• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.346-355
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility that administration of Bacillus polyfermenticus KJS-2 (BP2), Bacillus mojavensis KJS-3 (Moja3), and their mixtures could control serum lipid levels. We observed changes in the blood cell level, metabolic function evaluation, and blood lipid levels after two weeks of oral administration of these microbial strains to hyperlipidemia-induced rats. Measurements of major cell changes in the white blood cells (WBC) indicated no significant effects due to the administration of the microbial strains. Platelet (PLT) levels decreased by 18.4% in the Triton WR-1339-treated group (NCON) and recovered to the control (CON) group levels in the positive control (PCON) group and the microbial strain-administered groups (p<0.05). No functional changes were observed in red blood cells (RBC) by Triton WR-1339-induced hyperlipidemia. The blood AST, ALT, BUN, and creatinine levels did not indicated effects on liver and kidney function, and all rats administered the microbial mixture recovered. The blood lipid levels in the microbe-treated groups indicated reduced levels of triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), and increased levels of serum HDL cholesterol. The HMG-CoA inhibition rate of 7-O-succinyl macrolactin A (SMA) produced by BP2 showed similar activity at a concentration of 1,000 times lower than that achieved with atorvastatin. The administration of the microbial strains to the Triton WR-1339-induced rat model of hyperlipidemia resulted in reduced weight gain without affecting the food and water intake. Thus, blood circulation can be improved by controlling serum lipid levels by the combined administration of the BP2 and Moja3 microbial strains.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2021

Vitamin E and K are essential micronutrients required by our body in small amounts for proper metabolic functions; however, the content of vitamin E and K commonly consumed in foods has not been comprehensively defined. In this study, the contents of vitamins E and K in sea algae and vegetables were analyzed and the analytical methods were validated. The α-tocopherol equivalent (α-TE) and vitamin K1 content in sea algae ranged from 0.15 to 1.14 mg/100 g and from 11.91 to 1,629.5 ㎍/100 g, respectively. In addition, α-TE and vitamin K1 of vegetables were detected in the range of 0.02-2.48 mg/100 g and 16.15-979.60 ㎍/100 g, respectively. In particular, β- and γ-tocopherol and α- and β-tocotrienol were detected in several vegetables. The analytical methods were accurate and reproducible. These results provide reliable data on the vitamin E and K contents of foods consumed in Korea for the development of National Standard Food Composition Database.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.223-228
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• 2021

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is widely used in cancer and lymphoma treatments and as an immunosuppressant drug. CP is a DNA alkylating agent that metabolizes into 4-hydrocyclophosphamide (4H-CYP) and aldophosphamide in hepatocytes. However, its metabolites cause DNA synthesis disorder, leading to apoptosis and toxic side effects. The development of technology to minimize this side effect is essential to improve CP's clinical application. Various bioactive compounds have been reported to have anti-cancer and antioxidant functions and preventive or therapeutic roles in metabolic diseases. Many researchers have attempted to minimize the side effects and improve the efficacy of these drugs together with the use of bioactive compounds. Ulmus macrocarpa Hance has been used for the treatment of edema, mastitis, stomach pain, tumors, cystitis, and other inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate at the histological level the protective function of U. macrocarpa Hance against CP's side effects and any potential toxic effect of U. macrocarpa Hance in the liver and kidney. Water extracts of U. macrocarpa Hance reduced CP-induced toxicity and did not induce any histological damage in the liver and kidney. Therefore, U. macrocarpa Hance would be applicable in the pharmaceutical industry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2021

