• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated the hypothesis that a highly pure linear ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan produced by Agrobacterium sp. R259 enhances human natural killer (NK) cell activity and suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokines. SUBJECTS/METHODS: In an eight-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 83 healthy adults with white blood cell counts of $4,000-8,000cells/{\mu}L$ were participated and randomly assigned to take two capsules per day containing either 350 mg ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan or placebo. Six participants withdrew their study consent or were excluded due to NK cell activity levels outside the normal range. NK cell activity and serum levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and cytokines, such as interferon (IFN)-${\gamma}$, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ were measured. RESULTS: NK cell activity and the serum levels of IL-10 were significantly higher from baseline to week 8 in the ${\beta}$-glucan group compared with the placebo group (P = 0.048, P = 0.029). Consumption of ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan also significantly increased NK cell activity compared with placebo after adjusting for smoking and stress status (P = 0.009). In particular, the effect of ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan on NK cell activity was greater in participants with severe stress than in those experiencing mild stress. However, the administration ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan did not significantly modulate the levels of IFN-${\gamma}$, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IgG compared with the placebo. CONCLUSION: The results showed that supplementation with bacterial ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan significantly increased NK cell activity without causing any adverse effects. Additionally, the beneficial effect of ${\beta}$-1,3-glucan on NK cell activity was greater in participants experiencing severe stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1514-1519
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• 2005

This study was performed to investigate the effects of Porphyra tenera (PT) on cytotoxicity and quinone reductase (QR) activity in the cancer cells. PT was extracted with methanol and further fractionated into five different types: hexane (PTMH), ethyl-ether (PTMEE), ethylacetate (PTMEA) butanol (PTMB) and aquous (PTMA) partition layers. We determined the cytotoxic effect of these layers on C6, HepG2, MCF-7, and HT-29 cell lines by MTT assay. Among the various fractions, hexane (PTMH) of PT showed the strongest cytotoxic effect on C6, HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines. PTMH displayed very low level of cytotoxicity at the lower concentration levels and at 300 $\mu$g/mL. PTMH resulted in 87.5$\%$ growth inhibition on C6 cell 70 $\%$ on the HepG2 cell and 89$\%$ on the MCF-7 cell, which were significantly high compared to other fractions. A 400 $\mu$g/mL PTMH concentration level, 99$\%$, 94.5$\%$ and 99$\%$ of cell growth inhibition were resulted on the same cell lines. On HT-29 cell line, both hexane (PTMH) and aqueous (PTMA) fraction of PT showed cytotoxic effects, but the Percentage was not as high as previous results tested on other cell lines such as C6 HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines. Also, we observed quinone reductase (QR) inducing-effects in all fractions of PT on HepG2 cells. The QR inducing effects of the PTMH on HepG2 cells at 150 $\mu$g/mL concentration was 6.6 times higher than the control. Although further studies are needed, the present work suggests that PT was a potential to be used as a chemopreventive.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1397-1402
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• 2010

Papyriflavonol A (PapA), a prenylated flavonoid [5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxy-6,5'-di-(${\gamma},{\gamma}$-dimethylallyl)-flavonol], was isolated from the root barks of Broussonetia papyrifera. Our previous study showed that PapA has a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. In this study, the mode of action of PapA against Candida albicans was investigated to evaluate PapA as an antifungal agent. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were 10~25 ${\mu}g/ml$ for C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium), and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus). The kinetics of cell growth inhibition, scanning electron microscopy, and measurement of plasma membrane florescence anisotrophy revealed that the antifungal activity of PapA against C. albicans and S. cerevisiae is mediated by its ability to disrupt the cell membrane integrity. Compared with amphotericin B, a cell-membrane-disrupting polyene antibiotic, the hemolytic toxicity of PapA was negligible. At 10~25 ${\mu}g/ml$ of MIC levels for the tested strains, the hemolysis ratio of human erythrocytes was less than 5%. Our results suggest that PapA could be a therapeutic fungicidal agent having potential as a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.482-487
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• 2000

The antitumor activity of Bifidobacterium breve K-110, and K-I11, and B. infantis K-525 was investigated. These Bifidobacterial cells and their cell wail preparations (WPG) significantly increased the survival rate of mice who had been intraperitoneally implanted with sarcoma 180 cells. Solid tumor growth was inhibited even when the sarcoma 180 cells were implanted into the groins of the mice. However, the Bifidobacterial cells did not show in vitro cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines. Cell kinetic studies revealed that these WPGs induced neutrophils, which were followed by macrophages, at the site of peritoneal injection. The WPGs directly activated these cells to inhibit the growth of tumor cells in vitro assays. Our results suggest that Bifidobacterial WPGs induce and activate nonspecific phagocytes in situ to reject growing tumor cells in the mouse peritoneal cavity.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1174-1182
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to compare the nutritional status and the immunocompetence of elderly women residing in urban and rural areas. Dietary food records and anthropometric measurements were used to evaluate the nutritional status of subjects. The immune function of subjects was assessed by total and differential white blood cell(WBC) counts. Total B and T Lymphocytes, and T cell subsets were quantified by flow-cytometer. Immunoglobulin G, A, and M concentrations were also measured as an index of humoral immunity. Elderly women in rural area showed a relatively lower dietary intake of total energy, protein, and iron than did urban elderly women. Total WBC, neutrophil counts, eosinophil counts, and the percentage of neutrophils among total leukocytes were significantly higher in urban elderly women than in rural women. Although the numbers of lymphocytes were not significantly different, the percentage of Lymphocytes among total leukocytes as greater in rural elderly women than in urban. Both groups did not show any significant differences in numbers of T cell subsets and NK cells. Immunoglobulin G, A, and M levels were not significantly different between the two groups, but the numbers of subjects placed under the deficient range of immunoglobulins were greater in rural than in urban elderly women. from the present study, it could be suggested that poor nutritional intake may selectively affect the number of immune cells, thereby influencing the immunocompetence of elderly women. (Korean J Nutrition 31(7) 1174-1182, 1998)

