• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.33-46
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• 2006

Purpose : This study was conducted to investigate effects of 7 herbs among medicinals resolving dampness with aroma on vaginal microorganisms. Methods : Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Gardnerella vaginalis were used for vaginal pathogenic microorganisms. Lactobacillus gasseri, Streptococcus spp. and Escherichia coli HB101 were used for vaginal flora. Medicinals resolving dampness with aroma, Pogostemonis Herba, Amomi Cardamomi Fructus, Amomi Semen, Atractylodis Rhizoma, Ammomi Tsao-ko Fructus, Alpiniae Katsumadaii Semen and Magnoliae Cortex were used in this study. In vitro antimicrobial activities were observed by optical density and colony test. Results : The optical density showed that Alpiniae Katsumadaii Semen and Magnoliae Cortex among medicinals resolving dampness with aroma had antimicrobial effects on pathogenic vaginal microorganisms (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Pogostemonis Herba, Ammomi Tsao-ko Fructus had antimicrobial effects on Gardnerella vaginalis. The colony test showed that Alpiniae Katsumadaii Semen, Magnoliae Cortex among medicinals resolving dampness with aroma had antimicrobial effects on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Pogostemonis Herbs, Alpiniae Katsumadaii Semen had antimicrobial effects aganist Gardnerella vaginalis. The optical density showed that Magnoliae Cortex among medicinals resolving dampness with aroma had antimicrobial effect on normal vaginal microorganisms (Streptococcus spp.). The colony test showed that medicinals resolving dampness with aroma had no antimicrobial effect on normal vaginal microorganisms. Conclusion : From this study, we could suggest that Pogostemonis Herba, Ammomi Tsao-ko Fructus, Alpiniae Katsumadaii Semen, Magnoliae Cortex of medicinals resolving dampness with aroma are available to antimicrobial agent of pathogenic vaginal microorganisms in vitro.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to survey the awareness of methicillin -resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) among dental hygiene students in Yeungnam South Korea. Also the knowledge of infection control and infection diseases was surveyed. Methods : The subjects in this study were 213 dental hygiene students in three different colleges in Yeungnam. This study was conducted by using the self-reported questionnaire. Results : In the first, most of the students(86.9%) did not know about MRSA and 85.7% of them got the information in the college. Secondly, the awareness of infectious disease according to infection control education didn't have statistically significant difference(p>0.05). In the third, the infection control attitude level that the gowns should be changed after the treatment of infectious patients was scored lower than the others questions. on the other hand, the level of 'The use of high vacuum suction', 'The change of wet mask', 'The history taking of infectious disease' was scored higher. Finally, the attitude level according to grade and clinical training had statistically significant difference(p<0.05). But the infection control education had not affected significantly(p>0.05). Conclusions : Despite the infection control education and clinical training, the awareness was found insufficient in infectious diseases and MRSA. Therefore, it should be strengthen that the dental hygiene students were more educated about infection control at college course before clinical training, and especially the danger of MRSA was more.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1576-1581
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• 2009

The emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has led to an urgent need for the discovery and development of new antibacterial agents. As part of an ongoing investigation into the antibacterial properties of natural products, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), isolated from the roots of Achyranthes japonica Nakai, was found to be active against MRSA, either alone or in combination with ampicillin (AM) or gentamicin (GM), via checkerboard assay. This study investigated the antibacterial activity of 20E, which exhibited poor antibacterial activity ($MIC=250-500\;{\mu}g/ml$) against MRSA tested. The combined activity of AM or GE plus 20E against MRSA resulted in fractional inhibitory concentractions (FICs) ranging from 4.00 to $0.031\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Meanwhile, the FIC index ranged from 0.16-4.50, indicating a marked synergistic relationship between AM, GE, and 20E against MRSA. Time-kill assays also showed a remarkable decrease between the combination and the more active compound. Therefore, this study demonstrated that AM, GE, and 20E can act synergistically in inhibiting MRSA in vitro.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.784-789
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• 2016

