• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.60-71
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• 2023

Cockroaches can cause allergic sensitization in humans via contact with their feces or frass. Antibiotics can affect concentration of major allergen and total bacteria production in German cockroaches (Blattella germanica). This study examined the ability of antibiotic-treated German cockroaches to induce allergic airway inflammation and the effect of antibiotics on their lipopolysaccharide and Bla g1, 2, and 5 expression levels. Specifically, we measured the ability of German cockroach extract (with or without prior antibiotic exposure) to induce allergic inflammation in human bronchial epithelial cells and a mouse model of asthma. Bacterial 16S rRNA and lipopolysaccharide levels were lower in ampicillin-treated cockroaches than in the control group. The Bla g1, Bla g2, and Bla g5 expression in ampicillin-treated cockroaches decreased at both the protein and RNA levels. In human bronchial epithelial cell lines BEAS-2B exposed to the ampicillin-treated extract, expression levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 were lower than that in the control group. The total cell count and eosinophil count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was also lower in mice exposed to the ampicillin-treated extract than in those exposed to normal cockroach extract. Mouse lung histopathology showed reduced immune cell infiltration and mucus production in the ampicillin group. Our results showed that ampicillin treatment reduced the symbiont bacterial population and major allergen levels in German cockroaches, leading to reduced airway inflammation in mice. These results can facilitate the preparation of protein extracts for immunotherapy or diagnostics applications.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.33-41
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• 2005

Objective : The effect of Ulmus davidiana Planch(UD), which has long been known to have anti-inflammation and protective effects on damaged tissue, inflammation and bone among other functions, on the development of type II collagen (CII)-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats was studied. Methods : Male rats were immunized with an emulsion of $200\;{\mu}g$ of CII and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). The rats were then given intraperitoneal stimulation of Ulmus davidiana Planch herbal acupuncture(UDHA)or saline during the experiment. When compared with rats treated with saline as control, UDHA at doses of more than $20{\mu}g/100\;g$ rat once a day for 7 days inhibited the ability of inguinal lymph node cells to produce T cell cytokines interleukin-2, interleukin-6, $IFN-{\gamma}$ when the cells were obtained from rats 14 days after immunization and cultured in vitro with CII. Results : When rats were injected intraperitoneally, UD -treated group and control group rats did not differ significantly when low doses of UD was given to rats. Conclusion : The recommended dose of UD in the management and treatment of rat CIA will be more than $20{\mu}g/100\;g$, which is two-firth of human therapeutic dose. From the results, it was concluded that the effect of UDHA is dependent of dosage.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.761-765
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• 2009

The effects of probiotic bacteria on the functional properties of squid by-products were investigated during fermentation. Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Pediococcus acidilactici were used to ferment the squid by-products for 96 hr at $37^{\circ}C$. The numbers of all probiotics increased to $10^7-10^8$ CFU/g after 96 hr fermentation. No substantial pH changes were observed. L. rhamnosus and P. acidilactici showed the highest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activities. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) secreted from B cells increased after adding the extracts of probiotic-fermented squid by-products. The human NK cells were grown well in the B cell-growing broth cultured with the extracts of squid by-products fermented by L. rhamnosus and P. acidilactici. Trimethylamine (TMA) and dimethylamine (DMA) contents were significantly decreased after probiotic-fermentation. Therefore, L. rhamnosus GG and P. acidilactici can be used for the fermentation of squid by-products and their use would provide benefits in functional food products.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2018