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1041-1046
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• 1998

This study was carried out to investigate the changes and composition of the non-cellulosic neutral sugars in cell wall of soybean sprouts during growth. The composition of non-cellulosic neutral sugars in cell of soybean sprouts was rhamnose, fucose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, galactose and glucose. The galactose content of cell wall was higher than other non-cellulosic neutral sugars, and was remarkably decreased during growth. The major non-cellulosic sugars of pectic substances were rhamnose, arabinose, and galactose. The arabinose content of pectic substance was increased in cotyledon and hypocotyl during growth. The contents of non-cellulosic neutral sugars were decreased in hypocotyl during growth. The galactose content of pectic substance was higher in cotyledon than those in hypocotyl, and was increased in cotyledon. The content of rhamnose was higher in ionically associated pectic substance than that in covalently bounded pectic substance. The major non-cellulosic neutral sugars of hemicellulose were glucose, rhamnose, arabinose and galactose. The galactose of hemicellulose was decreased remarkably during growth.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.153-153
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• 2001

Capsaicin, a major pungent ingredient in red hot pepper, has long been used in food additives and drugs. We have previously reported that capsaicin induces apoptosis in Korean stomach cancer cell line, SNU-1. In the present study, the mechanism of capsaicin-induced apoptotic cell death was investigated in SNU-1. Treatment of capsaicin to SNU-1 produced dose-dependent increase of apoptotic cell death and ［Ca2＋］$_{i}$ concentrations.(omitted)d)

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.157-162
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• 1998

The antimutagenic activity of three kinds of extract such as fresh juice, ethanol extract and water extract of Artemisia iwayomogi against 3 - amino - 1, 4 - dimethyl - 5H - pyrido [4,3-b] indol (Trp-P-1) and N - methyl - N' - nitro - N -nitrosoguanidine(MNNG) was demonstrated with the Salmonella typhimurium assay. The number of revertants per plate decreased significantly when these extracts(0.5ug/plate) added to the assay system system using S. typhimurium TA 100. These extracts also showed prominant cytotoxic activity against four different kinds of human cancer cell as human lung cancer cell (A549), breast cancer cell(MCF7), fibrosacoma cell(HT1080) and gastric cancer cell(KATOIII), respectively.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.552-562
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• 1994

The study was designed to observe the effect of different dietary fats on the incidence of colorectal tumor and in vivo cell proliferation in colon carcinogenesis. Male Sprague Dawley rats were intrarectally infused with chemical carcinogen(methylnitrosourea, MNU) and fed 16%(w/w) fat diet containing one of dietary fats(beef tallow, corn oil, perilla oil) for 30 weeks. To measure in vivo cell proliferation, the incorporation of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine(BrdU) into DNA was localized using the monoclonal anti-BrdU antibody. Large number of tumors were found in the distal colon and tumor incidence was increased in the order of perilla oil(57.7%)$\alpha$-linolenic acid rich in perilla oil could have a protective effect against colon cancer compared to saturated fatty acid or n-6 linoleic acid.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.313-319
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• 2009

To improve the growth of human mesenchymal stem cells(hMSCs) under general cell culture conditions(20% $O_2$ and 5% $CO_2$), we examined the effect of s-allylcysteine(SAC), which is known as an antioxidant and the main component of aged-garlic extract, on hydrogen peroxide-induced cellular stress in hMSCs. We found that SAC blocked hydrogen peroxideinduced cell death and cellular apoptosis, but that SAC did not improve the growth of hMSCs during short-term culture. To evaluate the protective effect of SAC, we examined the endogenous expression of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase(SOD), and glutathione peroxidase(Gpx) in hMSCs. Hydrogen peroxide was found to downregulate the expression of CAT, SOD, and Gpx at the protein level. However, in the pre-treatment group of SAC, SAC inhibited the hydrogen peroxide-induced down-regulation of CAT, SOD, and Gpx. Unfortunately, treatment with SAC alone did not induce the up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes and the cell proliferation of hMSCs. Surprisingly, SAC improved cell growth in a single cell level culture of hMSCs. These results indicate that SAC may be involved in the preservation of the self-renewal capacity of hMSCs. Taken together, SAC improves the proliferation of hMSCs via inhibition of oxidative-stress-induced cell apoptosis through regulation of antioxidant enzymes. In conclusion, SAC may be an indispensable component in an in vitro culture system of human MSCs for maintaining self-renewal and multipotent characterization of human MSCs.