• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2024

Objectives: Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen that occurs as harmless commensals in the intestine, urogenital tract, and skin. It has been influenced by a variety of host conditions and has now evolved as a resistant strain. The aim of this study was thus detect the fluconazole resistant C. albicans from the root caries specimens and to computationally evaluate the interactions of an opaque-phase ABC transporter protein with the Psidium guajava bio-active compounds. Methods: 20 carious scrapings were collected from patients with root caries and processed for the isolation of C. albicans and was screened for fluconazole resistance. Genomic DNA was extracted and molecular characterization of Cdrp1 and Cdrp2 was done by PCR amplification. P. guajava methanolic extract was checked for the antifungal efficacy against the resistant strain of C. albicans. Further in-silico docking involves retrieval of ABC transporter protein and ligand optimization, molinspiration assessment on drug likeness, docking simulations and visualizations. Results: 65% of the samples showed the presence of C.albicans and 2 strains were fluconazole resistant. Crude methanolic extract of P. guajava was found to be promising against the fluconazole resistant strains of C. albicans. In-silico docking analysis showed that Myricetin was a promising candidate with a high docking score and other drug ligand interaction scores. Conclusion: The current study emphasizes that bioactive compounds from Psidium guajava to be a promising candidate for treating candidiasis in fluconazole resistant strains of C. albicans However, further in-vivo studies have to be implemented for the experimental validation of the same in improving the oral health and hygiene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.646-651
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• 2017

This study was carried out to examine the antimicrobial activity of 70% ethanol and hot water extracts from different parts and essential oil in Pinus densiflora on skin pathogens such as Staphylococcus epiermidis, S. aureus, Propionibacterium acnes, Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, and Trichophyton rubrum. The antimicrobial activities of extracts and essential oil were tested by paper disc assay and minimum inhibitory concentration test. The ethanol extract of pine pollen showed antimicrobial activity against C. tropicalis and T. rubrum. Ethanol extract of pine needle and pine gnarl showed antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, C. tropicalis, and P. acnes. Essential oil from pine needle exhibited antimicrobial activity against C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and P. acnes. The minimum inhibitory concentration of ethanol extracts of pine needle and pine gnarl against P. acnes and C. tropicalis ranged from 0.002% to 0.0063%. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (0.025%) against C. albicans and C. tropicalis was obtained from essential oil. These results indicate that ethanol extracts of pine pollen, pine needle, pine gnarl, and essential oil of pine needle could be applicable to control the skin infection pathogens. Especially, ethanol extract of pine gnarl had a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and pine extracts and essential oil exhibited higher antimicrobial activity with Candida sp. and P acnes.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.367-375
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• 2002

Background : Murine typhus is a flea-borne, worldwide Rickettsial disease caused by Rickettsia typhi. Its symptoms are typically mild but sometimes can be fatal. The major clinical features include fever, rash, and headache. Recently, we experienced 6 cases of ARDS associated with a Rickettsia typhi infection. This study was aimed to analyze the attributing factors for fatal murine typhus and to review the characteristics of the patients who showed acute respiratory distress syndrome as the initial presentation. Methods : The medical records of 15 patients diagnosed as murine typhus were reviewed. The diagnosis was made by single titers of 1:512 or higher, or a 4-fold rise with compatible clinical features. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) was defined according to the American-European Consensus Conference. The Characteristics between the ARDS group and the non-ARDS group of murine typhus were compared. Results : Six patients developed ARDS as their initial presentation. Two of them were women and three of them had lived urban area. None of Them a showed skin rash. One of them expired during treatment. The time lapse until the commencement of the specific treatment, the lower serum albumin level, the higher serum total bilirubin level, the higher APACHE III score and the higher MOD score were significantly associated with the ARDS group compared to the non-ARDS group. Conclusion : Murine typhus should be considered as one of the etiologies for the ARDS of unknown cause, particularly in an endemic regions. ARDS caused by Murine typhus generally has a good prognosis.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.255-263
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• 2013