In today's society, functional whitening cosmetics are important to beauty. Fungi are known to produce a variety of whitening-related metabolites. In this study, we searched for tyrosinase inhibitors with metabolic products derived from Trichoderma atroviride supernatant in order to apply a material for whitening functional cosmetics. In addition, the inhibitory effect was compared to arbutin, which has already been approved as a whitening raw material by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (KMFDS). The metabolites from the T. atroviride supernatant showed higher tyrosinase inhibitory activity than that of arbutin. Some of the tyrosinase inhibitors were stable to heat, whereas some were unstable. The heat unstable material was exhibited in the case of samples treated with little amounts, such as 0.02~0.2%. They were very unstable in acidic and alkali pHs, especially under acidic conditions. However, it was found that a weakly-acidic to neutral pH range was the optimal working pH, especially neutral pH. Since the activity of the inhibitory substances in the T. atroviride supernatant was maintained regardless of proteinase K treatment, it was assumed that the metabolites, but not the bioactive peptides, were involved in the activity. In summary, we propose that the metabolites derived from T. atroviride supernatant have strong potential as whitening raw material.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.2-11
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• 2017

Packaging is the last defensive barrier that protects food products from insect infestation during storage. However, though packaging films are hermetically sealed, insects can still be attracted by strong olfactory cues and penetrate through packaging materials, resulting in contamination. Insect contamination may cause consumers to be repulsed by contaminated food products. Especially, it is well known that stored-product insects cause critical problems in the cereal industry by inducing quantitative and qualitative damages to the grain products. The contaminations are caused by insects' metabolic byproducts and body parts, consequentially caused customer repulsion. Therefore, it is necessary to repel and control insects. However, management systems for storage insects in food industry have been inadequate for many years. Synthetic pesticides has been widely used, but pesticides may accumulate in foods, causing acute and chronic symptoms in consumers. For this reason, there is a growing need for the development of natural insecticides that can replace synthetic pesticides. Thus, various reports about anti-insect packaging materials and strategies to repel insects were introduced in this study. Furthermore, we suggested new strategies to develop an insect-repelling active packaging materials which could be applied in the food packaging industry.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.326-333
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• 2020

Nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide (NO) pathway is a major alternative source of NO and is essential for NO - dependent physiological functions in body. Food supplements having nitrate/nitrite can improve metabolic syndromes including hypertension through antioxidant activity or vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of fermented garlic (F. garlic) having high concentration of NO2- on changes in blood flow and nitric oxide synthesis in the cerebral cortex of rodents. The generation of nitric oxide detected by a chemi-luminescence detector was higher in F. Garlic compared with NaNO2 solution under artificial gastric juice with pH 2.0. Ether F. garlic or NaNO2 diluted with artificial cerebrospinal fluid was directly applied into around the needle probe of laser Doppler flow meter that was located on epidural surface of the cortex. Direct application of F. garlic resulted in increase of cerebral blood flow detected by a laser Doppler flow meter with a dose-dependent manner. Compared with NaNO2 solution, F. garlic produced changes in cerebral blood flow at lower concentration of NO2-. Pretreatment of methylene blue, a guanylyl cyclase inhibitor prevented upregulation of cerebral blood flow by the treatment of F. garlic. In addition, the application of F. garlic with 250, 500ppm of NO2- caused significantly the production of NO in the cortical tissue but NaNO2 solution with 500ppm of NO2- did not. In summary, these results suggested that F. garlic with high content of NO2- induce increase in cerebral blood flow through nitric oxide-dependent signal pathway.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Soil salinity causes reduction of crop productivity. Rhizosphere microbes have metabolic capabilities and ability to adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could play a role as elicitors for inducing tolerance to stresses in plants by affecting resident microorganism in soil. This study was conducted to demonstrate the effect of selected strains on rhizosphere microbial community under salinity stress. METHODS AND RESULTS: The experiments were conducted in tomato plants in pots containing field soil. Bacterial suspension was inoculated into three-week-old tomato plants, one week after inoculation, and -1,000 kPa-balanced salinity stress was imposed. The physiological and biochemical attributes of plant under salt stress were monitored by evaluating pigment, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and ion concentrations. To demonstrate the effect of selected Bacillus strains on rhizosphere microbial community, soil microbial diversity and abundance were evaluated with Illumina MiSeq sequencing, and primer sets of 341F/805R and ITS3/ITS4 were used for bacterial and fungal communities, respectively. As a result, when the bacterial strains were inoculated and then salinity stress was imposed, the inoculation decreases the stress susceptibility including reduction in lipid peroxidation, enhanced pigmentation and proline accumulation which subsequently resulted in better plant growth. However, bacterial inoculations did not affect diversity (observed OTUs, ACE, Chao1 and Shannon) and structure (principle coordinate analysis) of microbial communities under salinity stress. Furthermore, relative abundance in microbial communities had no significant difference between bacterial treated- and untreated-soils under salinity stress. CONCLUSION: Inoculation of Bacillus strains could affect plant responses and soil pH of tomato plants under salinity stress, whereas microbial diversity and abundance had no significant difference by the bacterial treatments. These findings demonstrated that Bacillus strains could alleviate plant's salinity damages by regulating pigments, proline, and MDA contents without significant changes of microbial community in tomato plants, and can be used as effective biostimulators against salinity stress for sustainable agriculture.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.103-112
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• 2021

