• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2013

To determine the potential function of Rhus javanica in Korean medicine, it was fermented with each strain of Lactobacillus spp. Each strain of Lactobacillus spp. was inoculated in lactobacilli MRS broth, and 5 mg/ml of methanol extract of Rhus javanica was added. In mouse hippocampal HT22 cells, ethyl acetate extract of R. javanica fermented with L. brevis KCTC 3498 induced heme oxygenase-1 expression and showed a significant cytoprotective effect on glutamate-induced oxidative damage. The cytoprotective effect was related to the transcription of the nuclear factor E2-related factor2 (Nrf2), which is responsible for the induction of heme oxygenase-1 within the nucleus. The antimicrobial, antioxidant, and heme oxygenase-1 expression activities of fermented R. javanica were measured after extraction with ethyl acetate. R. javanica fermented with L. plantarum subsp. plantarum KCTC 3108, L. fermentum KCTC 3112, and L. brevis KCTC 3498 had higher antioxidant activity than nonfermented R. javanica. The fermented R. javanica with L. plantarum subsp. plantarum KCTC 3108, L. casei KCTC 3109 after ethyl acetate extraction showed antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis PCI 219, Escherichia coli KCTC 1682, Shigella flexneri KCTC 2517, Vibrio parahaemolyticus KCTC 7471, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa KCTC 2004. An ethyl acetate extract of the fermented R. javanica with Lactobacillus brevis KCTC 3498 exhibited stronger antibacterial activity than a nonfermented one against strains of B. subtilis PCI 219, E. coli KCTC 1682, S. flexneri KCTC 2517, and V. parahaemolyticus KCTC 7471.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.7
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• pp.1009-1016
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• 2014

This study investigated the probiotic and functional characteristics of Mukeunji starter, Lactobacillus curvatus ML17, isolated from Mukeunji. Lb. curvatus ML17 was confirmed as a safe microorganism due to its non-hemolytic activity and non-production of harmful ${\beta}$-glucuronidase and ${\beta}$-glucosidase. Tolerance to artificial gastric and bile juice of Lb. curvatus ML17 was investigated. After incubation in artificial gastric and bile juice, the number of surviving cells was $1.38{\times}10^8$ CFU/mL. According to the results of adhesion assay, this strain also exhibited good adhesion to Caco-2 cells. Lb. curvatus ML17 showed good antimicrobial activity against food borne pathogens, especially Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cell-free extract of Lb. curvatus ML17 exhibited high levels of DPPH scavenging capacity and inhibitory effects on growth of AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells and HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells. These results suggest that Lb. curvatus ML17 has potential for application in functional foods.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

Objectives Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a human pathogen and a major cause of hospital-acquired infections. New antibacterial agents that have not been compromised by bacterial resistance are needed to treat MRSA-related infections. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial activity ofethanol extract of Haedokgeumhwa-san (HGH) which prescription is composed of korean medicine against MRSA. Methods The antibacterial activity of HGH extract was evaluated against MRSA strains by using the Disc diffusion method, broth microdilution method (minimal inhibitory concentration; MIC), checkerboard dilution test, and time-kill test; its mechanism of action was investigated by bacteriolysis, detergent or ATPase inhibitors. The checkerboard dilution test was used to examined synergistic effect of ampicillin, oxacillin, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, gentamicin and norfloxacin in combination with HGH ethanol extract. A time-kill assay was performed a survival curve which was obtained by plotting viable colony counts depending on time on bacterial growth. Results The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ethanol extract (HGH) ranged from 1,000 to $2,000{\mu}g/mL$ against all the tested bacterial strains, respectively. We are able to confirm that HGH extract has potentially strong antibacterial activity. In the checkerboard dilution test, fractional inhibitory concentration index of HGH in combination with antibiotics indicated synergy or partial synergism against S. aureus. A time-kill study showed that the growth of the tested bacteria was considerably inhibited after 8 hr of treatment with the combination of HGH with selected antibiotics. For measurement of cell membrane permeability, HGH $250{\sim}1,000{\mu}g/mL$ along with concentration of Triton X-100 (TX) and Tris-(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (Tris) were used. In the other hand, N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodimide (DCCD) and Sodium azide ($NaN_3$) was used as an inhibitor of ATPase. TX, Tris, DCCD and $NaN_3$ cooperation against S. aureus showed synergistic action. Accordingly, antimicrobial activity of HGH was affected by cell membrane and inhibitor of ATPase. Conclusions These results suggest that Haedokgeumhwa-san extract has antibacterial activity, and that HGH extract offers a potential as a natural antibiotic against MRSA.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.481-487
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• 2001

