• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.1
• /
• pp.3.1-3.7
• /
• 2014

We examined the effects of Prunella vulgaris Labiatae (P. vulgaris L.) on specific and non-specific immune responses of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. The optimal concentration without toxicity of P. vulgaris was determined to $30-40{\mu}g/ml$ in vitro and $120{\mu}g$/100 g of fish in vivo. P. vulgaris significantly elicited an antibody titer compared to FCA or ${\beta}$-glucan. ${\beta}$-glucan plus P. vulgaris group synergistically enhanced antibody production. No significant difference in antibody production was observed between P. vulgaris and P. vulgaris plus ${\beta}$-glucan group. A respiratory burst activity of head kidney (HK) leucocytes of tilapia administered with 300 or $500{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris was significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced compared with the PBS-injected control group and FCA-treated group. Maximum increase in the NBT reduction value was observed in $500{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris group but no significant difference was found between 300 and $500{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris group. The level of serum lysozyme activity was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the 300 and $500{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris than $100{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris and FCA group. The phagocytic activities of HK leucocytes from tilapia administered with 300 and $500{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than $100{\mu}g$ P. vulgaris and the control group. P. vulgaris was revealed with a good immunoadjuvant evoking the specific and non-specific immune responses of tilapia.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.33 no.7
• /
• pp.511-515
• /
• 2011

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of temperature, light intensity and pH on the growth rate of Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris). The size of C. vulgaris (FC-16) was $3-8{\mu}m$, having round in shape. The cells of C. vulgaris (FC-16) was cultured in the Jaworski's Medium with deionized water. To evaluate the efficiency of temperature, light intensity and pH on the growth rate of C. vulgaris, six different fractions of temperature ($10^{\circ}C$, $15^{\circ}C$, $20^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, $30^{\circ}C$, $35^{\circ}C$), various light intensities ($100-800{\mu}Em^{-2}s^{-1}$) and seven different fractions of pH (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7.5, 9) were prepared. The growth rate of C. vulgaris cultivation was approximately 5.2 to 5.5 times faster, the concentration of Chlorophyll a was also 5 to 5.5 times higher, and cell volume per unit area was 14% higher at $25^{\circ}C$ to $30^{\circ}C$ than those at $10^{\circ}C$. Therefore, the optimal temperature for cultivation of C. vulgaris was estimated $25^{\circ}C$ to $30^{\circ}C$. The growth rate of C. vulgaris increased slowly up to 5 days, exploded after 5 days until 15 days, and then stoped after that. The optimum cultivation period of C. vulgaris was estimated as 15 days. The optimum pH for the growth rate of C. vulgaris was determined pH 7 to 7.5.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.95-101
• /
• 2015

Fermented Chlorella vulgaris was examined for its effects on growth performance, cecal microflora, tibia bone strength, and meat qualities in commercial Pekin ducks. A total of three hundred, day-old male Pekin ducks were divided into three groups with five replicates (n = 20 ducklings per replicate) and offered diets supplemented with commercial fermented C. vulgaris (CBT$^{(R)}$) at the level of 0, 1,000 or 2,000 mg/kg, respectively for 6 wks. The final body weight was linearly (p = 0.001) increased as the addition of fermented C. vulgaris into diets increased. Similarly, dietary C. vulgaris linearly increased body weight gain (p = 0.001) and feed intake (p = 0.001) especially at the later days of the feeding trial. However, there was no C. vulgaris effect on feed efficiency. Relative weights of liver were significantly lowered by dietary fermented C. vulgaris (linear effect at p = 0.044). Dietary fermented C. vulgaris did not affect total microbes, lactic acid bacteria, and coliforms in cecal contents. Finally, meat quality parameters such as meat color (i.e., yellowness), shear force, pH, or water holding capacity were altered by adding fermented C. vulgaris into the diet. In our knowledge, this is the first report to show that dietary fermented C. vulgaris enhanced meat qualities of duck meats. In conclusion, our study indicates that dietary fermented C. vulgaris exerted benefits on productivity and can be employed as a novel, nutrition-based strategy to produce value-added duck meats.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.71-80
• /
• 2008

