• International Journal of Clinical Preventive Dentistry
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.216-221
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• 2018

Objective: In this study, we tried to investigate the antimicrobial activity of natural herbaceous plant-derived essential oils against oral disease-causing bacterial strains and establish the scientific evidences to apply them to the dentifrice, mouthwash, and other uses. Methods: We used the disk diffusion method with 23 types of 100% natural essential oils to verify the antimicrobial effect against Streptococcus mutans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. After adhering to the surface of the plate culture medium, $20{\mu}l$ of the essential oil was prepared, and the diameter of the transparent ring was measured after incubation for 24 hours. All the experiments were repeated three times. Results: Among 23 types of oils, 13 were effective against all three strains: myrrh, ginger, basil, carrot seed, tea tree, patchouli, ylang ylang, cypress, lemongrass, cinnamon, peppermint, lavender, and eucalryptus. Seventeen oils were effective against S. mutans, and myrrh, basil, and carrot seed showed high antimicrobial activity. Eighteen oils were effective against P. gingivalis, and tea tree, carrot seed, and cinnamons showed high antimicrobial activity. Sixteen oils were effective against L. rhamnosus, and carrot seed and peppermint cinnamon showed high antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: Consequently, 13 essential oils showed the antimicrobial activity against three bacterial strains, which indicates these essential oils might be used as the effective materials to suppress the growth of oral-disease inducing microorganisms. Moreover, essential oils that have been analyzed activities in this study will be mixed up within the constant range and analyzed their antimicrobial effects to examine the synergistic activity among them.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.269-273
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• 2007

We studied anti-microbial and anti-oxidant activities of bio-active components in stem of Juniperus chinensis L. and leaf of Abies koreana Wilson. Those plants of needle leaf tree family were reported to contain anti-cancer compounds. The anti-bacterial activity was tested by Broth dilution method against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. As results, Juniperus chinensis L. and Abies koreana Wilson extracts showed 17.0% and 8.5% higher anti-bacterial activity than methyl paraben, respectively. The free radical scavenging activity of Juniperus chinensis L. and Abies koreana Wilson extracts showed 45 % and 44 % at 5,000 ppm. We measured polyphenol (catechin equivalent) and flavonoids quantity. The Juniperus chinensis L. extract contained 312 mg/g of polyphenol and 105 mg/g of flavonoids. The Abies koreana Wilson extract contained 280 mg/g of polyphenol and 103.8 mg/g of flavonoids. The cytotoxicity of extracts was measured by neutral red assay. Extracts did not affect the viability of CCK-986sk cells up to a concentration of 1,250 ppm. In conclusion, these data suggest that extracts of needle leaf trees would be usefull as antiseptic agents and anti-oxidants for cosmetic products.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.256-262
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• 2017

Essential oil from herb is known to exert pharmacological effects on the human body. In this study we investigated the antibacterial activity of 4 essential oils (teetree, rosemary, melisa, and lavender), as well as the blended mixture oil of teetree, rosemary, and melisa (TRM) on three bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antibacterial analysis was performed using the standard disk diffusion method, and minimum inhibition concentration was determined by the broth microdilution method with different concentrations of essential oils (0.5, 1, 2 and 3 mg/mL). After incubation at $37^{\circ}C$ for 24 h, the antibacterial activity was assessed by measuring the zone of growth inhibition surrounding the disks. Herb oil with the inhibition zones showed varied values ranging from6 to 25 mm. However, the components of herb oil of TRM are as highly active as the teetree oil against pathogens, generating large inhibition zones for both gram negative and positive bacteria (13~22 mm and 8 mm inhibition zones). In the analysis for MIC, TRM showed growth-inhibitory effects at 0.0625% for S. aureus and E. coli, and 1.25% for P. aeruginosa. This result demonstrated that the anti-microbial activity of TRM was greater than a single herb oil, including oxacillin, rosemary, and teetrea. As a single herb oil, both rosemary and teetrea also had an anti-microbial effect by itself, and we can expect that the blended oil mixture may exert a synergistic effect against multidrug resistant bacteria, suggesting its future application in natural preservative agents for health food and cosmetics.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.118-124
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• 2004

