• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.26 no.12
• /
• pp.1477-1486
• /
• 2016

Lactulose (4-O-${\beta}$-D-galactopyranosyl-D-fructose) is a non-digestible synthetic ketose disaccharide which can used in food and pharmaceutical fields due to its useful functions for encephalopathy, chronic constipation, hyperammonemia, etc. Therefore, the lactulose is regarded as one of the most important disaccharides and have been concentrated much interesting as an attractive functional material in the current industry. From this reason, the research related on the production of lactulose has been carried out various academic and industrial research groups. To produce lactulose, two main methods, chemical production and enzymatic production have been used. Commercially lactulose produced by alkaline isomerization of lactose as chemical production method but it has many disadvantages such as rapid lactulose degradation, purification, and waste management. From these reasons, lactulose produced by enzymatic method which solves these problems has been suggested as a proper method for lactulose production. Two different enzymatic methods have been reported as methods for lactulose production. Lactulose can be obtained through hydrolysis and transfer reaction catalyzed by a ${\beta}$-galactosidase which requires fructose as co-substrate and exhibits a low conversion. Alternatively, lactulose can be produced by direct isomerization of lactose to lactulose catalyzed by cellobiose 2-epimerase which requires lactose as a single substrate and achieves a high lactulose yield. This review summarizes the current state of lactulose production by chemical and biological methods.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.581-587
• /
• 2004

Conventional power spectrum methods based on FFT, AR method are not appropriate for analyzing biomedical signals whose spectral characteristics change rapidly. On the other hand, time-frequency analysis has more desirable characteristics of a time-varying spectrum. In this study, we investigated the spectral components of heart rate variability(HRV) in time-frequency domain using time frequency analysis methods. In the various time-frequency kernels functions, we studied the suitable kernels for the analysis of HRV using synthetic HRV signals. First, we evaluated the time/frequency resolution and cross term reduction of various kernel functions. Then, from the instantaneous frequency, obtained from time-frequency distribution, the method extracting frequency components of HRV was proposed. Subjects were 17 healthy young men. A coin-stacking task was used to induce mental stress. For each subjects, the experiment time was 3 minutes. Electrocardiogram, measured during the experiment, was analyzed after converted to HRV signal. In the results, emotional stress of subjects produced an increase in sympathetic activity. Sympathetic activation was responsible for the significant increase in the LF/HF ratio. Subjects were divided into two groups with task ability. Subjects who have higher mental stress have lack of task ability.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.331-337
• /
• 2009

Interleukin-13 (IL-13) has been proposed as a therapeutic target for bronchial asthma as it plays crucial roles in the pathogenesis of the disease. We developed an in vitro test system measuring transcriptional downregulatory activities on IL-13 as a primary screening method to select drug candidates from natural products. The promoter region of IL-13 (-2,048 to +1) was cloned into the upstream of a luciferase gene in the plasmid pGL4.14 containing the hygromycin resistance gene as a selection marker, generating pGL4.14-IL-13. The EL-4 thymoma and RBL-2H3 mast cells transiently expressing this plasmid highly produced the luciferase activities by responding to PI (PMA and ionomycin) stimulation up to 8-fold and 13-fold compared with the control, respectively, whereas cyclosporin A, a well-known antiasthmatic agent, significantly downregulated the activities. The BF1 clone of RBL-2H3 cells constitutively expressing pGL4.14-IL-13 was established by selecting surviving cells under a constant lethal dose of hygromycin treatment. The feasibility of this system was evaluated by measuring the downregulatory activities of 354 natural products on the IL-13 promoter using the BF1 clone. An extract from Morus bombycis (named TBRC 156) significantly inhibited PI-induced luciferase activities and IL-13 mRNA expression, but not the protein expression. Fisetin (named TBRC 353) inhibited not only PI-induced luciferase activities and mRNA expression, but also the IL-13 protein secretion, whereas myricetin (named TBRC 354) could not suppress the IL-13 expression at all. Our data indicated that this in vitro test system is able to discriminate the effects on IL-13 expression, and furthermore, that it might be suitable as a simple and time-saving primary screening system to select antiasthmatic agents by measuring transcriptional activities of the IL-13 promoter.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.255-261
• /
• 2010