Objective: There is increasing evidence that chronic non-bacterial prostatitis is recognized to be a local inflammatory disease, and there is substantiating evidence to support the role of the inflammatory responses in its pathogenesis, and clinical value in the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy. Prunella vulgaris has been traditionally used in treatment of inflammatory diseases, including of scrofula, goiter, and allergy diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects of Prunella vulgaris on inflammatory cytokines and cytopathological alternation in the rat model of non-bacterial prostatitis induced by castration and $17{\beta}-estradiol$ treatment. Methods: Two-month-old rats were treated with $17{\beta}-estradiol$ after castration for induction of experimental non-bacterial prostatitis, which is similar to human chronic prostatitis in histopathological profiles. Prunella vulgaris as an experimental specimen, and testosterone as a positive control, were administered orally. The prostates were evaluated by histopathological parameters including the epithelial score and epithelial-stromal ratio for glandular damage, and the expression of inflammatory cytokine genes including the interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, IL-5, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$. Results: While prostates of control rats revealed severe acinar gland atrophy and stromal proliferation, the rats treated with Prunella vulgaris showed a diminished range of tissue damage. Epithelial score was improved in Prunella vulgaris over that of the control (P<0.05). The epithelial-stromal ratio was lower with Prunella vulgaris when compared to that of the control (P<0.05). In the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of inflammatory cytokine genes, Prunella vulgaris inhibited the expression of $IL-1{\beta}$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$ genes, while it modulated the expression of IL-5, which is an anti-inflammatory cytokine. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Prunella vulgaris may protect the glandular epithelial cells and also inhibit stromal proliferation in association with the immune modulation including the suppression of inflammatory cytokines and promotion of anti-inflammatory cytokine. From theses results, we suggest that Prunella vulgaris could be a useful remedy agent for treating chronic non-bacterial prostatitis.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.157-161
• /
• 2006

We examined the inhibitory activities against monoamine oxidase (MAO) of Prunella vulgaris in vitro and in vivo methods. Methanolic extract of P. vulgaris showed significantly Inhibitorγ activities on MAO-A and MAO-B that were prepared from rat brain and liver in vitro. The inhibitory activities were measured by serotonin and benzylamine as substrates, respectively. MAO-A and MAO-B activities were potently inhibited by ethylacetate extracts of P. vulgaris in vitro tests. It was observed that those activities in vivo tests have different tendency each other. MAO-A activity was increased by the oral administration of methanolic extract of P. vulgaris while MAO-B activity was decreased. Consequently, we suggest that P. vulgaris may have the effects on the inhibitory activities against MAO both in vitro and in vivo.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.72-75
• /
• 2004

