• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.167-173
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• 2014

Red yeast rice (RYR) is the product of fermented yeast by Monascus strains on rice, and has recently become a popular dietary supplement as a traditional food in Asia. RYR contains monacolin K substances known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis as efficiently as statin drugs. To determine the optimal rice cultivar for manufacturing RYR, 7 rice cultivars (Goami, Goami2, Sangjuchalbyeo, Seolgaeng, Saegyejinmi, Yeonghojinmi and Chilbo) were fermented using two Monascus strains (M. ruber KCTC6122 and KCCM60141 of M. ruber) in this study. The monacolin K content of Sangjuchalbyeo were 47.24 ppm on KCTC6122 cultures and 117.03 ppm on KCCM60141 cultures, respectively. Other cultivars, especially Goami and Goami2, which had less content of monacolin K could not seem to ferment normally because those didn't show red color. These results imply that Sangjuchalbyeo can be optimal rice cultivar as a commercial RYR which is well fermented rice and has high content of monacolin K.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.286-292
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• 2009

In this study, we investigated the anti-obese activity of HPJ extract in C57BL/6J mice. The C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into five groups: normal control group (Con), high fat diet control group (HFD), treatment groups with HPJ at 125 mg/kg (HPJ125), 250 mg/kg (HPJ250), or 500 mg/kg (HPJ500). To induce an obesity, mice were fed by a high fat diet for 6 weeks, and mice were administered with HPJ extract once a day for 8 weeks. At the end of treatment, we examined the effect of HPJ extract on body weight, plasma lipid, and lipogenic enzymes. HPJ extract was found to lower whole body and epididymal adipose tissue weights and lowered plasma levels of glucose, insulin, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) and leptin, compared to those in HFD group. Histological analyses of the liver and fat tissues of mice treated with HPJ extract revealed significantly decreased number of lipid droplets and decreased size of adipocytes compared to the HFD group. In addition, HPJ extract preserved the morphological integrity of pancreatic islets. To elucidate an action mechanism of HPJ extract, Western blot and RT-PCR were performed using epididymal adipose tissues. HPJ extract up-regulated the levels of phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its substrate, acetyl-CoA carboxylasse (ACC). HPJ extract also attenuated lipogenic gene expressions of sterol regulatory element-binding protein $1{\alpha}$ (SREBP$1{\alpha}$), fatty acid synthase (FAS), sterol-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) and glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) in dose-dependent manners. In contrast, expressions of lipolytic genes such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-$\alpha$ (PPAR-${\alpha}$) and CD36, and fatty acid $\beta$-oxidation gene, carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1) were increased. These results suggest that HPJ extract ameliorates obesity through inhibiting synthesis of lipogenic enzymes as well as stimulating fatty acid oxidation resulting from activation of AMPK, and HPJ extract could be developed as a potential therapeutic agent for obese patients.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.251-261
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• 2000

V. vulnificus is an estuarine bacterium which causes septicemia and shock in susceptible patients. The organism produces a hemolytic cytolysin (VvH), which has a membrane damaging effect on erythrocytes. To clarify the mechanisms by which VvH might contribute to virulence, we examined its effect on macrophages. When mouse peritoneal macrophages were harvested and co-cultured with hemolysin-positive V. vulnificus strains (100 bacteria/cell), about 60% of the macrophages were killed; macrophages were not killed when co-cultured V. vulnificus strain CVD 707, a VvH-negative deletion mutant. Exposure of macrophages to filtered culture supernatants (2.5 HU/ml) and purified VvH (3 HU/ml) resulted in an increase in dead cells (80 and 90%, respectively), as determined by the trypan blue dye exclusion method and LDH release from macrophages was also increased (70 and 65.5%, respectively). The cytotoxic effect of VvH on macrophages was both the dose- and time-dependent. The VvH caused damage to the macrophage membrane and was blocked significantly by preincubation with cholesterol (p<0.01). Fetal bovine serum showed remarkable inhibition of VvH synthesis by V. vulnificus and inhibited VvH activity in culture supernatant. Cell viability was increased by 35% (p<0.01) and LDH release decreased by 28% (p<0.01) when macrophages were incubated with V. vulnificus (100 bacterial cell) in DMEM-10% FBS for 2 hr. Bacterial clearance activity of mice against V. vulnificus CVD 707 was decreased by pretreatment with 10 HU of VvH. This result suggests that the VvH can impair the membrane of macrophages and may playa role in the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus septicemia.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.357-364
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• 2014

