• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.248-254
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• 2021

Ulcerative colitis (UC), chronic inflammatory bowel disease, is characterized by severe inflammation in the colon. Tea is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide. Pu-erh tea, a unique Chinese tea produced by microbial activities, possesses a broad range of health-promoting effects, including anti-aging, anti-Alzheimer's disease, antioxidation and anti-obesity. However, the inhibitory effect of Pu-erh tea on intestinal inflammation and the underlying mechanism remain unclear. The present study was designed to evaluate the regulatory effect of Pu-erh tea extract (PTE) on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis clinical signs by analyzing the weight loss and colon length in mice. The inhibitory effects of PTE on inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) were also determined in DSS-treated colitis tissue. We observed that PTE treatment significantly inhibited the DSS-induced clinical symptoms of weight loss, decrease,in colon length, and colon tissue damage in mice. Moreover, PTE attenuated the DSS-induced levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in colon tissue. We also demonstrated the anti-inflammatory mechanism of PTE by suppressing the activation of NF-κB in DSS-treated colon tissues. Collectively, the findings provide experimental evidence that PTE may be effective in preventing and treatment of intestinal inflammatory disorders, including UC.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.391-398
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• 2022

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a typical inflammatory colon disorder. Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) is known to exert various beneficial effects including anti-oxidative and anti-bacterial properties and improvements in liver function. However, the improving effect and mechanism of PG on intestinal inflammation are not fully understood. The present research was designed to investigate the effect of PG on the clinical signs of DSS-induced colitis in mice. The ameliorative effects of PG on inflammatory cytokine expression and the activation of hypoxia-inducible-factor (HIF)-1α in DSS-treated colon tissue were also determined. Our results showed that mice treated with DSS displayed the main clinical symptoms of colitis, including weight loss, bloody stools, decrease in colon length and diarrhea and PG treatment significantly improved the clinical features induced by DSS in mice. PG inhibited the increase in the levels of inflammatory cytokines caused by DSS in colon tissues. We also showed that the anti-inflammatory mechanism of PG involved suppressing the activation of HIF-1α in DSS-treated colon tissues. Collectively, the findings of this study indicate the prospect of developing new drugs from PG for UC treatment.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.214-220
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• 2016

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a treatment designed to correct gut dysbiosis by administration of feces from a healthy volunteer. It is still unclear whether FMT for children with ulcerative colitis (UC) is effective or hazardous. Here we describe a young patient to have received FMT for UC. A three-year-old girl was admitted to our hospital with severe active UC, and treated with aminosalicylates and various immunosuppressive drugs. As remission was not achieved, we decided to try FMT before colectomy. We administered donor fecal material a total of six times by retention enema (${\times}2$) and via a nasoduodenal tube (${\times}4$) within 10 days. The patient developed abdominal pain and pyrexia after each FMT session. Analyses revealed the transferred donor fecal microbiota had not been retained by the patient, who ultimately underwent colectomy. The severity of the UC and/or timing of FMT may have partly accounted for the poor outcome.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.214-217
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• 2018

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a well-recognized risk factor for thrombotic events in adults but data on children are scarce. In the great majority of adult patients, thrombotic events are usually deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Other sites such as jugular veins are extremely rare. We present a case of Lemierre syndrome in an adolescent girl with active ulcerative colitis and discuss possible risk factors. This is the first reported case of severe Lemierre syndrome with thrombus extension to cranial veins in a patient with ulcerative colitis. Early recognition of Lemierre syndrome in patients who present with rapidly worsening symptoms of neck pain, fever and signs of pharyngitis is imperative because it increases a chance of favorable prognosis. It is important for pediatricians treating IBD patients not to underestimate possible thrombotic events in children with IBD. Recognition of additional risk factors is crucial for prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.425-428
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• 2014

A 45-year-old-male who had underlying ulcerative colitis and presented with fever and dry cough. Initially, the patient was considered to have invasive aspergillosis due to a positive galactomannan assay. He was treated with amphotericin B followed by voriconazole. Nevertheless, the patient deteriorated clinically and radiographically. The lung biopsy revealed eosinophilic pneumonia, and ELISA for Toxocara antigen was positive, leading to a diagnosis of pulmonary toxocariasis. After a 10-day treatment course with albendazole and adjunctive steroids, the patient recovered completely without any sequelae. Pulmonary toxocariasis may be considered in patients with subacute or chronic pneumonia unresponsive to antibiotic agents, particularly in cases with eosinophilia.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.46-51
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• 2019

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory intestinal condition. With development of various treatment options for IBD, 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) agents became the drugs of choice due to high efficacy and low risk of complication, specifically effective at inducing and maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis(UC). Pancytopenia caused by 5-ASA agents, especially by mesalazine, has been rarely reported compared with azathioprine, which is commonly used for glucocorticoid-dependent IBD and known to have risk of bone marrow suppression. In the present report, we describe the case of a 57-year-old woman diagnosed with UC, who developed pancytopenia due to adverse effect of mesalazine after recovery from azathioprine-induced pancytopenia. After withdrawal of mesalazine, the laboratory values consistent with myelosuppression continued for 3 months while pancytopenia from azathioprine remained only for 2 weeks. Since pancytopenia can be fatal due to its risk of severe bleeding and infection, close monitoring of clinical presentation is important when starting mesalazine and laboratory data should be evaluated whenever the patients present related symptoms. Furthermore, we suggest that complete blood cell counts should be considered when resuming mesalazine following the development of pancytopenia from any cause, as routinely recommended for azathioprine use.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.147-153
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• 2021

