• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.401-409
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• 2013

Smilax china L., a native plant found in Asian countries, has several medicinal properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. Although the root of the plant is commonly used as traditional herbal medicine in Korea and China, the medicinal properties of the leaves have not gained the same attention. In this study, we analyzed the antioxidant activity, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory effect and lipid accumulation inhibition effect of Smilax china L. leaf water extract (SCLE) and its solvent fractions. SCLE was fractionated by using a series of organic solvents, including ethylacetate (EA) and n-butanol (BuOH). The EA fraction had the highest total polyphenol content ($440.20{\pm}12.67$ mg GAE/g) and total flavonoid content ($215.14{\pm}24.83$ mg QE/g). The radical scavenging activity $IC_{50}$ values of the EA fraction for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) were 0.022 mg/mL and 0.13 mg/mL, respectively. Further, SOD-like activity and reducing power values of the EA fraction were higher than those of the other fractions. However, both the ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and lipid accumulation inhibition assays showed that the BuOH fraction ($83.35{\pm}4.18%$ at 1 mg/mL) and water extract ($11.27{\pm}2.67%$) were more effective than the EA fraction ($64.13{\pm}6.35%$, and $45.66{\pm}7.20%$). These results provide new insights into the potential anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects of Smilax china L. leaf.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.909-918
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• 2017

Ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.) was fermented in brine in the form of mulkimchi (IPMB), and its contents of organic acid and cyclitols and biological activities were compared with those before fermentation. The pH of the IPMB continuously decreased until the sixth day of fermentation. The lactic acid yield was greatest on the fourth day. D-pinitol in ice plant mulkimchi solids (IPMS) decreased during fermentation. However, myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol increased. The radical scavenging activities of ABTS and DPPH, in addition to the activity of FRAP, of the IPMS extract were generally higher after fermentation, with the activities highest on the fifth ($79.09{\pm}0.69%$), fourth ($87.55{\pm}1.21%$), and sixth ($78.72{\pm}0.99%$) days of fermentation, respectively, when treated with 1 mg/ml of the extract. As shown by a lipid/MA assay, antioxidant activity was generally higher after fermentation. The viability of BNL CL.2 cells damaged by t-BHP, $H_2O_2$, and ethanol was $14.19{\pm}0.98$, $13.80{\pm}2.25$, and $25.89{\pm}2.90%$, respectively. When treated with $200{\mu}g/ml$ of IPMS extract, the cell viability was $57.06{\pm}4.52%$ on the first day, and $66.06{\pm}1.36%$ on the fourth day, and $50.07{\pm}04.85%$ on the sixth day of fermentation. Hepatocyte protective effects did not increase significantly after fermentation. ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitory activity was quite high, with a range of $83.52{\pm}2.69$ to $92.79{\pm}2.16%$, and the activity increased gradually in all the groups over the fermentation period. There was no clear correlation between ${\alpha}-amylase$ inhibitory activity and fermentation.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 2004

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor $\gamma$ (PPAR${\gamma}$) is the molecular target for a class of drugs, the antidiabetic thiazolidnediones (TZDs). The heterodimer of PPAR${\gamma}$ with retinoid X receptor (RXR) plays a central role in the regulation of adipogenesis and insulin sensitization. We synthesized two chemicals, DANA87 and DANA88, sharing structural characteristics with TZDs. Given this structural similarity, it was hypothesized that DANA87 and DANA88 may act as PPAR$\gamma$ ligands. In transient transfection assays, DANA87 and DANA88 caused slight increases in the endogenous expression of a luciferase reporter gene containing the PPAR responsive element in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. However, DANA87 and DANA88 significantly inhibited troglitazone-induced reporter gene activation when cells were treated with a combination of DANA87 or DANA 88 and troglitazone, one of the TZDs that activate PPAR$\gamma$. These results suggest that DANA87 and DANA88 are not only weak agonists of PPAR${\gamma}$ transactivation, but also competitively antagonize troglitazone-induced PPAR$\gamma$ reporter activity.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.284-290
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• 2005