Melanocytes synthesize melanin within discrete organelle termed melanosomes which are transferred to the surrounding keratinocytes and can be produced in varying sizes, numbers and densities. Skin whitening products have become increasingly popular in the past few years. The most successful natural skin whitening agents are: Arbutin, Vitamin C, Kojic acid, Mulberry, which are all tyrosinase inhibitors. In this work, melanoston, a melanogenesis inhibitor isolated from yeast was studied to understand its mechanism of melanogenesis inhibition. It was found that melanoston was not a tyrosinase inhibitor, while when melanoston was applied to the B16 melanoma cell culture media, the intracellular tyrosinase activity was decreased by more than 30％, When B16 melanoma was stimulated with ${\alpha}$-MSH, cell morphololgy was dramatically changed to have lots of dendrites on the cell membrane surface. On the other hand, B16 was treated with ${\alpha}$-MSH and melanoston, simultaneously, the change of cell morphology was not so great. This inhibition effect of melanoston was found to be related to the inhibition of intracellular activation and transportation of tyrosinase, which was observed by immunostaining of B16 melanoma using anti-tyrosinase antibody. From these results, melanoston was regarded as an inhibitor to the differentiation of melanoma cells.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.213-220
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• 2023

The most common skin disease, acne, often occurs in adolescence, but it is also detected/observed in adults due to air pollution and drug abuse. One of the causative agents of acne, Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) plays a role in the development of skin acne by inducing inflammatory mediators. Torreya nucifera (TN) is an evergreen tree of the family Taxaceae, having well reported antioxidant, anti-proliferative, liver protection, and nerve protection properties. Improvement of these bioactive properties of natural products is one of the purposes of natural product chemistry and pharmaceuticals. We believe biorenovation could be one improvement strategy that utilizes microbial metabolism to produce unique derivatives having enhanced bioactivity. Therefore, in this study, the C. acnes-induced RAW264.7 inflammation model was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of the biorenovated Torreya nucifera product (TNB). The results showed improved viability of TNB-treated cells compared to TN-treated cells in the concentration range of 50, 100, and 200 ㎍/mL. At non-toxic concentrations, TNB inhibited the production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 by suppression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 protein expression. TNB also attenuated the expression of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α induced by C. acnes. Furthermore, TNB inhibited the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway, a transcription factor known to regulate inflammatory mediators. Based on these results, this study suggests the potential of using TNB as natural material for the treatment of acnes and thus, supporting our postulation of biorenovation as an bioactivity improvement strategy.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.84-91
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• 2000

Mycopasma contamination of tissue culture cells easily evades detection and, thus, represents a continous therat to cell biologists. In case where infected cell can not simply be replaced, attempts have to be made to eradicate mycoplacma from the tissue culture cells. A variety of anti-microbial agents have been shown to be toxic to mycoplasma strains ; however, cell associated mycoplasma are often protected from antibiotics at concentrations shown to be effective in vitro. Antibiotic concentrations high enough to be lethal to cell as sociated mycoplasmas frequently are also detrimentrations to the host cells, while moderately increased antibiotic levels tolerated by the host cells often lead to only temporary growth suppression and/or to the emergence of mycoplasma strains resistanct even to high concentrations of the antibiotis applied. Hare, a genetic approach for the elimination of mycoplasma from tissue culture cells that overcomes thens limitations is described. By expression of a selection marker conferring resistance to an otherwise toxic agent, Acholeplasma laidlawii infected BHK-21 cells used as the model system were enabled to temporarily tolerate antibiotic concentrations high enough to be lethal to cell associated mycopalsma while leaving the host cells unharmed. Upon successful mycoplasma eradicated, cultvation of the cured host cells in the absence of the selective agent yielded revertant cell clones that had regained susceptibillity to the toxic agent. Cressation of the selection marker expression was shown to result from the loss of the selection marker DNA, which is a consequence of the fact that the stable and permanent integration of foreign DNA in eucaryotic cell chrosomes is highly inefficient. Thus, the cells were cured from mycoplasma yet remained biochemically unaltered.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.145-155
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• 2001