The study evaluated replacement of Egyptian berseem clover (BC, Trifolium alexandrinum) with spent rice straw (SRS) of Pleurotus ostreatus basidiomycete in diets of lactating Baladi goats. Nine lactating homo-parity Baladi goats (average BW $23.8{\pm}0.4$ kg) at 7 d postpartum were used in a triplicate $3{\times}3$ Latin square design with 30 d experimental periods. Goats were fed a basal diet containing 0 (Control), 0.25 (SRS25) and 0.45 (SRS45) (w/w, DM basis) of SRS. The Control diet was berseem clover and concentrate mixture (1:1 DM basis). The SRS45 had lowered total feed intake and forages intake compared to Control. The SRS25 and SRS45 rations had the highest digestibilities of DM (p = 0.0241) and hemicellulose (p = 0.0021) compared to Control which had higher (p<0.01) digestibilities of OM (p = 0.0002) and CP (p = 0.0005) than SRS25 and SRS45. Ruminal pH and microbial protein synthesis were higher (p<0.0001) for SRS25 and SRS45 than Control, which also had the highest (p<0.0001) concentration of TVFA, total proteins, non-protein N, and ammonia-N. All values of serum constituents were within normal ranges. The Control ration had higher serum globulin (p = 0.0148), creatinine (p = 0.0150), glucose (p = 0.0002) and cholesterol (p = 0.0016). Both Control and SRS25 groups had the highest (p<0.05) milk (p = 0.0330) and energy corrected milk (p = 0.0290) yields. Fat content was higher (p = 0.0373) with SRS45 and SRS25 groups compared with Control. Replacement of BC with SRS in goat rations increased milk levels of conjugated linoleic acid and unsaturated fatty acids compared with Control. It was concluded that replacing 50% of Egyptian berseem clover with SRS in goat rations improved their productive performance without marked effects on metabolic indicators health.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.584-588
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• 2007

Elicitors are defined as substances that induce defense responses in plants, which include an increased synthesis of secondary metabolites. Saponin, one of the secondary metabolites, has various physiological effects such as anticancer, antioxidant, cholesterol-lowering activities, etc, in human. This study was carried out to find whether a treatment of soybean sprouts with chitosan as an elicitor, increases saponin contents. Saponin contents in soybean sprouts increased by the chitosan treatment during cultivation, reached the peak on the sixth day, and then decreased. A biosynthesis of group B soyasaponin appeared to be regulated differently. The content of soyasaponin I, a member of group B saponin, was the highest in 250 ppm chitosan-treated soybean sprouts, while the contents of soyasaponin II, III and IV were the highest in 1,000 ppm chitosan-treated soybean sprouts. The content of soyasaponin V changed little in soybean sprouts that had been treated with various concentration of chitosan.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2002

This study was conducted to evaluate the quality characteristics of different soy sauces. The soybean sauces brewed tty the A. oryzae koji(SAO), M. pilosus-1 koji(SMP) and the mixture of 50% M. pilosus-1 koji(SAM) during 90 days fermentation. Total nitrogen contents of the SAM, SAP and SMP were 13.6%, 1.15% and 1.22%, respectively. Content of amino type nitrogen in SAM was 0.78%, and the content was higher than those of SAO and SMP. Total free amino acid contents of SAO, SMP and SAM were 533.8, 732.4 and 807.3 mg/100 mL. The highest contents of free, amino acids were glutamic acid(65.20 mg/100 mL) in SAG, alanine(101.42 mg/100mL) in SMP, glutamic acid(130.52 mg/100 mL) in SAM. The highest activities of pretense and ${\beta}$-amylase showed in SAM, and the lowest activities of ${\alpha}$-amylase and glucoamylase were in SAO and SMP respectively. Hue angle values showed 56.3 in SAO, 29.0 in SMP and 32.2 in SAM. Monacolin K contents, as inhibitor of cholesterol bio-synthesis were 6.21 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL for SMP and 3.10 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL for SAM, and the inhibitory activities of SMP ane SAM aginst HMG-CoA reductase were 21.5 md 10.2%, respectively. Sensory scores for color, flavor, savory taste and overall taste of SAM was higher than those of SAO and SMP.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1233-1243
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• 2018

Sterol regulatory-element binding proteins (SREBPs) are a family of transcription factors that regulate lipid homeostasis and metabolism by controlling the expression of enzymes required for endogenous cholesterol, fatty acid (FA), triacylglycerol, and phospholipid synthesis. The three SREBPs are encoded by two different genes. The SREBP1 gene gives rise to SREBP-1a and SREBP-1c, which are derived from utilization of alternate promoters that yield transcripts in which distinct first exons are spliced to a common second exon. SREBP-2 is derived from a separate gene. Additionally, SREBPs are implicated in numerous pathogenic processes, such as endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammation, autophagy, and apoptosis. They also contribute to obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases. Genome-wide analyses have revealed that these versatile transcription factors act as important nodes of biological signaling networks. Changes in cell metabolism and growth are reciprocally linked through SREBPs. Anabolic and growth signaling pathways branch off and connect to multiple steps of SREBP activation and form complex regulatory networks. SREBPs are activated through the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway in these processes, but the molecular mechanism remains to be understood. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of SREBPs in physiology and pathophysiology at the cell, organ, and organism levels.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 1998

