• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.265-274
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• 2016

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic modules that are evolutionally conserved in bacteria and archaea. TA systems composed of an intracellular toxin and its antidote (antitoxin) are currently classified into five types. Commonly, activation of toxins under stress conditions inhibits diverse cellular processes and consequently induces cell death or reversible growth inhibition. These effects of toxins play various physiological roles in such as regulation of gene expression, growth control (stress response), programmed cell arrest, persister cells, programmed cell death, phage protection, stabilization of mobile genetic elements or postsegregational killing of plasmid-free cells. Accordingly, bacterial TA systems are commonly considered as stress-responsive genetic modules. However, molecule screening for activation of toxin in TA system is available as development of antimicrobial agents. In addition, cytotoxic effect induced by toxin is used as effective cloning method with antitoxic effect of antitoxin; consequently cells containing cloning vector inserted a target gene can survive and false-positive transformants are removed. Also, TA system is applicable to efficient single protein production in biotechnology industry because toxins that are site-specific ribonuclease inhibit protein synthesis except for target protein. Furthermore, some TA systems that induce apoptosis in eukaryotic cells such as cancer cells or virus-infected cells would have a wide range of applications in eukaryotes, and it will lead to new ways of treating human disease. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on bacterial TA systems and their applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.235-241
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to isolate soy curd forming bacterial strains. Soy curd forming bacteria were isolated from Kimchi, a traditional Korean vegetable food that is fermented using lactic acid bacteria. Among 196 bacterial strains, ten isolates (strain No. 2-2-2, 2-15-2, 2-18-1, 2-19-2, 3-4-1, 3-4-2, 3-8-1, 3-8-3, 3-17-1, 4-39-5) formed firm soy curd. The isolated bacterial strains were identified by molecular biological and biochemical analyses. The genomic DNAs extracted from the isolated bacterial strains were used as a template for PCR amplification of 16S rDNA region. By comparing the results of the 16s rDNA sequences with GenBank data, the isolated strains were identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides group and Lactobacillus sakei group. The phylogenetic position of soy curd forming strains and their related taxa were investigated using neighbor-joining method. L. mesenteroides group was further identified as L. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum based on biochemical properties. L. sakei group was named Lactobacillus sp., because it showed a variety of biochemical properties.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.463-469
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• 2003

This study was carried out to investigate the antioxidant activities of Dansam (S. miltiorrhiza). The Dansam (S. miltiorrhiza) was extracted with ethanol and methanol, and the extracts were fractionated with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and butanol and water, in that order. The antioxidant activities of Dansam (S. miltiorrhiza) were determined by measuring the radical scavenging effects, using the 1, l-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) method. The electron donating ability was shown to be about 50% (IC50) at concentration of L-ascorbic acid, Dansam that reflected eliminatory effect by 50% were 9.48$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$, 8.28$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$, and l2.59$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ respectively. According to the results of the above anti oxidation experiments, those for the group with the added Dansam showed a decreased oxidation, but the antioxidation increased with time. With a storage temperature of 60 C for 5 days, the acid value for the relative antioxidant activities were higher than in the Control group. The peroxide values for the relative antioxidant activities were also higher than in the Control group. The TBA values for the relative antioxidant activities were higher than in the Control group.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.330-341
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• 2018