Cefprozil is a broad-spectrum oral beta-lactam cephalosporin consisting of cis- and trans-isomeric mixture whose ratio is approximately 90:10. Cefprozil is used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria such as bronchitis and ear, skin, and throat infections. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two cefprozil tablets, $Cefzil^{(R)}$ tablet 250 mg (BMS Pharmaceutical Korea., Ltd.) and Procezil tablet 250 mg (Hanmi Pharm. Co., Ltd.), according to the guidelines of the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The in vitro release of cefprozil from the two cefprozil formulations were tested using KP VIII Apparatus I method with water dissolution media. Thirty five healthy male subjects, $24.00{\pm}1.53$ years in age and $69.77{\pm}9.99$ kg in body weight, were divided into two groups and a randomized $2{\times}2$ cross-over study was employed. After four tablets containing 1000 mg as cefprozil were orally administered, blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals and the concentrations of cefprozil in serum were determined using HPLC/UV detector. The dissolution profiles of two formulations were similar in water tested dissolution media. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ on the basis of total-cefprozil were calculated, and computer program (K-BE Test 2002) was utilized for the statistical analysis of the parameters using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and untransformed $T_{max}$. The results showed that the differences between two formulations based on the reference drug, $Cefzil^{(R)}$ tablets, were -0.81%, -3.00% and -6.83% for $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively. There were no sequence effects between two formulations in these parameters. The 90% confidence intervals using logarithmically transformed data were within the acceptance range of log 0.8 to log 1.25 (e.g., log 0.9515~log 1.0454 and log 0.9613~log 1.0465 for $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$, respectively). Thus, the criteria of the KFDA bioequivalence guideline were satisfied, indicating Procezil tablet was bioequivalent to $Cefzil^{(R)}$ tablet.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.38-44
• /
• 2008

Rebamipide, ($\pm$)-2-(4-chlorobenzoylamino)-3-[2(1H)-quinolinon-4-yl] propionic acid, is used for mucosal protection, healing of gastroduodenal ulcers, and treatment of gastritis. It works by enhancing mucosal defense, scavenging free radicals and temporarily activating genes encoding cyclooxygenase-2. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two rebamipide tablets, $Mucosta^{(R)}$ (Korea Otsuca Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.) and Mustar (Korean Drug Co., Ltd.), according to the guidelines of the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The release of rebamipide from the two rebamipide formulations in vitro was tested using KP VIII Apparatus II method with pH 6.8 dissolution medium. Twenty six healthy male subjects, $23.46{\pm}2.63$ years in age and $66.62{\pm}8.97\;kg$ in body weight, were divided into two groups and a randomized $2{\times}2$ cross-over study was employed. After a single tablet containing 100 mg as rebamipide was orally administered, blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals and the concentrations of rebamipide in serum were determined using HPLC with fluorescence detector. The dissolution profiles of two formulations were similar in the tested dissolution medium. The pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ were calculated, and ANOVA test was utilized for the statistical analysis of the parameters using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and untransformed $T_{max}$. The results showed that the differences between two formulations based on the reference drug, $Mucosta^{(R)}$ were -5.08, 3.52 and -9.71 % for $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively. There were no sequence effects between two formulations in these parameters. The 90% confidence intervals using logarithmically transformed data were within the acceptance range of log 0.8 to log 1.25 (e.g., log 0.84$\sim$log 1.07 and log 0.90$\sim$log 1.17 for $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$, respectively). Thus, the criteria of the KFDA bioequivalence guideline were satisfied, indicating Mustar tablet was bioequivalent to $Mucosta^{(R)}$ tablet.