Cytochrome P4502C19 (CYP2C19) is one of human polymorphic xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes. The enzyme has been reported to catalyze more than 70 substrates, involving more than 100 reactions. These include several classes of therapeutic agents (e.g. anti-microbial. cardiovascular, psycho-active, etc.), sex hormones and insecticides. Associations of the CYP2C19 genotype/phenotype with individual differences in drug efficacy (e.g. diazepam, omeprazole, proguanil) and toxicity (e.g. mephenytoin, barbiturates) have been documented by many investigators. At least 11 allelic variants of CYP2C19 gene were reported to date. Most of the mutant alleles found in the poor metabolizer (PM) led to the production of truncated and/or inactive proteins. Except for the exon 6, single-nucleotide mutations were reported in all nine exons of the gene. Genetic polymorphism of CYP2C19 shows marked interethnic variation with the population frequencies of PM phenotype ranging from 1∼2% up to more than 50%. The prevalence of CYP2C19 PM tends to be higher in Asian and certain Pacific Islanders than other race or ethnic specificity. Genotyping results of CYP2C19 also revealed that there are different proportions of individual mutant alleles among ethnic populations. This may, in part, explains the interethnic difference in the metabolism of certain drugs (i.e. diazepam), though they were from the same CYP2C19 phenotype. Recently, our research group has studied the genotype and phenotype of CYP2C19 and found that the PM frequency (7∼8%) in Thais is lower than other Asian populations. Molecular and clinical impacts of this finding warrant to further investigation.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2020

Clostridial bacteria are zoonotic agents, which cause severe necrotizing enteritis, pseudo-membrane colitis, enterotoxemia to both humans and animals. The objective of this study was to monitor the antibiotic resistance of Clostridium isolates on clinical specimens from wild animals in Seoul zoo for 5 years. Clostridium isolates were verified by using Vitek2 compact machine. Antibiotic susceptibility was assessed by antibiotic disc diffusion test, which was followed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion test method. The frequency of Antimicrobial resistance of Clostridium isolate was the greatest in gentamicin (87%), then in order of amikacin (80%). There were 55.6% of Clostridium isolates showed multiple drug resistance (MDR). These results showed that a lot of Clostridial bacteria from wild animals in Seoul zoo were acquired antibiotic resistance. Because of the wild animal's aggressive manner, it has been hard to collect clinical samples from wild animals in a zoo to exam antibiotic susceptibility. For these reasons, empirical use of antibiotics has been performed in frequently. It may cause to increase the emergence of antibiotic resistance bacteria. In addition, the antibiotic resistance bacteria from zoo animals can be spread to other wild animals which inhabit around the zoo. Therefore, regular monitoring of antibiotic resistance Clostridial bacteria is important to protect animals and humans from Clostridial diseases.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.99-103
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• 2016

In perennial ginseng plantations, the effective control of various diseases is one of the most critical factors for increasing yields. Enhancing the resistance to disease through induced systemic resistance (ISR) and anti-microbial activity of beneficial soil bacteria, is currently considered to be a potential promising approach to integrate pathogen management for sustainable agriculture. However, the effective in vitro culture systems for testing ISR in ginseng plants have been rarely reported. In this study, I have successfully developed an in vitro germ-free culture system of Panax ginseng seedling for diverse purposes. With this useful system, we also tested BTH-induced priming effects against Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum panacicola. Compared to the drain method for enhancing ISR effects to ginseng seedlings, the direct method of spraying leaves somewhat increased the defense activity to these major fungal pathogens. Consistently, the expression of pathogen related PgPR10 and PgCAT were greatly and rapidly enhanced in the BTH-treated ginseng seedlings by treatment with C. panacicola. Our results revealed that the in vitro culture system can be used for developing eco-friendly and versatile bio-control agents for harmful diseases in ginseng cultivation.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.100-106
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• 2020

Coix lacryma-jobi (Hanjeli) is known to posses anti-microbial properties. Therefore, phytochemical compounds of C. lacryma-jobi have been studied to produce novel antimicrobial agents as treatments against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.The objective of this study was to determine the phytochemical composition and antibacterial activity of the C. lacryma-jobi oil against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis. The phytochemical composition of the oil was determined via gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS). Moreover, agar disk and agar well diffusion were employed to screen the antibacterial activity of the oil. An agar well diffusion test was implemented to determinate MIC's (minimum inhibitory concentrations). Dodecanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, 2,3-dihydroxypropylester, 1,3-dioctanoin, N-methoxy-N-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-thiopyran6-carboxamide, propanamide, 5-Amino-1-(quinolin-8-yl)-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxamide, and pyridine were identified in the C. lacryma-jobi oil. The MIC value of the oil was 0.031 g/L and the MBC of the oil was 0.125 g/L effective in all test bacteria. Dodecanoic acid displayed inhibitory activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, our research demonstrated C. lacryma-jobi (Hanjeli) oil exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, and B. subtilis. These research suggest that C. lacryma-jobi root oil could be used for medicinal purposes; however clinical and in vivo tests must be performed to evaluate its potential as an antibacterial agent.