• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.59-69
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• 2024

This study investigates the therapeutic potential of Indigo Naturalis (IN) in treating a Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The objective is to comprehensively examine the effects and pharmacological mechanisms of IN on IBD, assessing its potential as an novel treatment for IBD. Analysis of 11 selected papers is conducted to understand the effects of IN, focusing on compounds like indirubin, isatin, indigo, and tryptanthrin. This study evaluates their impact on Disease Activity Index (DAI) score, colon length, mucosal damage, and macrophage infiltration in Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice. Additionally, It investigate into the anti-inflammatory mechanisms, including Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) pathway activation, Nuclear Factor kappa B (NF-κB)/nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3)/Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) inhibition, and modulation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MYD88)/NF-κB and Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathways. Immunomodulatory effects on T helper 17 (Th17)/regulatory T cell (Treg cell) balance and Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3-β) expression are also explored. Furthermore, the study addresses the role of IN in restoring intestinal microbiota diversity, reducing pathogenic bacteria, and increasing beneficial bacteria. The findings reveal that IN, particularly indirubin and indigo, demonstrates significant improvements in DAI score, colon length, mucosal damage, and macrophage infiltration in DSS-induced colitis mice. The anti-inflammatory effects are attributed to the activation of the AhR pathway, inhibition of inflammatory pathways, and modulation of immune responses. These results exhibit the potential of IN in IBD treatment. Notably, the restoration of intestinal microbiota diversity and balance further supports its efficacy. IN emerges as a promising and effective treatment for IBD, demonstrating anti-inflammatory effects and positive outcomes in preclinical studies. However, potential side effects necessitate further investigation for safe therapeutic development. The study underscores the need for future research to explore a broader range of active ingredients in IN to enhance therapeutic efficacy and safety.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.79-92
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• 2024

Global warming is a key challenge subjecting animals to heat stress conditions resulting in multiple physiological alterations in tropical climate. Dietary approach seems to be the more friendly approach to curb the adverse effects of heat stress in rabbits. Some herbs have been categorized to have high potential for promotion of immune responses for amelioration of heat stress. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the potential of Mistletoe (Viscum album), Moringa (Moringa oleifera) and Phyllanthus (Phyllanthus amarus) leaf meal as herbal supplements for the alleviation of heat stress in female rabbits by measuring improvement in sex and stress hormonal responses in serum biochemistry. 80 Rabbit does were exposed to 4 dietary groups supplemented with each of Mistletoe, Moringa, Phyllanthus and a control in an 84-day trial at the summit of thermal stress in South west Nigeria. Growth indices were monitored throughout the study, blood samples were compiled at the end of the trial to assess serum biochemistry, stress and sex hormonal responses of the Does using standard protocols. The results revealed that final weight and weight gain of Does fed on Phyllanthus were significantly (p < 0.05) higher (11.46% and 14.25%, respectively) than Does on control. The herbal supplements enhance glucose, protein, albumin and globulin, reduced cholesterol, and creatinine of Does under heat stress conditions. Among the herbal treatment groups, mistletoe, moringa and phyllanthus had 12.42%, 18.39% and 16.90%, respectively, lower corticosterone than control groups which had 39.76ng/ml. Triiodothyronine of Does fed control were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than Does on Moringa oleifera and Phyllanthus amarus supplements. Estradiol and Follicle stimulating hormone of rabbit Does fed on moringa supplement were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than other treatments. In conclusion, the herbal supplements tend to mitigate the detrimental outcome of thermal stress on Does by suppressing stress hormones. Moringa oleifera and Phyllanthus amarus enhanced sex hormones while Phyllanthus amarus confered growth promoting effects on the Does.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.310-325
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• 2024

