• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 2024

Objectives: Obesity is a globally prevalent public health issue. Hence, there is a need for the development of safer and more effective anti-obesity drugs. Lythrum salicaria, a traditional medicinal herb used for centuries, has been reported to improve lipid metabolism and fat accumulation. It also has a low toxicity profile. Therefore, its potential as a functional ingredient in health functional foods needs to be evaluated. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 90 participants will be randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Each subject will orally receive L. salicaria extract (1,350 mg/day) (500 mg L. salicaria+850 mg lactose as vehicle) or lactose (1,350 mg/day) as a hard capsule formula for 84 days (12 weeks). The primary outcome will be body fat mass (kg), which will be assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) (performed only at visits 2 and 4). Secondary outcomes include body mass index, body weight, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage (%) measured using DXA, lean body mass (kg) measured using DXA (assessed only at visits 2 and 4), lipids (total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and calculated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), free fatty acid, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, adiponectin, and leptin. Conclusions: This protocol will be implemented after approval of Institutional Review Board of Pusan National University Korean Medicine Hospital (approval number: PNUKHIRB-2022-08-002) and registration with the Korean National Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) (CRIS-KCT0008060). The results of this trial will provide potential of L. salicaria as a new anti-obesity functional food with fat-reducing effects and low toxicity.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.221-225
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• 2008

Lilium formolongi 'Fl August' plantlets with scale-leaves and scale-bulb were treated at 10, 15, 20, $25^{\circ}C$ for 15, 30, or 45 days and planted in February, March, April and May. In the April planting, flowering percentage was below 10% and in the May planting no flowering occurred. Sprouting and flowering percentages were lower at the late planting times. Days to flowering of the April planting was 110.8 days compared to 128 days for the February planting. Plant height and numbers of leaves were reduced to 7.2 in May planting, compared to 40.5 leaves in February planting, and almost no flowers emerged in either the April or May plantings. Plantlets exposed to 10 or $15^{\circ}C$ flowered at 80 percent or higher at all treatment durations, but at 20 or $25^{\circ}C$ flowering percentages were lower, with 30% or less in the $25^{\circ}C$ treatment. In the $15^{\circ}C$ treatment days to flowering were less than 100 days, while the number of flowers and flower bud differentiation were greatest in the $15^{\circ}C$ treatment. Cytokinin and auxin were analyzed in bulblets grown at 15, 20 and $25^{\circ}C$. T-zeatin content was three times greater in the $15^{\circ}C$ treatment than at $25^{\circ}C$, but the content of indoleacetic acid (IAA) was less at $15^{\circ}C$ than at 20 and $25^{\circ}C$. In the $15^{\circ}C$ treatment, T-zeatin content was about twice the IAA content in the scale- bulblet. The auxin and cytokinin balance may affect flower bud differentiation. $15^{\circ}C$ with 30 days was most effective for flowering in scale-bulblet and planting of February and March were effective for flowering too.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2015

Purpose: The long-term administration of antibiotics interferes with bacterial culture in the middle ear fluids (MEFs) of young children with otitis media with effusion (OME). The purpose of this study is to determine whether molecular diagnostics can be used for rapid and direct detection of the bacterial pathogen in culture-negative MEFs. Methods: The specificity and sensitivity of both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to the lytA gene of Streptococcus pneumoniae were comparatively tested and then applied for pneumococcal detection in the clinical MEFs. Results: The detection limit of the PCR assay was approximately $10^4$ colony forming units (CFU), whereas that of LAMP was less than 10 CFU for the detection of S. pneumoniae. Both PCR and LAMP did not amplify nucleic acid at over $10^6$ CFU of H. influenzae or M. catarrhalis, both of which were irrelevant bacterial species. Of 22 culture-negative MEFs from children with OME, LAMP positivity was found in twelve MEFs (54.5%, 12/22), only three of which were PCR-positive (25%, 3/12). Our results showed that the ability of LAMP to detect pneumococcal DNA is over four times higher than that of PCR (P<0.01). Conclusions: As a high-resolution tool able to detect nucleic acid levels equivalent to <10 CFU of S. pneumoniae in MEFs without any cross-reaction with other pathogens, lytA -specific LAMP may be applied for diagnosing pneumococcus infection in OME as well as evaluating the impact of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against OME.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.311-321
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• 1996