The innate immune response is fundamental defense response of vertebrates and invertebrates. Especially, the innate immune response important for larvae that lack of resistance to infectious diseases in the early stages. Galectin is one of the kinds of lectin and presents in the fish mucous that involves innate immune response. Galectin have been studied from various fishing species, but expression analysis of galectin is still unclear during early developmental stage in olive flounder. In this study, we investigated gene expression of galectin-1 from various developmental stage and tissues. We excised several tissues including the muscle, fin, eye, gill, brain, stomach, intestine, kidney, spleen and liver from adult olive flounder and confirmed gene expression of galectin-1 using RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR. Expression of galectin-1 was significantly higher in muscle, stomach and intestinal tissue than other tissue in adult fish (5 and 29 months). Also, galectin-1 gene was detected from 0 DAH and gradually increased to 35 DAH and since then decreased after stomach development period. Induction of galectin-1 during the early developmental stage suggest that muscle, fin and eye tissue is formed and begins the secretion of galectin this period. In addition, increased expression levels at 35 DAH suggest that due to complete formation of stomach and intestine, increase of secretion and activation of enzyme. This study shows that expression of galectin-1 during early developmental stages and adult period in olive flounder and can be expect that galectin-1 play essental role in the innate immune system throughout the whole life time. Galectin-1 is primary barrier such as skin and digestive tissue against pathogen infection, also digestive tract developmental period is important for pathogen invasion can be expected that it will serve. Mass mortality due to the disease in seed production is continuing damage, therefore these result will be meaningful about infectious disease during early developmental stages as a basic data for the study.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2008

This report describes 46 studies related to the use of Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii main blended prescriptions from Dongeuibogam. The following conclusions were reached through investigations on the prescriptions that use Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii as a key ingredient. 1. 19.6% of feces recorded the largest number of clinical frequency of the prescriptions in therapeutic use when Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii was taken as a monarch drug in prescriptions. In addition, 13.0% of each of a cough and an abdominal mass with distention and pain ranked second. 2. Prescriptions that utilize Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii as the main ingredient are used in the treatmeant of 5 diseases related to each of feces and an abdominal mass with distention and pain, and they are also used for treating different types of diseases related to the following ; a cough, a chest, ribs, eyes, the fullness in the chest, Qi, skin areas. 3. In the view of the causative agent of a disease, the prescriptions which are compounded with Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii as a monarch drug are related to endogenous agents such as seven emotion, food, deficiency, exogenous agents such as wind-cold pathogen, heat and non-endo-exopathogcnic factors like diseases due to external factors, poison. And in the view of the pathology of a disease, they are applied to the viscera pathology related to the lung, the spleen and stomach, the pathology of Qi and blood related to the reversed flow of Qi, the congestion of Qi, the deficiency of blood, the obstruction of Qi and blood, and the pathology about the retention of phlegm and fluid related to phlegm stagnation. 4. The dosage of Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii is 1.25pun(about 0,47g) to 2jeon(about 7.5g), however 1jeon(about 3.75g) has been taken the most for clinical application. 5. We can find out that according to herbs or prescriptions blended with itself, Fructus Ponciri Seu Aurantii makes a variety of functions to penetrate and remove stagnation, regulate Qi flow, relieve stagnation, expell wind and get rid of pain.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.301-308
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• 2020

Owing to global climate change, the global resurgence of vector-borne infectious diseases and their potential to inflict widespread casualties among human populations has emerged as a pivotal burden on public health systems. Tsutsugamushi disease (scrub typhus) in the Republic of Korea is steadily increasing and was designated as a legal communicable disease in 1994. The disease is a mite-borne acute febrile disease most commonly contracted from October to December. In this study, we tried to determine the prevalence of tsutsugamushi disease transmitted by chigger mites living on rodents and investigated their target vector diversity, abundance, and distribution to enable the mapping of hotspots for this disease in 2015. A total of 5 species belonging to 4 genera (109 mites): Leptotrombidium scutellare 60.6%, L. pallidum 28.4% Neotrombicula tamiyai 9.2%, Euschoengastia koreaensis/0.9%), and Neoschoengastia asakawa 0.9% were collected using chigger mite collecting traps mimicking human skin odor and sticky chigger traps from April to November 2015. Chigger mites causing tsutsugamushi disease in wild rodents were also collected in Hwaseong for the zoonotic surveillance of the vector. A total of 77 rodents belonging to 3 genera: Apodemus agrarius (93.5%), Crocidura lasiura (5.2%), and Micromys minutus (1.3%) were collected in April, October, and November 2015. The most common mite was L. pallidum (46.9%), followed by L. scutellare (18.6%), and L. orientale (18.0%). However, any of the chigger mite pools collected from rodent hosts was tested positive for Orientia tsutsugamushi, the pathogen of tsutsugamushi disease, in this survey.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 2007