The ginseng root has been used as a tonic remedy, and its antidiabetic activity has been demonstrated as early as 1920s. Although wild ginseng was anecdotally thought to be superior to cultivated ginseng in terms of pharmacological properties, there have been no prior reports on its improvement of metabolic syndrome. In this study, we figured out whether wild ginseng ethanol extract (WGEE) exerted the preventive effects on high fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome as well as treatment effect in ICR mice. In the preventive mode experiment, WGEE at 500 mg/kg significantly inhibited body weight gain $(16\%)$, fasting blood glucose $(37\%)$ and insulin $(37\%)$, triglyceride $(15\%)$, and free fatty acid levels $(32\%)$ when compared to those in high fat diet (HFD) fed control group. WGEE-treated mice at doses of 250 and 500mg/kg improved the insulin resistance index by $55\%\;and\;61\%$ compared to the HFD control group, respectively. In the treatment mode experiment, WGEE also markedly reduced the blood glucose levels (210 mg/dl in control group was lowered to 167 mg/dl).Taken together, WGEE has potential as a preventive and treatment agent for metabolic syndrome and deserves clinical trial in the near future.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2019

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant malignancies. Antidiabetic drug metformin has been reported to inhibit cell proliferation and metastasis in many cancers, including melanoma. Metformin suppresses the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and our previous study showed that it also inhibits the activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Paclitaxel is currently prescribed for treatment of melanoma. However, paclitaxel induced the activation of ERK/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, a cell signaling pathway implicated in cell survival and proliferation. Therefore, we reasoned that combined treatment of paclitaxel with metformin could be more effective in the suppression of cell proliferation than treatment of paclitaxel alone. Here, we investigated the combinatory effect of paclitaxel and metformin on the cell survival in SK-MEL-28 melanoma cell line. Our study shows that the combination of paclitaxel and metformin has synergistic effect on cell survival and suppresses the expression of proteins involved in cancer metastasis. These findings suggest that the combination of paclitaxel and metformin can be a possible therapeutic option for treatment of melanoma.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.276-284
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• 2023

Sinapic acid (SA) is a phenolic acid that is widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, which has various bioactivities, such as antidiabetic, anticancer and anti-inflammatory functions. Over-activated microglial is involved in the development progress of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of SA in microglia neuroinflammation models. Our results demonstrated that SA inhibited secretion of the nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin (IL)-6, reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and enhanced the release of IL-10 in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, our further investigation revealed that SA attenuated the phosphorylation of AKT and MAPK cascades in LPS-induced microglia. Consistently, oral administration of SA in mouse regulated the production of inflammation-related cytokines and also suppressed the phosphorylation of MAPK cascades and AKT in the mouse cerebral cortex. These results suggested that SA may be a possible therapy candidate for anti-inflammatory activity by targeting the AKT/MAPK signaling pathway.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.223-223
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• 2022

Saengcheonggukjang, known as Natto in Japan, is a Korean fermented soybean food that has various bioactive compounds for antioxidant and antidiabetic activity. The development of soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars for saengcheonggukjang production relies on the selection of seed traits that influence the quality and sensory properties. One of the important traits for cultivars is seed characteristics such as seed hardness and size. In order to select the lines for breeding good quality saengcheonggukjang varieties, several simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to seed quality of Korean cultivars, Pungsannamulkong, Socheongja, Pungwon, Heawon, and Hoseo, were analyzed. Based on the many studies to detect stable QTLs for seed traits, we tested several QTLs related to seed size and water absorbability using SSR markers on Korean cultivars. The results showed that two regions for water absorbability of Pungsannamulkong and one region for seed size traits of Haewon and Hoseo were identified in this study. These results could have applications to soybean breeding for seed size and hardness and it is necessary to narrow it down through further study.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.126-131
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• 2012