Grifola umbellatus was extracted using methanol, and the extract was further fractionated by water and ethyl acetate. Assay of each fraction with MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium-bromide] revealed significant cytotoxicity effect of the methanol extract of Grifola umbellatus against human gastric cancer cell but not normal human lymphocytes. The methanol extract showed the highest antioxidant activity as well. Antimicrobial activity of Grifola umbellants against Helicobacter pylori was higher in method extract than in other fractions. Grifola umbellatus had a significant inhibitory effect on Helicobacter pylori reducing both its growth and urease activity. These results show that the methanol extract of Grifola umbellatus possesses therapeutic potential on gastric diseases.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.530-537
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• 2004

This study was conducted to determine the inactivation effect of electrolyzed water and organic acids either alone or in combination on L. monocytogenes or natural microflora on lettuce. Acidic electrolyzed water completely inactivated L. monocytogenes in broth system within 60 sec, but alkalin electrolyzed water caused approximate 1.7 log CFU/g reduction. However, acidic electrolyzed water reduced only 2.5 log CFU/g of L. monocytogenes on lettuce, and similar antimicrobial effect was observed with alkalin electrolyzed water. In the meantime, acidic and alkaline electrolyzed water caused approximately 2 log CFU/g reduction compared to control, whereas both electrolyzed water combined with $1\%$ organic acids ranged from 2.6 to 3.7 log CFU/g reduction. Among the organic acids, both electrolyzed water combined with $1\%$ citric acid showed the strongest synergistic antimicrobial effect to reduce L. monocytogenes on lettuce as well as total counts, yeast and molds. When antimicrobials, alone or in combination were treated into L. monocytogenes inoculated lettuce at $5^{\circ}C\;and\;15^{\circ}C$ for designed periods, the combined alkalin electrolyzed water with $1\%$ citric acid showed the greatest potential to inhibit growth of the bacteria. According to Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM), the treatment of electrolyzed alkali water in combination with $1\%$ citric acid highly reduced the growth of the L. monocytogenes compared to single treatment and resulted in causing the destruction of cell membrane.

• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.241-247
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• 2015

Oyster shells are a waste product from mariculture that creates a major disposal problem in coastal regions of southeast Korea. To make practical use of unused oyster shells, calcined oyster shell (COS) collected from a local company was allowed to adsorb AITC (allyl isothiocyanate), and then tested the powder's ability to inhibit the growth of some potential food borne disease-causing bacteria. COS powder showed bacteriostatic effect that inhibited cell growth of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium from 3 to 5 log10 CFU/mL at concentrations around 1%. The MIC of pure AITC was found as 1 mg/mL, 0.8 mg/mL and 0.7 mg/mL for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium, respectively. The calcined powder adsorbed about 225 mg of AITC per gram of shell, indicating porous material was created by calcination. FTIR data confirmed the adsorption of AITC by COS. Characterization of particle data showed very fine particle size and highly convoluted surface. AITC adsorbed calcined oyster shell (ACOS) completely inhibited bacterial cell at 1% concentration. ACOS showed better antibacterial effect than COS, indicating synergistic effect of AITC and calcined oyster shell powder on bacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.589-595
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• 2011

This work focused on screening and characterizing antibiotic-producing actinomycetes to develop new antibiotics that can overcome the growing resistance of disease-causing microbes. One-hundred actinomycetes strains were isolated from soil samples from Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea using various kinds of actinomycetes isolation media, including a starch casein agar medium and potato dextrose agar (PDA). Among them, strain BCNU 1030 was determined to show strong antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Biochemical, physiological, and 16S rRNA sequence analyses indicated that strain BCNU 1030 belonged to the genus Streptomyces. Strain BCNU 1030 exhibited antibiotic activity against a wide range of bacteria, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of BCNU 1030 dichloromethane extract was determined to be $0.78\;{\mu}g/ml$ for MRSA CCARM 3090. Therefore, Streptomyces sp. BCNU 1030 has potential for anti-MRSA drug development.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2005

