• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.60-67
• /
• 2010

A sensitive competitive heterogeneous bioluminescence immunoassay for serotonin was developed using photoprotein, aequorin as a label for the first time with the optimal assay conditions; especially, serotoninavidin conjugate was prepared by Mannich reaction and the synthetic process of serotonin-avidin conjugate was optimized by controlling the initial molar ratios of serotonin, formaldehyde and avidin (1:12,000:25). The developed bioluminescence immunoassay for serotonin showed good sensitivity (LOD of 0.68 ng/mL) with wide area of dynamic range ($5.0{\times}10^{-10}\;M\sim5.0{\times}10^{-7}\;M$). (cf. the range for serotonin in human blood serum is $151{\pm}45\;ng$/mL). In addition, cross-reactivity studies demonstrated that 5-methoxytryptamine showed some cross-reactivity (28.0%), whereas 3-methylindole, melatonin and 5-hydroxylindole-3-acetic acid showed no crossreactivity, and good recoveries were obtained in serum. Thus, this developed method provides a good tool to monitor serotonin in serum.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.18 no.9
• /
• pp.1336-1342
• /
• 2005

The present research work was conducted to evaluate the beneficial effects as well as the safety aspects of lactobacilli as probiotic. Lactobacilli were isolated from poultry faecal samples, feed samples and from some known preparations procured from poultry feed manufacturers. L. acidophilus and L. sporogenes were tested for the antibacterial activity against four poultry pathogens viz. Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Proteus spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cell free supernatant (CFS) of L. acidophilus exhibited significantly higher antibacterial activity against Salmonella spp. at original pH (4.50${\pm}$0.02). At the adjusted pH (6.50${\pm}$0.02) significantly higher antibacterial activity was recorded against indicator organism except for P. aeruginosa. Likewise, L. sporogenes exhibited similar antibacterial activity at original as well as adjusted pH except for E. coli. Antibacterial activity against E. coli was significantly higher at adjusted pH than at original pH of CFS. The competitive exclusion of E. coli by lactobacilli over the intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) was checked. L. acidophilus strain I, which was of poultry origin, exhibited maximum attachment over IEC as compared to other three strains of non-poultry origin viz. L. acidophilus strain II, L. sporogenes strain I and II. Overall, L. acidophilus exhibited higher competitive exclusion as compared to L. sporogenes. All the lactobacilli of poultry origin were most sensitive to penicillin G, amoxycillin, ampicillin and chloramphenicol, least sensitive to sulphamethizole, ciprofloxacin, neomycin, norfloxacin and pefloxacin and resistant to metronidazole and nalidixic acid. The isolates from probiotic preparations were most sensitive to ampicillin, amoxycillin and tetracycline, least sensitive to sulphamethizole, norfloxacin, neomycin and ceftriazone and resistant to nalidixic acid and metronidazole. Eight of the multiple drug resistant lactobacilli isolates were studied for the presence of plasmids. Plasmids could be extracted from six isolates of lactobacilli. These plasmids could be responsible for bacteriocin production or for antibiotic resistance of the strains. The lactobacilli need further studies regarding their safety for use in the probiotic preparations.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.751-758
• /
• 2003

Mutations in the rdxA gene had been reported to be associated with metronidazole resistance in Helicobacter pylori. In this study, sensitivity to metronidazole, RAPD profiles, and DNA sequences of the rdxA gene of 32 local H. pylori isolates were analyzed. Of these, 13 were found to be resistant, while 19 were sensitive to metronidazole. Among the 32 isolates, 10 were paired isolates from the antrum and body of the stomach of individual patients. Interestingly, the RAPD profiles of isolates from individual patients were distinctly different from each other, whereas paired isolates from the same patient were identical regardless of their sensitivities to metronidazole. DNA sequences of the rdxA gene of all 32 isolates showed 95% to 97% homology when compared with the HP0954 locus of H. pylori 26695 genome. From the 19 metronidazole-sensitive strains, 10 (with $MIC{\le}0.5\;\mu\textrm{g}/ml$ metronidazole) were selected and induced to become metronidazole resistant by sequentially passaging through serial 2-fold increasing concentrations of metronidazole. Nine of the 10 induced paired isolates showed mutations in the rdxA sequences which resulted in truncated protein or changes in the translated amino acid sequences. However, the changes did not occur at any specific site in the DNA or amino acid sequences of the rdxA gene of all the isolates analyzed. The results show that the rdxA gene cannot be a definitive marker for metronidazole resistance in H. pylori isolates of an Asian population, and that other factors may contribute to resistance to metronidazole.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.720-726
• /
• 2009