Physiological activities of hot water (BRW) and 80% ethanol (BRE) extracts from brown rice were investigated in this study. The highest activity (94.9%) of nitrite reductase was observed for BRE at 1 mg/ml at pH 1.2, while the activity for BRW was about 75.4% under the same conditions. The inhibitory effects of BRW and BRE on xanthine oxidase activity were about 39.0 and 72.9% at 10 mg/ml, respectively. The digestibility of starch was lower for brown rice than for milled rice and the highest inhibition (93.1%) of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase activity occurred with BRE. Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activities of BRW and BRE were weakly increased in a dose-dependent manner and were about 56.4 and 44.9% at 10 mg/ml, respectively. The influences of BRW and BRE on alcohol metabolizing activity were determined by measuring the generation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Increases in ADH and ALDH activities were only detected with BRE.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.786-793
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• 2004

Women with menopause or rats with ovariectomy is associated with increased body weight, body fat and insulin resistance, which are components of metabolic syndrome. Increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome after menopause might be associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, since mitochondrial oxidative and phosphorylation activity is strongly correlated with insulin sensitivity. Although estradiol replacement prevents the metabolic syndrome, harmful effect of estradiol hampers the casual usage to prevent the metabolic syndrome. It has been reported that genistein has a mild estrogenic activity, decreases fat mass in mice and has an antidiabetic role in diabetic rats. Although insulin resistance is closely related to mitochondrial functions, there has not been yet any study in regard to the effect of dietary genistein on mitochondrial function in the insulin resistant female subjects induced by ovariectomy or similar situation. The present study investigated whether the supplementation of genistein in the high fat diet affected the mitochondrial function of high fat fed ovariectomized rats. Female Sprague Dawley rats (8 weeks old) were assigned to the following groups: sham-operated+ high fat diet (S, n=6); sham-operated + high fat diet with 0.1% genistein (S + G, n=7); ovariectomized + high fat diet (OVX, n=8); ovariectomized + high fat diet with 0.1% genistein (OVX+ G, n=8). Ovariectomy significantly increased body weight compared with S group. Genistein consumption in ovariectomized (OVX + G) rats decreased body weight gain compared with OVX rats. Liver weights were increased by ovariectomy. The hepatic mitochondrial protein density expressed as mg per g liver was lower in the OVX group than in the S group. However, OVX + G group showed the increased mitochondrial protein density similar to the level of S group. When mRNA levels of genes related to mitochondria such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\gamma}$ coactivator 1 (PGC-1) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (COX III) were measured, there were decreases in the mRNA levels of PGC-1 and COX III in S + G, OVX and OVX + G group. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase was not different between groups. We could observe the decrease in succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity per g liver in OVX rats. Genistein supplement increased SDH activity. In conclusion, genistein supplementation to the OVX rats enhanced mitochondrial function by increasing mitochondrial protein density and SDH activity. The improvement in mitochondrial function by genistein can contribute to the improvement in metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.506-511
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• 2014

Commelina communis Ledeb is a widely used medication for the treatment of antidiabetic, antioxidant and hypoglycemic agent in Korea. Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (${\alpha}$-MSH) is a major factor to stimulate melanin synthesis in the skin. The purposes of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of extract from Commelina communis Ledeb (ECC) on ${\alpha}$-MSH-stimulated melanogenesis in B16F10 cells. ECC suppressed melanin synthesis and intracellular tyrosinase activity in B16F10 cells or ${\alpha}$-MSH-induced B16F10 cells in a dose dependent manner. In study on the melanogenic protein expressions, it had especially influence on expressions of tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein (TRP-1). Tyrosinase and TRP-1 expressions were gradually decreased in a dose-dependent. Additionally, the extract also decreased the ${\alpha}$-MSH-induced over-expression of tyrosinase and TRP-1. This results show that the anti-melanogenic activity of ECC is correlated with the suppression of tyrosinase and TRP-1 protein expressions in B16F10 cells.