This study was performed to investigate and measure the antimicrobial activity of evergreen woody species extracts on Trichophyton mentagrophytes. To do this, leaves and stems were collected from Wando and Jeju islands, and were used for the extraction with different solvents (i.e., distilled water, 80% ethanol, and 100% methanol), and at different ultrasonic extracting times (i.e., 15, 30, and 45 minutes). The experiment was conducted by using the agar diffusion method. The clear zone was measured after incubating the paper disc containing the plant extract in a bacterial culture medium. The controls were synthetic antimicrobials, methylparaben and phenoxyethanol, at concentrations of 0.4, 1, 2, and 4 mg/disc. Altogether, extracts of 56 out of 64 species used in this study had inhibitory activity, which confirmed their antimicrobial activity against Athlete's foot. Among them, the crude ethanolic extract of Elaeocarpus sylvestris in 45 min showed a zone of inhibition < 20.2 mm, while the clear zone of Actinodaphne lancifolia ethanolic extraction for 30 min was 23.5 mm. Also, Quercus acuta, Dendropanax morbiferus and Daphne odora showed clear zones of 28.0 mm (45 minutes ethanolic extraction), 20.5 mm (45 minutes crude methanolic extraction) and 19.7 mm (45 minutes methanolic extraction), respectively. Thus, these results confirm that the extracts of evergreen woody species have therapeutic potential against Athlete's foot, and suggest that in order to extract adequate amounts of antimicrobial substance from the plant sources, ideal extraction condition has to be considered.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.157-166
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• 2021

Objectives This study is designed to evaluate the safety of Bojungikgi-tang soft extract in healthy male volunteers. Methods 12 healthy male volunteers were recruited and this study was carried out by a single center. Laboratory test results, vital signs of the volunteers were collected to evaluate safety. According to registration order, the 12 subjects were allocated by serial number. To evaluate safety, blood samples were taken and vital signs were checked 4 times - screening, pre administration, post administration and follow up-during the whole trial. The difference between pre (before medication [0 hr]) and post-administration (after medication [48 hr]) variables was summarized as mean±standard deviation. The normality test was performed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Shapiro-Wilk test. When the normality is satisfied, the paired t-test is applied. Otherwise, the non-parametric method, Wilcoxon signed rank test is applied. The significance level was p<0.05. The incidence of all adverse effects are shown in percentage. Results In the case of red blood cell, hemoglobin, hematocrit, lymphocytes, neutrophils, protein, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase values, the normality test result of the variable for the difference value before and after the dosing has a significance level <0.05. But most of values did not deviate from the normal range, and the deviation from the normal range could not be regarded as the significance associated with this clinical trial. And adverse event wasn't observed associated with the clinical trial drug. Conclusions Bojungikgi-tang soft extract were considered to be safe for healthy male volunteers.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: At these days, the human health and environmental concerns of pesticide used for turf grass management at golf courses in Korea have increased. The objectives of the study were to determine the pesticide residues for golf course and neighboring area and evaluate the impact moved into neighboring area of pesticides treated at golf courses. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three golf courses and neighboring areas in Korea were monitored from July to October, 2017. The soil sample collection was divided the golf course into its logical parts (such as a greens, fairways, and rough) and neighboring area soil samples were collected at three different points. The water samples of the golf course and neighboring area were collected at three different points, respectively. The pesticide residues for soil and water sample were monitored by the multi-residue screening method of 98 pesticide with HPLC-MS-MS. The concentrations of detected pesticide in soil and water samples of the golf course were in the range of 0.01~1.26 mg/kg and 0.0001~0.0089 mg/kg, respectively. The residue levels for detected pesticides in neighboring area were at 0.01~0.04 mg/kg and 0.0001~0.0029 mg/kg, respectively, well below those level in golf course. CONCLUSION: This study indicate that the pesticide residue levels of golf course and neighboring area in Korea may not a possible risk of exposure on soil and aquatic environment. For future work, more monitoring should be performed so that the evaluation data becomes more valid.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.15-28
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• 2018

Objective : This study sought to characterize and determine the qualitative level of a single target study for stroke patients. Methods : The National Science and Technology Information Center (NDSL), DBpia (DBpia), RISS (Radical Research Information Service), Korea Research Information (KISS), and the National Assembly Library's original case study from 2002 to 2017. A total of 24 single target research papers were selected through the screening process to analyze the quality level of research methods and research design. Results : ABA design was th most common study design method. One person was the most with 12(50%). and three were the second with 8(33.3%). Imagination was the most used as an independent lawyer. Dependent variables had the highest level of situability and one-sidedness. The study was also conducted with a variety of target behaviors, including 'memory', 'visual attention', 'dysphagia', 'visual-motor coordination', 'balance', 'activity of daily life' and 'edema' behaviors. It also showed a positive effect on all dependent variables. The Qualitative level was found to be above the intermediate level except for one study. Conclusion : It is academic significance that this study analyzes the items to be prepared for in the performance of a single target study and further studies may require the establishment of a weak but good-quality single target study for researchers conducting research in local communities and clinical sites.

