• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.316-324
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• 2021

Background: Korea Red Ginseng (KRG) has been used as remedies with hepato-protective effects in liver-related condition. Microbiota related gut-liver axis plays key roles in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease. We evaluated the effect of KRG on gut-liver axis in patients with nonalcoholic statohepatitis by the modulation of gut-microbiota. Methods: A total of 94 patients (KRG: 45 and placebo: 49) were prospectively randomized to receive KRG (2,000 mg/day, ginsenoside Rg1+Rb1+Rg3 4.5mg/g) or placebo during 30 days. Liver function test, cytokeraton 18, and fatigue score were measured. Gut microbiota was analyzed by MiSeq systems based on 16S rRNA genes. Results: In KRG group, the mean levels (before vs. after) of aspartate aminotransferase (53 ± 19 vs. 45 ± 23 IU/L), alanine aminotransferase (75 ± 40 vs. 64 ± 39 IU/L) and fatigue score (33 ± 13 vs. 26 ± 13) were improved (p < 0.05). In placebo group, only fatigue score (34 ± 13 vs. 31 ± 15) was ameliorated (p < 0.05). The changes of phyla were not statistically significant on both groups. In KRG group, increased abundance of Lactobacillus was related with improved alanine aminotransferase level and increased abundance of Clostridium and Intestinibacter was associated with no improvement after KRG supplementation. In placebo group, increased abundance of Lachnospiraceae could be related with aggravation of liver enzyme (p < 0.05). Conclusion: KRG effectively improved liver enzymes and fatigue score by modulating gut-microbiota in patients with fatty liver disease. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanism of improvement of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. ClnicalTrials.gov: NCT03945123 (www.ClinicalTrials.gov).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 1992

A $\alpha$-l, 4-D-glucan maltohydrolase $(\beta$-amylase), secreted by the mesophilic aerobic bacterium Bacillus polymyxa No.26, was purified and characterized. The enzyme production was increased after a logarithmic phase of bacterial growth and paralleled with the onset of bacterial sporulation. By applying anion exchange chromatography and gel filtration the enzyme was purified 16.7-fold and had a specific activity of 285.7 units/mg. Two enzyme activities were eluted on a column of DEAE-Sephadex chromatography, and they were designated as E-I for a major enzyme peak and E-II for a minor peak. Of them, E-I enzyme peak was further purified by using gel chromatography. The molecular mass of this enzyme was determined to be 64, 000 daltons and consisted of a single subunit, showing an isoelectric point of 8.9. The enzyme was able to attack specifically the $\alpha$-l, 4-glycosidic linkages in soluble starch and caused its complete hydrolysis to maltose and $\beta$-limited dextrin. This amylolytic enzyme displayed a temperature optimum at $45^\circ{C}$ and a pH optimum at 7.0. The amino acid composition of the purified enzyme was quite similar to the other bacterial $\beta$-amylases reported. Surprisingly, the purified enzyme from this aerobe only exhibited hydrolytic activity on soluble starch, not on starch granules. The degradation of from starch by $\beta$-amylase was greatly stimulated by pullulanase addition. These results differentiated from other $\beta$-amylases reported. Based on a previous result that showed the enzyme system involves in effective degradation of raw starch granules, this result strongly suggested that the purified enzyme (E-I) can be a synergistic part of starch granule-digestion and E-II plays a crucial role in digestion of starch granules.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.57-61
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• 2000

Gastrointestinal (GI) medications have been administered to many patients without any gastrointestinal diseases. The objectives of this study were to evaluate use of GI drugs and assess related factors. Medical records of 600 outpatients were reviewed from January 1997 to December 1997 at A Hospital, Kyunggi-do, Korea. Fifty patients every month among all outpatients were randomly selected up to total 600 patients. Surgical patients, visitors for regular health examination and inpatients were excluded. GI symptoms included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dyspepsia, constipation, heartburn, dysphagia and abdominal pain. The prescribed gastrointestinal drugs were antacids. $H_2$-antagonist, sucralfate, cisapride, omeprazole, laxatives, digestive enzymes and antidiarrheal agents. Patients without GI symptoms were 348 out of 600 outpatients who were screened. Two hundred and eighty two of 348 patients $(81\%)$ were given GI drugs though they did not have any GI symptoms. There were no differences in regard to sex and age of patients. Most of medical departments prescribed gastrointestinal drugs for these patients. The most frequently prescribed drugs were in order of digestive enzyme, antacids and $H_2$-antagonists. In view of economic aspects, patients paid 12.28 percents of total cost per prescription for unnecessary medicines. The medical practice of prescribing GI drugs should be assessed to define appropriate subgroups to have benefits with prophylactic administration and to reduce adverse effects caused by drug interactions. Pharmacists would have a significant role to promote rational drug therapy.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.33-37
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• 2023

Purpose: Since 2013, marine dumping of wastewater has been banned, and research on eco-friendly and efficient land treatment has emerged. This study compared and tested changes in biogas production and anaerobic process efficiency depending on whether or not enzyme pretreatment was performed during anaerobic digestion from single-phase and two-phase to medium-temperature. Research design, data and methodology: The total sugar, direct sugar, pH, and acidity before and after fermentation were analyzed by G/C by anaerobic fermentation of the liquor wastewater, food wastewater 1, and food wastewater 2 at 30℃ for 67 hours, and the amount of methane gas generated was analyzed by balloon volume. Results: It was found that stable organic acid concentration and pH were found in the enzyme-treated food wastewater 2, and the amount of methane gas generated was also increased. Conclusions: When anaerobic digestion of the liquor wastewater and the food wastewater together, the performance of enzyme pretreatment resulted in increased digestive efficiency. It will be the basic data that can contribute to carbon neutrality and greenhouse gas reduction by increasing the production of biogas.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.211-220
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• 2002