We investigated the most effective pre-treatment processes and LC/MS/MS condition for microcystins analysis. With a step-by-step pre-treatment, efficiencies of several established methods were compared. At the level of cell burst, sonication method was found to be the most efficient. As a mycrocystins first extraction solvent, 5% acetic acid showed the highest efficiency. An isolation and recovery rate of mycrocystins of ODS Sep-Pak $C_{18}$ cartridge was higher than HLB SPE cartridge. As a final elution solvent from cartridge, 100% MeOH had a better efficiency than others. Using a LC/MS/MS, effective analytical methods were established. C18 reverse column was used and gradient elution was performed with using acetonitrile, 0.1% formic acid as a mobile phase. We analysed to 0.8 mL/min flow rate fit to the $5{\mu}m$ particle size column and $55^{\circ}C$ housing temperature. The validity of established analytical method was evaluated that MDL as average $0.050{\pm}0.014{\mu}g/L$ and LOQ as average $0.160{\pm}0.045{\mu}g/L$ had a good sensitivity over 40 magnification rather than $2{\mu}g/L$ detection limit of HPLC.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.96-101
• /
• 2007

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is the retrograde movement of gastric contents into the larynx, pharynx, and upper aero-digestive tract. LPR differs from gastroesophageal reflux in that it is often not associated with heartburn and regurgitation symptoms. Otolaryngological manifestations of acid reflux include a wide range of pharyngeal and laryngeal symptoms. Belafsky et al. developed a useful self-administered tool, the reflux symptom index (RSI), for assessing the degree of LPR symptoms. Patients are asked to use a 0 to 5 point scale to grade the following symptoms: 1) hoarseness or voice problems; 2) throat clearing; 3) excess throat mucus or postnasal drip ; 4) difficulty swallowing; 5) coughing after eating or lying down; 6) breathing difficulties ; 7) troublesome or annoying cough; 8) sensation of something sticking or a lump in the throat; 9) heartburn, chest pain, indigestion or stomach acid coming up. A RSI score greater than 13 is considered abnormal. As there is no validated instrument to document the physical findings and severity of LPR, Belafsky et al. developed an eight-item clinical severity scale for judging laryngoscopic finding, the reflux finding score (RFS). They rated eight LPR-associated findings on a scale from 0 to 4 : subglottic edema, ventricular obliteration, erythema/hyperemia, vocal-fold edema, diffuse laryngeal edema, posterior commissure hypertrophy, granuloma/granulation tissue, and thick endolaryngeal mucus. A RFS score of greater than 7 was found to suggest LPR-associated laryngitis. Although both indices (RSI and RFS) are widely used, there is some controversy about their validity (sensitivity and specificity) and reliability (intra-rater and inter-rater) in LPR diagnosis and treatment. We discuss the validity and reliability of RSI and RFS with literature review.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.670-699
• /
• 2016

In this study, 16 antibiotics were selected from among the top 30 veterinary antibiotics sold in South Korea in 2014, as well as from among the pharmaceuticals targeted by EPA method 1694, in order to review analytical methods for the detection of trace levels of antibiotics in environmental samples: surface water, soils, animal origin foods, and manures. LC-MS/MS was heavily used. In the chromatography for the detection of the selected antibiotics, the $C_{18}$ column was mostly used at the temperature of $30{\sim}40^{\circ}C$. Water and methanol/acetonitrile were commonly chosen as a nonpolar and a polar mobile phase, respectively. Gradient elution was applied to separate multiclass antibiotics. Volatile additives, such as formic acid, acetic acid, and ammonium acetate were mixed with the mobile phase to improve the ionization efficiency of analytes and the sensitivity in MS detection. Electrospray ionization (ESI) was widely used in the LC-MS/MS and positive ionization was preferred to determine the selected antibiotics. A protonated $[M+H]^+$ molecule was selected as a precursor ion, and its two transitions were analyzed, one for quantitative measurement and the other for confirmation. This study reviewed linearity of the calibration curve, recovery, repeatability, method detection limits (MDLs), and method quantification limits (MQLs) for each target compound used to validate the developed analytical methods.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.7
• /
• pp.3219-3226
• /
• 2014