Both $M_1$ and $M_2$ muscarinic receptors contain a triplet of amino acid residues consisting of leucine (L), tyrosine (Y) and threonine (T) at C-terminus ends of the second putative transmembrane domains. This triplet is repeated as LYT-LYT in $M_2$ receptors at the interface between the second transmembrane domain and the first extracellular loop. Interestingly, however, it is repeated in a transposed fashion (LYT-TYL) in the sequence of $M_1$ receptors. In this work, we employed site-directed mutagenesis to investigate the possible significance of this unique sequence diversity for determining the distinct differential cellular function at the two receptor subtypes. Mutation of the LYTTYL sequence of $M_1$ receptors to the corresponding $M_2$ receptor LYTLYT sequence did not result in a significant change in the binding affinity of the agonist carbachol. The reverse mutation at the $M_2$ receptor also did not modify agonist affinity. Surprisingly, the LYTLYT $M_1$ receptor mutant demonstrated markedly enhanced coupling to activation of phospholipase C without a change in its coupling to increased cyclic AMP formation. There was also an enhanced receptor sensitivity in transducing elevation of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$. On the other hand, the reverse $LYTLYT{\rightarrow}LYTTYL$ mutation in the $M_2$ receptor did not alter its coupling to inhibition of adenylate cyclase, but slightly enhanced its coupling to stimulation of phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis. Our data suggest that the LYTTYL/LYTLYT sequence differences between $M_1$ and $M_2$ muscarinic receptors are not important for specifying ligand binding and coupling of various subtypes of muscarinic receptors to different cellular signaling pathways although they might play a role in the modulation of muscarinic reseptor coupling to PI hydrolysis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.10
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• pp.1107-1115
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• 2005

Purpose : An outbreak of ESBL-producing Shigella sonnei enteritis was unprecedented not only in Korea but throughout the world in the past. We intended to devise a management guideline for ESBL-producing shigellosis based on analysis of clinical manifestations and response to therapy. Methods : We analyzed 103 patients who were admitted to the hospital with acute GI symptoms and were shown positive result for S. sonnei on stool culture. We performed sensitivity test to the antibiotics and DNA sequencing of ESBL gene in the isolated S. sonnei colonies. In addition, we retrospectively analyzed their clinical characteristics, laboratory results, and clinical and microbiological responses to the antibiotics. Results : Among the clinical manifestations, fever was the most frequent(96.1%), followed by diarrhea(93.2%), abdominal pain(76.7%), headache(71.8%), vomiting(65.0%), and nausea(41.7%). The fever was sustained for average of 2.0 days and diarrhea for 3.9 days. Watery diarrhea was the most common(69%) followed by mucoid(26%), and bloody stool(5%). On peripheral blood smear, leukocytosis was noted in 53.4% of patients, and 78.6% of patients tested positive for serum CRP response. On stool direct smear, 11.7% of patients showed more than 50 WBCs/HPF, and 9.7% of patients between 5 to 20 WBCs/HPF. Stool occult blood was positive in 71% of patients. Production of CTX-M-14 type ESBL was reported for all S. sonnei strains isolated from this outbreak. Microbiological eradication rates to various antibiotics were as follows : 100%(9/9) to ciprofloxacin, 100% 5/5) to azithromycin, 6.9%(5/72) to cefdinir, 0%(0/8) to ceftriaxone, 12.5%(1/8) to ceftizoxime, 0%(0/ 8) to TMP/SMX, 42.9%(3/7) to ampicillin/sulbactam, 20%(1/5) to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and 68.8 %(11/16) to imipenem/cilastatin. Conclusion : It is presumed that azithromycin can be an attractive option for the treatment of ESBL-producing S. sonnei enteritis in pediatric population, given its cost-effectiveness and safety. Although ciprofloxacin is another cost-effective agent, its use in pediatric population may be a bit too premature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.590-598
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• 2005