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient involved in many functions. Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C de novo, because they lack the last enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway. Previous Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamin C were based on prevention of deficiency with a margin of safety. However preventing deficiency may not be equivalent to ideal nutrient intake. Recommendation should be based on vitamin function in relation to concentration. For this goal, data set of the relationship between wide-range of vitamin C dose and resulting concentrations in plasma and tissues and characterization of functional outcomes in relation to these concentrations should be acquired. This article reviews the current knowledge in these areas and suggest how this knowledge may contribute toward establishing dietary guideline for ideal vitamin C intake.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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• 2002.11b
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• pp.1157-1168
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• 2002

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient involved in many functions. Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C de novo, because they lack the last enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway. Previous Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamin C were based on prevention of deficiency with a margin of safety. However preventing deficiency may not be equivalent to ideal nutrient intake. Recommendation should be based on vitamin function in relation to concentration. For this goal, data set of the relationship between wide-range of vitamin C dose and resulting concentrations in plasma and tissues and characterization of functional outcomes in relation to these concentrations should be acquired. This article reviews the current knowledge in these areas and suggest how this knowledge may contribute toward establishing dietary guideline for ideal vitamin C intake.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.54-70
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• 2002

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient involved in many functions. Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C do novo, because they lack the last enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway. Previous Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamin C were based on prevention of deficiency with a margin of safety. However preventing deficiency may not be equivalent to ideal nutrient intake. Recommendation should be based on vitamin function in relation to concentration. For this goal, data set of the relationship between wide-range of vitamin C dose and resulting concentrations in plasma and tissues and characterization of functional outcomes in relation to these concentrations should be acquired. This article reviews the current knowledge in these areas and suggest how this knowledge may contribute toward establishing dietary guideline for ideal vitamin C intake.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.438-443
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• 1999

A livetin solution(LS) containing yolk immunoglobulins(IgY) was separated by treating the egg yolk with natural gum, carrageenan. Carrageenan has been used as a food ingredient. Relative absorbance of IgY LS after proteolysis was investigated. IgY LS was fairly stable to pepsin digestion at pH 3.0. However, IgY LS appeared to be susceptible to pepsin digestion at pH 2.0, showing 18% of relative absorbance and complete breakdown H chain after 30 min exposure. Relative absorbance of IgY LS was considerably high after exposure to trypsin and chymotrypsin for 8 hr. IgY LS showed especially good stability to chymotrypsin digestion.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1487-1492
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• 2012

Peach (Prunus persica) has been recognized as a food allergen for over 20 years. However, there is little information about cross-reactivity with other foods. The aim of this study was to research cross-reactivity of Korean cherry and hot pepper on patients allergic to peach and its stability by digestive enzyme treatment. Peach, Korean cherry, and hot pepper proteins were extracted and separated by Tricine-SDS-PAGE analysis. The protein extracts had a wide range of molecular weight, from 3 kDa to more than 26 kDa, and displayed different patterns of protein bands on Tricine-SDS-PAGE. Peach allergic patients' sera were used to detect the allergenic protein in three samples. Three peach allergic patients' sera reacted strongly with 9 kDa protein of peach, which was the expected lipid transfer protein (LTP) as the major allergen of peach and was detected with anti-LTP1 polyclonal antibody. However, the reactivity of the 23 kDa protein in Korean cherry and hot pepper protein was stronger than that of the 9 kDa protein. The stability of protein extracts on digestive enzyme treatment was examined using simulated gastric fluids (SGF) and simulated intestinal fluids (SIF), in which digestive enzyme stability is one of the characteristics of allergen potentially causing food allergy. Findings confirmed that allergenic proteins in peach, Korean cherry, and hot pepper were not completely digested by SGF and SIF treatments from results of SDS-PAGE analysis. These results confirmed that Korean cherry and hot pepper might cause cross-reactivity in peach allergic patients, and its allergenic proteins have stability against digestive enzymes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.244-254
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• 2020

Purpose: Ixeris strigosa (IS) is a perennial plant that commonly grows in meadows. The leaves and roots of IS have been used in medicine as a sedative. This study evaluated the antioxidant and carbohydrate-digestive-enzyme inhibitory effects of IS to determine its potential as an essential antioxidant and glycemic inhibitor for type 2 diabetics. Methods: The antioxidative and α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities were examined using the water extracts (ISW), ethanol extracts (ISE), and solvent fractions from IS. The antioxidative activities were measured using in vitro methods by measuring the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid radical scavenging activity. Results: Investigations of the total polyphenol, flavonoid content, in vitro antioxidant activity, and α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of the IS extract showed that the ISE had higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents than the ISW, as well as high antioxidant activity. The ethanolic extracts of IS (70%) had an α-amylase inhibitory activity of 78.55%. The ethyl acetate fraction (90.56%) showed higher α-glucosidase inhibitory activity than the positive control, acarbose (83.01%). Conclusion: Among the ISE fractions, the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions showed the best digestive enzyme inhibitory activity. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of the extract and the carbohydrate, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase inhibitory effects showed a stronger correlation with the total phenol and flavonoid contents compared to the ISW. As a result, the antioxidant and digestive enzyme inhibitory activities of high ISE are due to the phenolic compounds, particularly the flavonoid compounds. Therefore, ethyl acetate and butanol fractions of the 70% ethanol extract are excellent anti-diabetic functional materials.