Lovastatin is a lipid lowering agent for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and belongs to a new class of pharmacologic compounds called the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitors. By competitively inhibiting HMG CoA reductase, lovastatin disrupts the biosynthesis of cholesterol in hepatic and peripheral cells and increases the synthesis of high-density-lipoprotein HDL) receptors. Following oral administration, the lactone ring of lovastatin is hydrolysed to the active inhibitor of HMG CoA reductase, lovastatin acid. Lovastatin is known to have poor oral absorption and wide individual variation. In this study, bioequivalence test of two lovastatin formulations, the test drug ($Lovaload^{TM}$, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Co.) and the reference drug ($Mevacor^{TM}$, Chung Wae Pharmaceutical Co.) were conducted according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). A total of 18 healthy male volunteers, $31.90\pm3.60$ years old and $72.17\;7.88$ kg of body weight in average, were evaluated in a randomized crossover manner with a 2-week washout period. Concentrations of lovastatin acid in plasma were measured upto 12 hours following a single oral administration of eight tablets (20 mg of lovastatin per tablet) by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection at 238 nm. The area under the concentration-vs-time curve from 0 to 12 hours $(AUC_{0-12h})$ was calculated by the trapezoidal summation method. The statistical analysis showed that there are no significant differences in $AUC_{0-12h),\;C_{max}\;and\;T_{max}$ between the two formulations ($6.72\%,\;1.52\%,\;and\;0.88\$, respectively). The least significant differences between the formulations at $\alpha$=0.05 were less than $20\%\;(11.65\%,\;19.73\%,\;and\;14.81\%\;for\;AUC_{0-12h},\;C_{max}\;and\;T_{max}$, respectively). The $90\%$ confidence intervals for these parameters were also within $\pm20\%\;(-1.50{\leq}{\delta}{\leq}15.00$, $-12.50{\leq}{\delta}{\leq}15.50,\;and\;-9.64{\leq}{\delta]{\leq}11.40{\leq}\;for\;\;AUC_{0-12h}$ ,$C_{max}\;and\;T_{max}$, respectively). In conclusion, the new generic product $Lovaload^{TM}$ was proven to be bioequivalent with the reference drug.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2008

Ceramides, a constituent of stratum corneum lipids, play a crucial role in the formation and maintenance of the epidermal permeability barrier. As in many other skin disorders, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis show decrease and transformation of the ceramides. The application of ceramide has been demonstrated to be efficient in the repair of these skin disorders. Nevertheless, natural ceramides are still too expensive and small in quantity to be used as a cosmetic ingredient. Although a lot of pseudo-ceramides have been developed and on the market until now, those pseudo-ceramides did not fully meet the consumer's needs, therefore, there is still a demand for a novel pseudo-ceramides. We synthesized a novel pseudo-ceramide BPC-16 from 2-(2-amino-ethylamino)-ethanol(AEEA), which was characterized by structures having both amide bonds and hydroxyl groups as hydrophilic units, as well as two long alkyl chains. We formulated emulsion with BPC-16, cholesterol, stearic acid, and other components to make an emulsion. These emulsion showed a typical optical anisotropy on cross-polarized microscopy. This 'Maltese cross' appearance is a characteristic figure observed in concentric lamellar emulsion under cross-polarized microscopy. In cytotoxicity assay using MTT in monolayer and three dimension(3D) cell culture, a BPC-16 showed only negligible cytotoxicity up to the effective concentration for barrier repair and moisturization(less than 10 mM). In the measurement of TEWL, this BPC-16 showed significant recovery of water-retaining properties when it was topically applied to either SDS-induced dry skin or normal skin compared to that of base cream. This novel pseudo-ceramide BPC-16 showed as effective in skin barrier repair and moisturization as natural ceramides.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.279-283
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• 2006

This study was conducted to examine the effect of polyphenols from safflower seed on HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) activity, LDL oxidation and Apo A1 secretion from Hep3B cell. The safflower seed polyphenols were matairesinol (Iignan), enterolactone (lignan metabolite), acacetin (flavone) and serotonin derivative. In addition to safflower polyphenols, mevastatin, ${\alpha}-estradiol,\;{\alpha}-tocopherol$ and soy genistein were tested as reference compounds depending on the type of the test. HMGR source was liver microsome obtained from rat fed 2% cholestyramine for 10 days. Inhibition of HMGR activity was greater with mevastatin (53%) than safflower serotonin derivatives (45%), followed by genistein (35%), but was very small with matairesinol, enterolactone and acacetin. LDL oxidation induced by $CuSO_4$ was suppressed by all the test material used in the present study and in the order of safflower serotonin derivatives> matairesinol > ${\beta}-estradiol$ > genistein > acacetin > enterolactone. Apo A1 secretion from Hep3B cell was significantly stimulated by mevastatin, but moderately (p<0.1) by ${\beta}-estradiol$ and genistein as well as enterolactone. These results suggest that the safflower polyphenols improve body lipid status via inhibition of cholesterol synthesis and suppression of LDL oxidation.