Pemphigus vulgaris is a rin, chronic intraepidermal bullous disease with potentially fatal outcome. Oral lesions precede skin lesions in at least $70\%$ of cases, and in cutaneous disease, concomitant oral lesions are encountered in $90\%$ of patients. This disorder involve the skin and mucous membranes, especially the oral and pharyngeal mucosa, but may also involve the nasal, oropharyngeal, laryngeal and esophageal mucosa. Oral lesions are initially vesicobullous but rapidly rupture, leaving a painful erosion that shows little tendency to heal. Pemphigus vulgaris affecting the oral mucosa is still diagnosed only after considerable delay, because oral ulceration in common, and clinicians believed the lesions to be caused by more common conditions such as recurrent aphthous stomatitis rather than a rare disorder such as pemphigus vulgaris. The definitive diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris should be undertaken as early as possible, so that treatment can be started at an earl·y stage. Because of the presence of nonspecific oral ulcer, high degree of suspicion is often required to ultimately make the diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris and then we report a case of pemphigus vulgaris with a literature review.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.270-275
• /
• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of thickness of optical panel (OP) on the growth rate of Chlorella vulgaris. The size of Chlorella vulgaris (FC-16) was $3-8{\mu}m$, having round in shape. The cells of Chlorella vulgaris was cultured in the Jaworski's Medium with deionized water at $22^{\circ}C$ for 15 days. For this experiment, three OP samples were prepared to evaluate the efficiency of thickness of OP on the growth rate of Chlorella vulgaris; 4 mm OP with LED (Light Emitting Diode) (Run 1), 6 mm OP with LED (Run 2) and 8 mm with LED (Run 3). The diffuse rate was reached 86%, 91% and 92% for Run 1, Run 2 and Run 3, respectively. Average biomass of Run 2 and Run 3 were measured 11.18% higher than that of Run 1. However, the specific growth rate for all fractions were almost same. In addition, chlorophyll content per cell and cell volume were found to be slice difference between Run 2 and Run 3. Therefore, Run 2 has more effect on growth rate of biomass for Chlorella vulgaris than Run 1 and Run 3.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.218-222
• /
• 2009

Ability of water extract from Prunella vulgaris Labiatae to stimulate immune system and inhibit tumor metastasis in mice was assessed. In experimental lung metastasis, prophylactic intravenous (i.v.) administration of water extract from P. vulgaris significantly inhibited lung metastasis in a dose-dependant manner. Peritoneal macrophages stimulated with P. vulgaris produced various cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-$\alpha$ and interlukin (IL)-12 as well as induced tumoricidal activity. In an assay for natural killer (NK) cell activity, i.v. administration of P. vulgaris significantly augmented NK cytotoxicity. The depletion of NK cells by injection of rabbit anti-asialo GM1 serum abolished the inhibitory effect of P. vulgaris on lung metastasis of colon26-M3.1 cells. These data demonstrate that P. vulgaris activate innate immune system to inhibit the growth of foreign materials including tumor cells in mice.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.33 no.7
• /
• pp.955-963
• /
• 2023

Chlorella is a eukaryotic organism that can be used as an industrial host to produce recombinant proteins. In this study, a salt-inducible promoter (SIP) was isolated from the freshwater species Chlorella vulgaris PKVL7422 from the screening of genes that were upregulated after salt treatment. Several cis-acting elements, including stress response elements, were identified in the isolated SIP. Moreover, the Gaussia luciferase gene was cloned after the SIP and transformed into C. vulgaris to test the inducibility of this promoter. Reexamination of transcriptome of C. vulgaris revealed that genes involved in the synthesis of methyl jasmonic acid (MeJA), gibberellin (GA), and abscisic acid (ABA) were upregulated when C. vulgaris was treated with salt. Furthermore, the expression level of recombinant luciferase increased when the transformed C. vulgaris was treated with salt and MeJA, GA, and ABA. This study represents the first report of the C. vulgaris SIP and highlights how transformed microalgae could be used for robust expression of recombinant proteins.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.32 no.8
• /
• pp.659-665
• /
• 2022

Chlorella vulgaris is an important freshwater alga that is widely used as a food source by humans and animals. Recently, Chlorella has received considerable attention with regard to its potential application in aquaculture and the production of biofuels, nutrients, and therapeutic proteins. Recently, our laboratory acquired a new strain of C. vulgaris, PKVL7422, characterized by fast growth, ease of culture, and cultivability under dark conditions. However, the genes involved in its nitrogen assimilation are unknown. In this work, we identified the nitrate reductase (NR) gene of C. vulgaris PKVL7422 using rapid amplification of cDNA ends and genome walking. The NR gene of C. vulgaris PKVL7422 is approximately 8 kb long and composed of 18 introns and 19 exons, which encode 877 amino acids. An alignment analysis of the NR gene showed that it possesses the five domains and several invariant residues found in plant NRs. These results provide new insight into the molecular organization of the NR gene in algae.