An adequate method to identify chromium separation, Cr(III) and Cr(VI), in water samples were studied by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC) coupled with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectometer(ICP-MS) equipped with Dynamic Reaction Cell(DRC). The characteristic distribution of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in the raw water taken at the six water intake stations in Seoul, was analyzed by the method developed by the authors. The chromium species separated by HPLC was isocratically conducted by using tetrabutylammonium phosphate monobasic(1.0 mM TBAP), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid(0.6 mM EDTA) and 2% v/v methanol as the mobile phase. 5% v/v methanol was used as flushing solvent. A reactive ammonia($NH_3$) gas was used to eliminate the potential interference of $ArC^+$. Several Parameters such as solvent ratio, pH, flow rate and sample injection volume were optimized for the successful separation and reproducibility. Although it has been reported thai the separation sensitivity of Cr(III) is superior to that of Cr(VI), the authors observed Cr(VI) was more sensitive than Cr(III) when ammonia($NH_3$) gas was used as the reaction gas. It took less than 3 minutes to analyze chromium species with this method and the estimated detection limits were $0.061\;{\mu}g/L$ for Cr(III) and $0.052\;{\mu}g/L$, for Cr(VI). According to the results from the analysis on chromium species in the raw water of the six intake stations, the concentrations of Cr(III) ranged from 0.048 to $0.064\;{\mu}g/L$(ave. $0.054\;{\mu}g/L$) while that of Cr(VI) ranged from 0.014 to $0.023\;{\mu}g/L$(ave. $0.019\;{\mu}g/L$). Recovery ratio was very high($90.1{\sim}94.1%$). There were two or three times more Cr(III) than Cr(VI) in the raw water.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 1985

In studying the structural work on ciguatoxin, parrot fish collected were identified as Scarus sordidus, S. frenatus, S. scaber and S. pectarlis, in which only S. sordidus contained toxic materials. Crude toxins obtained by silicic acid column chromatography, could be separated on a DEAE-cellulose column into two fractions, ST-1(less polar) and ST-2(polar) eluted with chloroform and chloroform-methanol(1:1). Furthermore ST-1 could be changed into ST-2 by repeated chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Rf values of ST-1 and ST-2 were 0.60-0.75 and 0.30-0.54 on TLC coated with silica gel 60F-254 developed by chloroform-methanol-water-acetic acid (90:9.5:0.2:0.3) mixture. The peaks of ST-1 and ST-2 were not observed on each HPLC chromatogram at low sensitivity(2X), but by bioassay they were detected in the fraction of 24-27ml(less polar toxin, 120ng) and 22-27 ml (polar toxin, 150 ng). Less polar ciguatoxin from morey eel viscera also showed its peak in the same elution volume(25ml). Being subjected to chromatography on basic aluminum oxide (activity grade I) or to alkaline treatment, followed by basic aluminum oxide (activity grade I) chromatography ST-1 toxin was remarkably converted into the polar toxic component supposed to be polar ciguatoxin in both cases. In the latter case, approximately 74% of the residual toxicity was changed into the polar component, accompanied by about 50% loss of the initial toxicity. More than 26% of ST-2 toxicity was transformed into the less polar toxic component supposed to be less polar ciguatoxin on a deactivated aluminum oxide (activity grade V) column.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.180-186
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• 2012