Vibrio harveyi, one of the major causal agent of vibriosis, affects a diverse range of marine vertebrates and invertebrates over a wide geographical area. The organism is synonymous with Vibrio carchariae, which is also known as a fish pathogen. The aims of this study were to investigate the characteristics of the pathogenic non-luminous V. harveyi and the luminous V. harveyi. And V. harveyi isolates were examined the pathogenicity to the black rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli. Both strains of V. harveyi showed haemolytic activity, and the survival rate of non-luminous V. harveyi FR 2 was higher than other strains in the skin, gut mucus and fresh serum of olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus and black rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli, respectively. The virulence of non-luminous V. harveyi FR 2 was higher than that of luminous V. harveyi VIB 391 in the intraperitoneally infected black rockfish. In conclusion, the present study revealed that the pathogenicity of V. harveyi FR 2 isolated from marine fish was higher than that of V. harveyi VIB 391 isolated from shrimp for black rockfish. It was suggested that the pathogenicity of V. harveyi on the black rockfish was related with bacterial luminescense.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.230-237
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• 2020

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is known as a bacterium that can cause skin infections, respiratory system infections, and sinusitis; however, it can exist as a normal flora rather than a pathogen. Recently, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections have emerged in the community as a new variant of community-associated (CA)-MRSA. In the present study, S. aureus and MRSA were isolated and cultured by collecting samples from facilities and environments where students and educational personnel have multiple contacts on university campuses; specifically, the nostrils and hands of college students were tested from July to September of 2019. The molecular properties of the isolated MRSA were analyzed, and the one MRSA strain was isolated from the university campuses. One MRSA that was isolated and cultured on campus was the mec complex group A and staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec type II, which is a characteristic of healthcare-associated (HA)-MRSA, and SCCmec type V, which is a characteristic of CA-MRSA. This result was similar to other studies wherein the SCCmec type II was detected in SCCmec typing analysis in CA-MRSA. To confirm whether there is a new variant of CA-MRSA in the Republic of Korea, additional follow-up studies on the analysis of virulence factors of MRSA are needed by additionally separating CA-MRSA from the body parts of university students and educational personnel.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2006

Acne is a chronic inflammatory follicular disorder of the skin, occurring in specialized pilosebaceous units on the face, and Propionibacterium acnes, a strict anaerobic pathogen, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acne. To develop a reliable and effective anti-acne agent, we have evaluated antibacterial activity of 500 plant extracts, prepared from 335 plants, against P. acnes. Based on the results of disc-paper method, 25 plant extracts, including the extracts of Chloranthus japonicus (aerial part), Sophora flavescens (radix), Evodia officinalis (fructus), Ginko biloba (semem), Morus alba (root bark), Aralia continentalis (whole) and Reynoutria elliptica (radix), were selected as possible sources of anti-acne agent. Among them, the extract of S. flavescens (radix) was finally selected and kuraridin and kurarinone were identified as major active compounds of S. flavescens. These results suggested that medicinal and wild plants could be the potential source of anti-acne agent.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 2016

Lectins belong to the pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) class and play important roles in the recognition and elimination of pathogens via the innate immune system. Recently, it was reported that lily-type lectin-1 is involved when a pathogen attacks in the early immune response of fish. However, this study is limited to information that the lectin is involved in the innate immune response against viral infection. In the present study, the lily-type lectin-2 and -3 of Oplegnathus fasciatus (OfLTL-2 and 3) have been presented to be included B-lectin domain and two D-mannose binding sites in the amino acid sequence that an important feature for the fundamental structure. To investigate the functional properties of OfLTLs, the tissue distribution in the healthy rock bream and temporal expression during early developmental stage analysis are performed using quantitative real-time PCR. OfLTL-2 and 3 are predominantly expressed in the liver and skin, but rarely expressed in other organ. Also, the transcripts of OfLTLs are not expressed during the early developmental stage but its transcripts are increased after immune-related organs which are fully formed. In the challenge experiment with RBIV (rock bream iridovirus), the expression of OfLTLs was increased much more strongly in the late response than the early, unlike previously known. These results suggest that OfLTLs are specifically expressed in the immune-related tissues when those organs are fully formed and it can be inferred that the more intensively involved in the second half to the virus infection.