Glyconutrients help in the body's cell communication. Glyconutrients and synbiotics are promising options for improving immune function. Therefore, we hypothesized that combining synbiotics and glyconutrients will enhance pig nutrient utilization. 150 pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc), initially weighing 58.85 ± 3.30 kg of live body weight (BW) were utilized to determine the effects of synbiotics-glyconutrients (SGN) on the pigs' performance, feed efficiency, gas emission, pork traits, and composition of fatty acids. The pigs were matched by BW and sex and chosen at random to 1 of 3 diet treatments: control = Basal diet; TRT1 = Basal diet + SGN 0.15%; TRT2 = Basal diet + SGN 0.30%%. The trials were conducted in two phases (weeks 1-5 and weeks 5-10). The average daily gain was increased in pigs fed a basal diet with SGN (p = 0.036) in weeks 5-10. However, the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, and gross energy did not differ among the treatments (p > 0.05). Dietary treatments had no effect on NH₃, H₂S, methyl mercaptans, acetic acids, and CO₂ emissions (p > 0.05). Improvement in drip loss on day 7 (p = 0.053) and tendency in the cooking loss were observed (p = 0.070) in a group fed basal diets and SGN at 0.30% inclusion level. The group supplemented with 0.30% of SGN had higher levels of palmitoleic acid (C16:1), margaric acid (C17:0), omega-3 fatty acid, omega-6 fatty acid, and ω-6: ω-3 ratio (p = 0.034, 0.020, 0.025, 0.007, and 0.003, respectively) in the fat of finishing pigs. Furthermore, group supplemented with 0.30% of SGN improved margaric acid (C17:0), linoleic acid (C18:2n6c), arachidic acid (C20:0), omega 6 fatty acid, omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, unsaturated fatty acid, and monounsaturated fatty acid (p = 0.037, 0.05, 0.0142, 0.036, 0.033, 0.020, and 0.045, respectively) in the lean tissues of finishing pigs compared to pigs fed with the control diets. In conclusion, the combination of probiotics, prebiotics, and glyconutrients led to higher average daily gain, improved the quality of pork, and more favorable fatty acid composition. Therefore, these results contributed to a better understanding of the potential of SGN combinations as a feed additive for pigs.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2008

A 12-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of probiotics as a feed additive for juvenile Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli. Four experimental diets supplemented with no probiotic(Control), Bacillus polyfermenticus(BP), Bacillus licheniformis(BL) or Bacillus polyfermenticus plus Saccharomyces cerevisiae(BP+SC) at $1.0{\times}10^7$ CFU/kg diet as a dry-mater(DM) basis were prepared by mixing with a basal diet. After 12 weeks of the feeding trial, fish fed BP+SC diet showed significantly higher weight gain(WG), feed efficiency(FE), specific growth rate(SGR) and protein efficiency ratio(PER) than those of fish fed control diet(P<0.05), however there were no significant differences in WG, FE, SGR and PER among fish fed the BP, BL and BP+SC diets. Fish fed BP and BP+SC diets showed significantly higher condition factor(CF) than that of fish fed control and BL diets. Fish fed BP, BL, BP+SC diets showed significantly higher hepatosomatic index(HSI) than that of fish fed control diet, however there was no significant difference in HSI among fish fed BP, BL and BP+SC diets. Fish fed BP+SC diet showed significantly lower serum glucose than that of fish fed control diet, however there was no significant difference in serum glucose among fish fed BP, BL and BP+SC diets. Fish fed BP+SC diet showed significantly higher respiratory burst activity(NBT assay) than that of the fish fed control and BL diets, however there was no significant difference in NBT assay between fish fed BP and BP+SC diets. Fish fed BP and BL diets showed significantly higher lysozyme activity than that of the fish fed control diet, however there was no significant difference in lysozyme activity among fish fed BP, BL and BP+SC diets. Fish fed BP and BP+SC diets showed significantly lower cumulative mortality than that of the fish fed control diet, however there was no significant difference in cumulative mortality among fish fed BP, BL and BP+SC diets after the challenge test. From these results, dietary B. polyfermenticus, B. licheniformis and B. polyfermenticus plus S. cerevisiae supplementation in juvenile Korean rockfish diet could enhance growth performances, non-speicific immunities and a higher resistance against the specific pathogen.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.1333-1339
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• 2011