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacterium, is an ubiquitous and opportunistic human pathogen, which expresses many virulence factors through quorum sensing (QS) regulation. QscR, one of the QS signal receptors of P. aeruginosa, has unique features that make it possible to distinguish QscR from other QS receptors. In the present study, we focused on amino acid residues responsible for such a broad signal specificity of QscR. Thus we constructed mutant QscRs: $QscR_{T72I}$, $QscR_{R132M}$, and $QscR_{T140I}$ by substituting $72^{nd}$ threonine, $132^{nd}$ arginine, and $140^{th}$ threonine residues with isoleucine, methionine, and isoleucine, respectively by site-directed mutagenesis. When we examined the activity of these mutant QscRs, $QscR_{R132M}$ failed to respond to N-3-oxododecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC12-HSL), but $QscR_{T72I}$ and $QscR_{T140I}$ remained the ability to respond to 3OC12-HSL despite much reduction of the sensitivity. When we treated a variety of acyl-HSLs with different structure, $QscR_{T72I}$ and $QscR_{T140I}$ showed better responsiveness to N-decanoyl HSL (C10-HSL) or N-dodecanoyl HSL (C12-HSL) that has no oxo-moiety at $3^{rd}$ carbon of acyl group than to 3OC12-HSL, and $QscR_{R132M}$ showed no responsiveness to any acyl-HSLs tested here. In addition, $QscR_{T72I}$ and $QscR_{T140I}$ were inhibited by 5f, a QscR inhibitor as similarly as wild type QscR was. These results suggest that while the $130^{th}$ arginine is crucial in both activity and acyl-HSL binding of QscR, the $72^{nd}$ and $140^{th}$ threonines are important in the activity, but they are little responsible for the discrimination of acyl-HSLs or competitive inhibitor.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.501-509
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• 2012

The dietary intake of whole grains is known to reduce the incidence of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In our previous study, hog millet (HM, $Panicum$ $miliaceum$ L.) water extract showed the highest anti-lipogenic activity among nine cereal types in 3T3-L1 cells. In this study, the effect of hog millet water extract on hepatic steatosis and lipid metabolism in mice fed a high fat diet was investigated. Mice were fed a normal-fat diet (ND), high-fat diet (HFD) or HFD containing 1% or 2% (w/w) HM for 7 weeks. Body weight and food intake were monitored during the study period. Insulin resistance by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), fasting lipid profile, hepatic fatty acid metabolism-related gene expression determined, and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IGTT) were performed at the study's end. The results indicated that 1% and 2% HM diets effectively decreased liver weights, blood TG and T-cholesterol levels (p<0.05), while the HDL-cholesterol level was increased (p<0.05) compared to HFD-induced steatotsis mice. Hepatic lipogenic-related gene ($PPAR{\alpha}$, L-FABP, and SCD1) expressions decreased, whereas lipolysis- related gene (CPT1) expression increased in animals fed the 2% PME diet (p<0.05). In addition, mice fed 1% or 2% HM diet had markedly decreased IGTT and HOMA-IR, compared to the those of the HFD-induced hepatic steatosis control group (p<0.05). These results indicated that HM inhibited hepatic lipid accumulation by regulating fatty acid metabolism, and suggested that HM is useful in the chemoprevention or treatment of high fat-induced hepatic steatosis and hepatic steatosis-related disorders including hyperlipidemia, glucose sensitivity, and insulin resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.556-566
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• 2010

A new kinetic spectrophotometric method is developed for the measurement of Mn(II) in natural water samples. The method is based on the catalytic effect of Mn(II) with the oxidation of Gallocyanin by $KIO_4$ using nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) as an activation reagent at 620 nm. The optimum conditions obtained are $4.00{\times}1^{-5}\;M$ Gallocyanin, $KIO_4$, $1.00{\times}10^{-4}\;M$ NTA, 0.1 M HAc/NaAc buffer of pH = 3.50, the reaction time of 5 min and the temperature of $30^{\circ}C$. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method allows the measurement of Mn(II) in a range of $0.1\;-\;4.0\;ng\;mL^{-1}$ and with a detection limit of down to $0.025\;ng\;mL^{-1}$. The recovery efficiency in measuring the standard Mn(II) solution is in a range of 98.5 - 102%, and the RSD is in a range of 0.76 - 1.25%. The newly developed kinetic method has been successfully applied to the measurement of Mn(II) in both some environmental water samples and certified standard reference river water sample, JAC-0031 with satisfying results. Moreover, few cations and anions interfere with the measurement of Mn(II). Compared with the other catalytic-kinetic methods and instrumental methods, the proposed kinetic method shows fairly good selectivity and sensitivity, low cost, cheapness, low detection limit and rapidity. It can easily and successfully be applied to the real water samples with relatively low salt content and complex matrices such as bottled drinking water, cold and hot spring waters, lake water, river water samples.