To investigate potential characteristics of clay minerals (illite, kaolin, zeolite, vermiculite, and bentonite) for food industry application, antioxidative properties of clay minerals, electron-donating ability (EDA), peroxide value (POV), and thiobabituric acid (TBA) were measured, and antimicrobial activity against several food spoilage microorganisms were evaluated by minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) method. Changes in components by cooking clay minerals added to stored rice were measured by GC-MS. DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) analysis results revealed bentonite has strongest EDA at 20.6%. Antioxidant activities measured based on POV were similar to DPPH results. Induction period of linoleic acid with vermiculite was longest among. TBA results revealed zeolite hasstrongest antioxidant ability. Growth inhibition against E. coli and S. aureuswas observed in illite, vermiculite, and zeolite. Aroma components indicated decrease in hex anal, pent anal, non anal, linoleate, stearic acid, and oleic acid when clay minerals were added to stored rice. These results indicate that several clay minerals have antioxidative and antimicrobial abilities and improve flavor profiles in stored rice.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1268-1276
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• 2012

The emergence and dissemination of carbapenem-resistant bacteria have resulted in limitations of antibiotic treatment and potential outbreaks of metallo-${\beta}$-lactamase (MBL) producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant to carbapenems. In this study, we conducted molecular characterization of the MBL genes of the ${\beta}$-lactam drug-resistant P. aeruginosa and prepared basic data for treatment and prevention of proliferation of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections. Forty-two P. aeruginosa isolates of 254 were resistant to imipenem or meropenem. Among the 42 isolates, 28 isolates were positive for the Hodge test, and 23 isolates were positive for the EDTA-disk synergy test (EDST). MBLs were detected in 59.5% (25/42) of P. aeruginosa isolates. Eight isolates harbored $bla_{IMP-6}$, whereas 17 isolates harbored $bla_{VIM-2}$. The $bla_{IMP-6}$ gene was in a class 1 integron containing five gene cassettes: $bla_{IMP-6}$, qac, aacA4, $bla_{OXA-1}$, and aadA1. Some strains that produce IMP-6 and VIM-2 showed epidemiological relationships. The $bla_{IMP-6}$ gene in carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa showed an identical pattern to a gene cassette that was reported at a hospital in Daegu, Korea. Therefore, MBL-producing P. aeruginosa is already endemic in the community. We are concerned that the existence of carbapenem-resistant bacteria containing the blaMBL gene may increase pressure on antibiotic selection when treating infections. We believe that we should select appropriate antibiotics based on the antibiotic susceptibility test and continue the research to prohibit the emergence and spread of antibiotics resistant bacteria.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2006

This research was aimed to search for natural antimicrobial agents that are sefe for humans and specific for oral pathogens. Acanthoic was isolated from the chloroform fraction of methanol extract of Acanthopanax koreanum $N_{AKAI}$ and its structure were elucidated by 13-NMR, 1H-NNR and ESIMS. Antibacterial activity of acanthoic acid was investigated by the minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimun bactericidal (MBC) concentration. MIC/MBC of acanthoic acid against Streptococcus mutans $N_{AKAI}$ causing dental caries was determined to be $2/4\;{\mu}g/mL$, which was much lower than these of other natural antimicrobial agents such as $8/16\;{\mu}g/mL$ of sangurinarine and $250/500\;{\mu}/mL$ of green tea extract, $500/600\;{\mu}g/mL$ of thymol and borneol. Acanthoic and significantly inhibited the growth of other cariogenic bacteria such as Streptococcus sobrinus $N_{AKAI}$ and Streptococcus sanguis $N_{AKAI}$, and Streptococcus gordonii $N_{AKAI}$ in the MIC range of $4{\sim}32\;{\mu}g/mL$. My finding suggests that acanthoic acid could be employed as a potential antibacterial agent for preventing dental caries.