• The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.320-327
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• 2018

A 72-year-old man with general weakness visited the outpatient clinic of the hematology department. The patient had been treated under the diagnosis of autoimmune hemolytic anemia for 2 years. His hemoglobin level at the time of the visit was 6.3 g/dL, and a blood transfusion was requested to treat his anemia. The patient's blood type was A, RhD positive. Antibody screening and identification test showed agglutination in all reagent cells with a positive reaction to autologous red blood cells (RBCs). He had a prior transfusion history with three least incompatible RBCs. The patient returned home after receiving one unit of leukoreduced filtered RBC, which was the least incompatible blood in the crossmatching test. After approximately five hours, however, fever, chills, dyspnea, abdominal pain, and hematuria appeared and the patient returned to the emergency room next day after the transfusion. The $anti-Fy^a$ antibody, which was masked by the autoantibody, was identified after autoadsorption using polyethylene glycol. He was diagnosed with an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction due to $anti-Fy^a$ that had not been detected before the transfusion. In this setting, it is necessary to consider the identification of coexisting alloantibodies in patients with autoantibodies and to become more familiar with the method of autoantibody adsorption.

• Journal of Society of Occupational Therapy for the Aged and Dementia
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2018

Objective : The aim of current investigation was to standardize the grip strength of elders and to examine the correlation between grip strength, anthropometric parameters, depression and quality of life. Method : The researchers used Korea national health and nutrition examination surveys (2016) for analysis and analyzed the data of 919 elders who had completed the screening test among right-handed elderly without activity limitation. The researchers classified the age of the elders as 65~69, 70~74, 75~79, and 80 years old for standardization of grip strength. Anthropometric parameters are height, weight, body mass index, and waist circumference. Depression was measured by PHQ-9(Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and quality of life was assessed by EQ-5D. Result : The ratio of right handedness of the elderly was 87.8%, left handed 4.9%, and both handles 5.7%. In the standardization and correlation analysis, the grip strength decreased with age (p<.01, r=-.308~-.305). The grip strength showed a strong correlation with height (p<.001, r=.747~.741). There was a significant correlation between depression (p<.01, r=-.172~-.163) and quality of life (p<.01, r=.285~.267). Conclusion : The findings of this investigation suggest that height, depression, and quality of life need to be considered when assessing the level of grip strength in the elderly.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.458-477
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the trend in the research on alcoholic liver disease (ALD) using Korean traditional medicine. Methods: This review was conducted using six electronic databases (NDSL, KMBASE, Koreantk, KISS, KISTI, and KoreaMed) with no restrictions in year. The search terms were "alcoholic liver disease", "alcoholic fatty liver", "alcoholic hepatitis", "alcoholic cirrhosis", "herbal medicine", "acupuncture" and "traditional medicine". The searched studies were analyzed according to the type of research. Results: After screening, 37 studies were selected among 552. The types of studies were as follows: 8 in vivo studies, 17 case reports, 7 case series, 1 assessment scale study, 1 randomized controlled trial, and 3 research reviews. The in vivo studies reported the efficacy and its mechanism in the animal phase of single or complex herbal medicine. In the clinical research, interventions such as herbal medicine and acupuncture were most commonly used for ALD treatment. Conclusions: We analyzed the trends in ALD treatment using Korean traditional medicine through this review. The results showed that Korean traditional medicine could be an effective method for ALD treatment. Conducting related in-depth studies, such as well-designed randomized controlled trial based on the results of experimental research, is necessary.