=0.001). Whereas concentrations of other cytokines were not significantly different between the two groups. There was no association between levels of cytokines and chemokines in the breast milk and allergic development during the first 2 years of life in the infants. Conclusion : The higher concentration of $TGF-{\beta}1$ and $TGF-{\beta}2$ in colostrum from non-allergic mothers may explain the protective effect. But, the higher concentrations of IL-8 in colostrum from allergic mothers may in part explain the controversial results on the protective effect of breastfeeding against allergic diseases. We conclude that there is no convincing evidence form a relation between cytokines in breast milk and allergic diseases in infants. Longer follow-up are necessary to evaluate the effects of breast milk components on AD.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.158-168
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• 2023

Natural products have been used to mitigate the effects of cancer and infectious diseases, as they feature diverse bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Here, we chose 10 natural products that are well-known as pulmonary enhancers and investigated their bactericidal effects on Streptococcus pneumoniae. In the disk diffusion assay, the growth of S. pneumoniae was significantly regulated by G. fructus treatment regardless of extraction method used. We first adopted spraying as a novel delivery method for G. fructus. Interestingly, mice exposed to G. fructus three times a day for 2 weeks were resistant to S. pneumoniae intranasal infection (shown both through body weight loss and survival rates compared to the control group). Moreover, we confirmed that exposure to G. fructus regulated the colonization of the bacteria despite the sustained inflammation in the lung after exposure to S. pneumoniae, indicating that migrated inflammatory immune cells may involve a host defense mechanism against pulmonary infectious diseases. While a similar number of granulocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C⁺Ly6G⁺), neutrophils (CD11b⁺Ly6C^intLy6G⁺), and monocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C^intLy6G^-) were found between groups, a significantly increased number of alveolar macrophages (CD11b⁺CD11c^hiF4/80⁺) was detected in BAL fluids of mice pre-exposed to G. fructus at 5 days after S. pneumonia infection. Taken together, our data suggest that this usage of G. fructus can induce protective immunity against bacterial infection, indicating that facial spray may be helpful in enhancing the defense mechanism against pulmonary inflammation and in evaluating the efficacy of natural products as immune enhancers against respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.485-492
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• 2024

Sea cucumbers contain more than 50% protein in their solid content, and they also possess various bioactive substances such as saponins and mucopolysaccharides. This study analyzed the activities of various enzymes derived from Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria and determined to degrade the components of sea cucumbers. Among the analyzed strains, B. subtilis K26 showed the highest activities in protease and xylanase and relatively high activity in cellulase. Accordingly, samples of sea cucumber and water were mixed in equal proportions, sterilized, and then fermented by inoculating them with B. subtilis K26. Following this, a higher amino acid content was observed between 1.5 and 7.5 hr, a lower residual solid content in this time, and a lesser fermentation odor. The saponin content in fermented sea cucumber powder extracted with butanol was measured to be 1.12 mg/g. The chondroitin sulfate content was evaluated to be 5.11 mg/g in raw sea cucumber. The total polyphenol content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activities were 6.95 mg gallic acid equivalent/g, 3.69 mg quercetin equivalent/g, and 3.69 mg quercetin equivalent/g in raw sea cucumber, respectively. Moreover, the DNA damage protective effect of fermented sea cucumber extract was found to be concentration-dependent, with a very strong effect at very low concentrations. Overall, we suggest that sea cucumber fermented with B. subtilis K26 has a high potential as a food for inhibiting oxidation, enhancing immunity, and improving muscle function in the human body thanks to its high free amino acid content.