Gallbladder polyps (GBPs) may be a cause of gallbladder cancer. The known risk factors for GBPs are male gender, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and dyslipidemia. Especially, male gender has been known that it strongly affects on the prevalence of GBPs. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate risk factors affecting the prevalence of GBPs among adults on Jeju Island according to genders. We examined 5,574 subjects who visited a single health-screening center at Jeju National University Hospital between January 2015 and December 2019. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify risk factors affecting the prevalence of GBPs. The prevalence of GBPs were 8.9% in male subjects and 8.1% in female subjects, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that ≥60 year age (odds ratio [OR] 0.659; P=0.027) and aspartate aminotransferase >32 IU/L (OR 0.658; P=0.009) in male subjects and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ≥60 mg/dL (OR 0.514; P=0.013) in female subjects were independent factors affecting the prevalence of GBPs. The prevalence of GBPs in men (8.9%) is comparable to that in women (8.1%) on Jeju Island. Age <60 years and the higher level of aspartate aminotransferase in men and the normal or lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in women were independent risk factors of GBPs on Jeju Island.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.263-269
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• 2022

Cancer cachexia-anorexia is a multi-organ metabolic syndrome characterized by anorexia and weight loss. Generally, such symptoms are a serious problem in cancer patients, adversely affecting chemotherapy success and survival rate. Cachexia has been reported to accompany up to 80% of gastrointestinal cancers, such as pancreatic, lung, and colon cancer, though it is relatively rare in lymphoma or breast cancer patients. It is also known that cancer-induced anorexia occurs independently of chemotherapy, although decreased appetite due to chemotherapy is well reported. In terms of pathoflammatory cytokines that are excessively increased by tumor tissues. Since the mechanism of cancer cachexia is not yet fully understood, there are currently no therapeutic agents or diagnostic markers to treat it. A recently published study identified a substance secreted from cancer cells that induces cancer anorexia, and the molecular mechanism causing the eating disorder was discovered. An increase in the expression of this substance has been shown to be statistically correlated with the symptoms of cachexia in cancer patients, and it is therefore expected to be applicable in the diagnosis and development of therapeutic agents for cancer cachexia. This review article aims to provide an overview of the key molecular mechanisms of the anorexia and tissue wasting caused by cancer cachexia.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.119-126
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• 2022

The reported risk factors for gallstone disease (GD) are old age, female sex, obesity, metabolic syndrome and migrants. Many younger adults tend to live in Jeju City, where transportations are convenient and commercial activities are active. Whereas, older people tend to live in Seogwipo City, because they engaged in fisheries and agriculture. Rates of migrants and old age could affect the prevalence of GD among residents in two regions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the GD prevalence and analyze risk factors affecting GD including residencies. A total of 13,050 subjects who visited a single health medical check-up center on Jeju Island between 2012 and 2019 were included. We performed univariate and multivariate analysis to identify risk factors for GD. The prevalence of GD among residents were 5.7% in Jeju City and 5.8% in Seogwipo City, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (P=0.008), body mass index (P=0.044), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.006) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (P=0.013) were independent factors affecting GD. The old age, mean higher body mass index, gamma-glutamyl transferase and mean lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were independent risk factors affecting GD. However, residencies did not affect the prevalence of GD.