After mulberry (Morus alba) leaves were fermented with Hericium erinaceum mycelium by solid-state culture to enhance physiological activity, fermented mulberry leaves (MA-HE) was extracted by hot-water (MA-HEHW) and ethanol (MA-HE-E). MA-HE-HW showed enhanced mitogenic and intestinal immune system modulating activities (1.41 and 1.52 fold of saline control, respectively) compared to hot-water extracts of non-fermented mulberry leaves (MA-HW) and H. erinaceum mycelium (HE-HW) at $100\;{\mu}g$/mL. Meanwhile, when we tested the inhibitory effects of extracts on nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, and interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 production, MA-HE-E significantly inhibited these pro-inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells (45.1, 41.3, 70.2, and 55.7% inhibition of LPS control at $1,000\;{\mu}g$/mL). In addition, MA-HE-HW and MA-HE-E did not show any cytotoxicity on RAW 264.7 cells at $1,000\;{\mu}g$/mL whereas HE-E and MA-E indicated cytotoxicity (80.1 and 30.7% cell viability of saline control). These results suggest that mulberry leaves fermented with H. erinaceum by solid-state culture might have enhanced immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects compared to non-fermented mulberry leaves, resulting in ingredients biotransformed for fermentation with H. erinaceum mycelium.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.167-175
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• 2005

Houttuynia cordata THNUB (He; Uh-Sung-Cho) is a medicinal plant which has been widely used as a component of blood-building decoctions. This study was performed to investigate the immunomodulative effect of He in mice. In vitro experiment, the mice splenocytes proliferation and three kinds of cytokines (IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF- $\alpha$) production by mice peritoneal macrophages cultured with six (methanol, hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, butanol and water) fractions of He were used to indicate the immunomodulative effect. Ex vivo experiment, the different concentrations of He water extract was orally administrated every other day for two weeks. The production of cytokines IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF- $\alpha$) secreted by activated macrophages and the mice splenocytes proliferation were used as an index for the immunocompetence. The supplementation of all six fractions of He enhanced the splenocytes proliferation at the level of 6.58$\pm$1.23∼47.82$\pm$5.48 compared to that of control in the range of 1∼50 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mL. IL-1$\beta$ production was significantly increased with the supplementation of chloroform and water extract of He. Higher level of IL-6 production was detected by the supplementation of ethylacetate, butanol and water extract. TNF - $\alpha$ production was enhanced by the supplementation of all six fractions of He. From the ex vivo study, the highest proliferation of splenocytes was seen from the mice orally administrated with the He water extract at the concentration of 500 mg/kg bw In case of cytokines production, IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, and TNF- $\alpha$ release by activated peritoneal macrophages were augmented by the oral administration of He water extract. These results indicated that He may enhance the immune function by regulating the splenocytes proliferation and cytokines production capacity in mice.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.1564-1570
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• 2016

The present study investigated the immunomodulatory effects of high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan on macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells, and T cell-mediated factors. Effect of high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan on cytotoxicity in macrophages was investigated. Using macrophages, cytotoxicity of high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan was evaluated by MTT assay. We treated high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan at concentrations of 10, 50, 100, 150, 200, and $250{\mu}g/mL$ in macrophages. High-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan did not affect macrophage viability. Phagocytic activity was assessed using zymosan. Activity of high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan on macrophages significantly increased as compared with zymosan. We treated high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan to murine NK cells co-incubated with YAC-1 cells. High-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan resulted in significantly increased activity of NK cells as compared with the control. In addition, treatment of macrophages with high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan resulted in significantly increased activity of T cell-mediated cytokine (IL-2, IL-12, $IFN-{\gamma}$, and $TNF-{\alpha}$) levels and CD4+/CD8+ T cells as compared with the control. In conclusion, high-purity ${\beta}$-1.3/1.6-glucan could enhance the immune response through activation of macrophages, NK cells, and T cell-mediated factors.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.223-232
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• 2010