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of joint disease, characterized by articular cartilage, osteonecrosis, and osteochondral bone erosion. It is an early, progressive disease that combines joint stiffness and joint pain and reduces cartilage function and condition. Interleukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$) is thought to be important to the pathogenesis of OA and significantly increases the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which play an important role in cartilage degradation in OA. Sparassis crispa (Wulf.) is an edible / medicinal mushroom that has been reported to variety of biological activities. In this study, investigated the Anti-inflammatory effect of Sparassis crispa (Wulf.) ethanol extract (SCE) on $IL-1{\beta}$ stimulated SW1353 chondrocytes. SCE decreased the expression and activity of MMPs by $IL-1{\beta}$ and decreased the levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) associated with the inhibition of prostaglandin E2($PGE_2$) in $IL-1{\beta}$ stimulated SW-1353 chondrocytes. In addition, SCE inhibits the expression of MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and $NF-{\kappa}B$ (nuclear factor-kappa B) signaling in $IL-1{\beta}$ stimulated SW-1353 cells, and SCE inhibits the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression. Thus, it is suggested that SCE has a potential as an anti-inflammatory agent in osteoarthritis treatments.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.203-207
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• 2004

The transgenic mice carrying human Interleukin-10 (hIL-10) gene in conjunction with bovine (3 -casein promoter express hIL-10 in milk during lactation. In this study, stability of germ line transmission and expression of hIL-10 transgene integrated into host chromosome were monitored up to generation F8 of transgenic mice. When male mouse of generation F8 was crossbred with normal females, approximately half of offspring (50.9±5.8%) were identified as transgenic mice. Generation F9 to F15 mice also showed similar transmission rates (66.0±20.1%, 61.5±16.7%, 41.1±8.4%, 40.7±20.3%, 61.3±10.8%, 49.2±18.8% and 43.8±25.9%, respectively), implying that hIL-10 transgene can be transmitted stably up to long term generation in the transgenic mice. Expression levels of human IL-10 from milk of generation F9 to F14 mice were 3.6± 1.2 mg/ml, 4.2±0.9 mg/ml, 5.7±1.5 mg/ml, 6.3±3.5 mg/ml, 6.8±4.5 mg/ml and 6.8±3.1 mg/ml, respectively, which was showed high-level expression compared with that of generation F1 (1.6 mg/ml) mice. In conclusion, our results suggest that transgenic mice can be continuously passed their transgenes to the progeny through the breeding program with the same productivity of human IL-10 protein in their milk.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.678-689
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• 2022

HK shiitake mushroom mycelium (HKSMM), containing 14% β-glucan, is a health functional food ingredient approved individually for liver health by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The immune-enhancing efficacy of a 50% aqueous ethanol extract of HKSMM (designated HKSMM50) was studied in Jurkat cells activated with concanavalin A (ConA). Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) was used as a positive control. ConA-activated Jurkat cells were treated with HKSMM50 (0, 25, 50, 100 ㎍ g/ml) or AHCC (100 ㎍ g/ml), and cultured for 3 and 6 hours. The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) protein content in the cytosol and the nucleus was measured by Western blotting. Interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. HKSMM50 lowered NFAT content in the cytosol, but elevated NFAT content in the nucleus. The IL-2 and IFN-γ productions were elevated. Meanwhile, both COX-2 activity and apoptosis were suppressed. The efficacy of the AHCC treatment showed similar to those of HKSMM50 treatments. These results indicate that the HKSMM50 exhibited immune-enhancing effects in ConA-treated Jurkat cells by activation of NFAT protein, and suggest that HKSMM could be used as a health functional food ingredient to improve immune functions in humans.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2006

Ilekudinol B is one of the flavonoids isolated from Weigela subsessilis (Caprifoliaceae). In the present study, the suppression effect of ilekudinol B on tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}-induced$ cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression was investigated in human colon epithelial cell line HT-29. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) production and prostaglandin $E_2\;(PGE_2)$ secretion was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). COX-2 and nuclear factor $(NF)-{\kappa}B$ expression were determined by Western blot analysis. Ilekudinol B significantly inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ secretion of IL-8 and prostaglandin $E_2\;(PGE_2)$ from the human colon epithelial cell line HT-29 in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, ilekudinol B remarkably diminished $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ COX-2 expression and $NF-{\kappa}B$ p65 subunit translocation to the nucleus. In conclusion, our results indicate that ilekudinol B may have anti-inflammatory activity on $TNF-{\alpha}-dependent$ colonic inflammation.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.803-823
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• 1999