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) with unknown etiopathogenesis. This case report details remission of UC induced by Korean herbal medicine treatment. A 31-year-old male patient diagnosed as UC after a series of examinations including endoscopy and fecal calprotectin (FC) test. He had severe bloody diarrhea over 10-20 times a day despite taking 5-aminosalicylic acid and steroid. He was given individualized Korean herbal medicine Dowha-tang according to pattern identification. After taking Dowha-tang for 7 months, clinical remission was achieved. The symptoms disappeared and FC level went down to normal level. No adverse events were reported. This case report shows that Korean herbal medicine treatment may have the potential for clinical remission of UC. Further investigation is warranted.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2022

Ulcerative colitis (UC) exhibits chronic intestinal inflammatory conditions with cycles of relapse and remission. The incidence is rapidly growing in Asian countries including South Korea possibly due to changes in lifestyles. Although the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease is inconclusive, gut microbiota composition is considered a critical factor involved in the pathogenesis of UC. The overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria evokes hyper-immune responses in gut epithelium causing tissue inflammation and damage. Also, failure to regulate gut epithelium integrity due to chronic inflammation and mucus depletion accelerates bacterial translocation aggravating immune dysregulation. Gut microbiota composition responds to the diet in a very rapid manner. Epidemiological studies have indicated that the risk of UC is associated with low plant foods/high animal foods consumption. Several bacterial strains consistently found depleted in UC patients use plant food-originated dietary fiber producing short chain fatty acids to maintain epithelial integrity. These bacteria also use mucus layer mucin to keep gut microbiota diversity. These studies partly explain the association between dietary modification of gut microbiota in UC development. Further human intervention trials are required to allow the use of specific bacterial strains in the management of UC.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2020.08a
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• pp.9-9
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• 2020

Many modern people are exposed to chronic inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), atopic dermatitis and immune disorder. Among those chronic diseases, the incidence ratio of IBD has been increased. IBD, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), is known to cause abnormal inflammation in intestinal tissue. UC is accompanied by abdominal pain, bloody stool and diarrhea. Many therapeutic agents, such as sulfasalazine, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, have been used for treating UC. However, those agents have side-effects and temporary effects on UC. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of herbal medicine on UC and relationship between UC and intestinal bacteria according characteristic of herbal medicine. To determine the effect of herbal medicine on UC, various herbal medicine were chosen within oriental medicine category such as cheongyeol and onyeol medicine. In this study, we found carthami fructus, included in cheongyeol medicine, had stronger effect than onyeol medicine. Also, we determined influence of carthami fructus against lactic acid bacteria. Catthami fructus and lingon berry extracts affected the composition of mice intestinal bacteria in mice fecal. The symptoms of UC could be regulate by using herbal medicine, according to characteristic of herbal medicine. Also, herbal medicine might be change body condition to healthy by controlling intestinal bacteria composition. Herbal medicine characteristic could be a therapeutic agent by revealing relationship between intestinal bacteria and UC.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.50-62
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• 2008

Objectives: This study was aimed to find the effect of Samiunkyungtang on inflammation and microflora in an ulcerative colitis animal model. Methods: We established four groups of normal, control, test 1, and test 2 and assigned 6 rats toeach group. The normal group was not treated by any process and fed by normal saline. The control & test groups were provided with 4% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) treatment for 7 days. Samiunkyungtang extract was orally administered to test groups (test 1=25mg/kg, test 2 100mg/kg) 3 days after DSS treatment for 10 days. After DSS treatment finished, we sacrificed the mice and measured colon length and enzyme activities such as myeloperoxidase (MPO), alkine phosphatase (ALP), ${\beta}$-glucuronidase, ${\beta}$-glucosidase, chondroitinase, and tryptophanase. Results: The colon lengths of test 1 and 2 groups were longer than the control group (p<0.05). Histologically, the crypts and superficial epitheliums of test 1 and 2 groups were regenerated. Goblet cells from all test groups were retrieved. The inflammatory biochemical marker, MPO and ALP activities in all test groups were highly reduced (p<0.01) compared to the control group. The activities of fecal bacterial enzymes in test groups such as ${\beta}$-glucuronidase, ${\beta}$-glucosidase, chondroitinase, and tryptophanase were reduced compared to the control group (p<0.01). Conclusions: As a result of this experiment, Samiunkyungtang is considered to have an inhibitory effect on inflammation and fecal enzyme activity in DSS-induced colitis animal model. Our results indicate that Samiunkyungtang may possess therapeutic effect on the development of DSS-induced colitis.