Crude polysaccharide (WG-PL-CP) was fractionated from fermented ginseng with Phellinus linteus in solid culture to enhance the immunostimulation of ginseng. WG-PL-CP produce three active polysaccharide-rich fractions (WG-PL-CP-II, III, and IV) on DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B ($Cl^-$ form). WG-PL-CP-III displayed higher mitogenic activity (1.98-fold of the saline control at $100\;{\mu}g/mL$) than did WG-CP-III or PL-CP-III (1.60- or 1.65-fold, respectively), and potent intestinal immune system modulating activity through Peyer's patch was obtained by WG-PL-CP-IV only (1.56-fold). Meanwhile, WG-PL-CP-II and III significantly enhanced macrophage stimulating activity (2.01- and 1.94-fold) compared to WG-CP-II and III (1.73- and 1.66-fold) or PL-CP-II and III (1.79- and 1.72-fold). In addition, WG-PL-CP-III and IV mainly contained neutral sugar (73.5 and 67.3%) and uronic acid (23.2 and 24.6%). Component sugar analysis also showed that WG-PL-CP-III consisted mainly of uronic acid as well as the neutral sugars Glc, Ara, Gal, Rha and Xyl (molar ratio of 0.81:1.00:0.49:0.42:0.28:0.20), whereas WG-PL-CP-IV was mainly comprised of uronic acid, Ara, Rha, Gal, Xyl and Glc (1.00:0.75:0.69:0.63:0.42:0.34). Therefore, it is assumed that these active polysaccharides play an important role in enhancing the immunostimulation of fermented ginseng with P. linteus in solid culture.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2002

With the incidence of antibiotic resistant bacteria there is increasing interest in natural products such as herb extract and probiotics to control antibiotic resistant bacteria. This study was focused on the determination of antimicrobial activity of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten against Salmonella enetrica serovar Enteritidis (S. enterifidis), S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) DT 104 and Escherichia coli 0157:H7. Though bactericidal effect of 0. ficus-indica var. saboten was not observed, it had significant inhibitory activity against Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7 on the Moulter Hinton agar containing its solution dissolved in deionized water. To investigate the antimicrobial activity in vivo, mice were challenged with 5. Typhimurium DT104 (3.7$\times$108 cfu/mouse) after pre-feeding 0. ficus-indica var. saboten solution. The fecal shedding of S. Typhimurium DT104 was more dramatically decreased and not detectable in feces and intestines 3 days after challenge in mice fed with 0. ficus-indica var. saboten. Antibody responses of the intestinal IgA were also significantly increased in mice fed with 0. ficus-indica var. saboten. These findings suggest that Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten decreased the shedding of S. Typhimurium DT104 in vitro and also in the gastrointestinal tract in mice. In addition, administration of the product might enhance the mucosal immune response against S. Typhimurium DT 104. In conclusion, Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten might be useful to control antibiotic resistant bacteria in vivo and in vitro.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.55-75
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• 2018

In China, different from the private enterprises or the locally-administered state enterprises, central state-owned enterprises generally spread over cornerstone industry which is greatly influenced by the public policy, which results in the objective existence of government influence in their productive activities. As the strategic resource, listed companies controlled by central state-owned enterprises, mostly distributed in the lifeblood and security of key industries. Therefore, listed companies controlled by central state-owned enterprises' governance efficiency play an important role in optimal allocation of state-owned assets, improve capital operation, improve the return on capital, and maintain state-owned assets safety. As the immune systems of national governance, the government audit strengthen the supervision of listed companies controlled by central state-owned enterprises in case of the loss of state-owned assets and significant risk events occur, to ensure that the value of state-owned assets. As an important component of national governance, government audit produced in entrusted with the economic responsibility of public relationship. Government audit can play an important role in maintaining financial security and corruption, and also improve listed company's accounting stability and transparency. While government audit can improve governance efficiency and maintain state-owned assets safety, present literature is scarce. Under the corporate governance theory and the economical responsibility theory, the thesis select data from 2010-2017 to verify the relationship between government audit and listed companies controlled by central state-owned enterprises' corporate performance. Results show that listed companies controlled by central state-owned enterprises are more likely to be audited by government of poor performance. Results also show that the government audit will have a promoting effect on listed companies controlled by central state-owned enterprises, and through to the improvement of the governance efficiency will enhance its companies' value. The results show that China's government audit has appealing role in accomplishing central state-owned enterprises to realize the business objectives and in promoting the governance efficiency.