Chemotherapy continues to be a mainstay of cancer treatment, although drug resistance is a major obstacle. Lipid metabolism plays a critical role in cancer pathology, with elevated ether lipid levels. Recently, alkylglyceronephosphate synthase (AGPS), an enzyme that catalyzes the critical step in ether lipid synthesis, was shown to be up-regulated in multiple types of cancer cells and primary tumors. Here, we demonstrated that silencing of AGPS in chemotherapy resistance glioma U87MG/DDP and hepatic carcinoma HepG2/ADM cell lines resulted in reduced cell proliferation, increased drug sensitivity, cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis through reducing the intracellular concentration of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), lysophosphatidic acid-ether (LPAe) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), resulting in reduction of LPA receptor and EP receptors mediated PI3K/AKT signaling pathways and the expression of several multi-drug resistance genes, like MDR1, MRP1 and ABCG2. ${\beta}$-catenin, caspase-3/8, Bcl-2 and survivin were also found to be involved. In summary, our studies indicate that AGPS plays a role in cancer chemotherapy resistance by mediating signaling lipid metabolism in cancer cells.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.107-115
• /
• 1990

New insulin-releasing system on the basis of the redox reaction of glucose was synthesized by immobilizing insulin through a disulfide bond(5, 5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) to polymer membrane(poly(methyl methacrylate)) and enzyme(glucose oxidase). The disulfide bonds were cleaved upon oxidation of glucose with glucose dehydrogenase and glucose oxidase, releasing insulin from the membrane and enzyme. Sensitivity to glucose concentration was enhanced by coimmobilization of enzyme cofactors(nicotinamide adenin dinucleotide and flavin adenin dinucleotide) acting as electron mediator(for the membrane device), and further enhanced by direct immobilization of insulin on glucose oxidase(for the protein device). Both systems were specific to glucose, and the released insulin was indistinguishable from native insulin. The biological activity of released insulin was 81% of native insulin.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.138-146
• /
• 2015

Purpose: If early diagnosis is not made, patients with metabolic disorders as homocystinemia rapidly progress to physical defect or mental retardation resulted in storage of the toxic material into the brain. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an analytical method for a rapid screening and/or correct confirmation diagnosis. Methods: The standard solution of sulfur amino acids spiked plasma was subjected to protein precipitation with methanol, and then consecutively derivatized with trimethylsilyl (TMS) and trifluoroacyl (TFA) and determined by GC-MS. The formation of TMS derivative of the hydroxyl and TFA derivative of amino functional group was performed by BSTFA and MBTFA, respectively. Selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode was used for quantification with selected specific ions. Results: A calibration curve on standard spiked pooled plasma showed a linear relationship with correlation coefficient of 0.9936-0.9992 for all compounds over the range of 0.1-300 ng. The precision and accuracy were within S.D. of 1-15% and RSD of 1-15% for intra-day assay at 2 ng/mL, 15 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL. LOD and LOQ was 0.4 ng/mL and 4 ng/mL respectively. Conclusion: A rapid analytical method was developed to quantify sulfur amino acids and methyl malonic acid, after two-step derivatization procedure with good sensitivity and specificity on human plasma. Advantages of a new method are simplicity and rapidity. The method could be useful for routine analysis, diagnosis of homocysteinemia.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.99-109
• /
• 1995

The diseased larvae of the flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, were sampled several times from a fish hatchery located in Cheju Island between December, 1991 and April, 1992. They turned out to be infected with Vibrio sp. and diagnosed as intestinal necrosis of flounder larvae(INFL) based on morphological, biological, and biochemical examinations. INFL was known to be caused by the live food organism infected with Vibrio sp. The optimal growth conditions of the isolates for temperature, pH, and NaCl concentration were $20\sim30^{\circ}C$, 6~8, and 2~4%, respectively. In the drug sensitivity test, the isolates were sensitive to oxytetracycline, nalidixic acid, kanamycin, and novobiocin, but resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, spiramycin and sulfa-drug.