In order to reveal immunopathogenesis of periodontal tissue destruction, it is important to clarify the molecular mechanism of trafficking and retention of activated leukocytes, including monocytes/macrophages. Gingival fibroblasts may be involved in the regulation of inflammatory cell accumulation in the extravascular periodontal connective tissues via cytokine production and surface expression of adhesion molecules. In this study, it was investigated the molecular basis for the adhesive interactions between monocytes and fibroblasts such as peri-odontal ligament fibroblast(PDLF), human gingival fibroblast(HGF), and human dermal fibroblast(HDF). First, it was examined the evidence whether monocyte-fibroblast cell contact may cause signal transduction in fibroblasts. Being directly in contact with fixed human monocyte cell line THP-1, or U937, upregulation of IL-6 production, $TNF-{\alpha}$ mRNA expression and increased cell proliferation could be seen for fibroblasts. IL-6 production induced by monocyte- fibroblast coculture were further increased when fibroblasts had been pretreated with $IFN-{\gamma}$ or $IL-1{\beta}$ , and monocytes with LPS. Next, it was examined the expression of ICAM-1 which has been known to be involved in accumulation and activation of leukocytes in inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis. ICAM-1 was upregulated up to 10-fold on PDLF, HGF, and HDF by exposure to $IFN-{\gamma}$ or $IL-1{\beta}$. Furthermore, anti-ICAM-1 monoclonal antibody clearly blocked cocultureinduced IL-6 production by fibroblasts, suggesting that $ICAM-1/{\beta}_2$integrin pathway is involved in periodontal fibroblastmonocyte interaction. Overall, these findings provide evidence that periodontal fibroblasts could be involved in the accumulation and retention of monocytes/macrophages in periodontal inflammatory lesion at least in part by ICAM-1 expression. In addition, periodontal fibroblast-monocyte interaction could cause activation signals in fibroblasts intracellularly which result in cytokine production and cell proliferation. Thus, periodontal fibroblasts are speculated to play an important role in immunoregulation and tissue destruction in chronic periodontal diseases by interaction with monocytes/macrophages.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1285-1288
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to characterize and investigate the immune activity of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) from Bifidobacterium longum. Bacterial CpG motifs have attracted considerable interests because of their immunomodulatory activities. Genomic DNA from B. longum was prepared and amplified for 4 different 180-188-mer double-stranded ODNs (BLODN1-BLODN4). When immune cells (RAW 264.7 murine macrophages and JAWS II dendritic cells) with these ODNs were treated, BLODN4 induced the highest immune activity. To assess the effectiveness of the CpG sequences within BLODN4, single-stranded 40-mer ODNs containing CpG sequences (sBLODN4-1, sBLODN4-2) were synthesized. sBLODN4-1 induced higher level of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-12p40 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-$\alpha$ by macrophage and IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ by dendritic cells than did sBLODN4-2. The results suggest that CpG ODNs-enriched components of B. longum might be useful as an immunomodulatory functional food ingredient.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2012

Alternative splicing generates several interleukin-6 (IL-6) isoforms; for them an antagonistic activity to the wild-type IL-6 has been proposed. In this study we quantified the relative abundance of IL-6 mRNA isoforms in a panel of mouse tissues and in C2C12 cells during myoblast differentiation or after treatment with the $Ca^{2+}$ ionophore A23187, the AMP-mimetic AICAR and TNF-${\alpha}$. The two mouse IL-6 isoforms identified, IL-6${\delta}$5 (deletion of the first 58 bp of exon 5) and IL-6${\delta}$3 (lacking exon 3), were not conserved in rat and human, did not exhibit tissue specific regulation, were expressed at low levels and their abundance closely correlated to that of full-length IL-6. Species-specific features of the IL-6 sequence, such as the presence of competitive 3' acceptor site in exon 5 and insertion of retrotransposable elements in intron 3, could explain the production of IL-6${\delta}$5 and IL-6${\delta}$3. Our results argued against biological significance for mouse IL-6 isoforms.