We evaluated the synergistic antibacterial effect in combination with the chitosan-ferulic acid conjugate (CFA) and β-lactam antibiotics, such as ampicillin, penicillin, and oxacillin, against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) indices. CFA clearly reversed the antibacterial activity of ampicillin, penicillin, and oxacillin against MRSA in the combination mode. Among these antibiotics, the combination of oxacillin-CFA resulted in a ΣFIC_min range of 0.250 and ΣFIC_max of 0.563, suggesting that the oxacillin-CFA combination resulted in an antibacterial synergy effect against MRSA. In addition, we determined that CFA inhibited the mRNA expression of gene mecA and the production of PBP2a, which is a key determinant for β-lactam antibiotic resistance, in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, the results obtained in this study supported the idea on the antibacterial action mechanism that oxacillin will restore the antibacterial activity against MRSA through the suppression of PBP2a production by CFA.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.444-447
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• 2015

This study was carried out to determine the antibacterial activity of $SeO_2$ against pathogenic bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Using the disc diffusion method, $SeO_2$ showed higher antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria used in this study. Coccus-form bacteria showed much susceptible to $SeO_2$, compared to bacillus-form bacteria. Compared to antibiotics-susceptible S. aureus, antibiotics used in this study showed lower antibacterial activity against MRSA. As $200-500{\mu}g/disc$ of $SeO_2$ was applied, diameters of clear zone for S. aureus and MRSA were 20-32.7 mm and 13.5-17.9 mm, respectively. For MRSA, minimal inhibitory concentration of $SeO_2$ was $40{\mu}g/ml$. When $SeO_2$ was added in culture broth, cell growth of MRSA was inhibited. These results will be applied to determine antibacterial mechanism of MRSA and other pathogenic microorganisms.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.19 no.3 s.31
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• pp.55-59
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• 2006

Objective : This experimental study was performed to investigate the contents of glucan from mycellium and its activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus(MRSA). Methods : A gel permeation chromatography method was develped for the determination and isolation of glucan in mycellium. Their structures were elucidated using ^1H-NMR$, ^{13}C-NMR$. Also, The antibacterial activity of the glucan against MRSA was estimathed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC). Results : The contents of glucan in mycellium was $766{\pm}0.19$ mg/g. Glucan exhibited activity against MRSA, with an MIC values of 4 to 9 mg/mL. Conclusions : These findings suggested that glucan might be useful in controlling MRSA infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.788-797
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• 2001

The usefulness of three PCR methods were evaluated for the epidemiological typing of Staphylococcus aureus: an enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR), repetitive extragenic palindromic element PCR (REP-PCR), and 16S-23S intergenic spacer PCR (ITS-PCR). The analysis was performed using a collection of S. aureus strains comprised of 6 reference and 79 isolates from patients with various diseases. Among the 85 S. aureus strains tested, 6 references and 6 isolates were found to be susceptible to methicillin, whereas the remaining 73 isolates were resistant to it. PCR methods are of special concern, as conventional phenotypic methods are unable to clearly distinguish among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains. The ability of the techniques to detect different unrelated types was found to be as follows: ERIC-PCR, 19 types; REP-PCR, 36 types; and ITS-PCR, 14 types. On the basis of combining the ERIC, REP, and ITS fingerprints, the 85 S. aureus strains were grouped into 56 genetic types (designated G1 to G56). The diversities for the 85 S. aureus strains, calculated according to Simpson\`s index, were 0.88 for an ERIC-PCR, 0.93 for a REP-PCR, and 0.48 for an ITS-PCR, and the diversity increased up to 0.97 when an ERIC-PCR and REP-PCR were combined. The above discrimination indices imply that the genetic heterogeneity of S. aureus strains is high. Accordingly, this study demonstrates that DNA sequences from highly conserved repeats of a genome, particularly a combination of ERIC sequences and REP elements, are a convenient and accurate tool for the subspecies-specific discrimination and epidemiologic tracking of S. aureus.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.574-579
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• 2003

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been emerging worldwide as one of the most important hospital and community pathogens. Therefore, new agents are needed to treat the MRSA. In the present study, we investigated antimicrobial activity of ethyl acetate, methanol, and water extracts of Curcuma longa L. (C. longa) aganist clinical isolates of MRSA. The ethyl acetate extract of C. long a demonstrated a higher antibacterial activity than the methanol extract or water extract. Since the ethyl acetate extract was more active than other extracts, we examined whether ethyl acetate extract may restore the antibacterial activity of β-lactams and alter the adhesion and invasion of MRSA to human mucosal fibroblasts (HMFs). In the checkerboard test, ethyl acetate extract of C. longa markedly lowered the MICs of ampicillin and oxacillin against MRSA. In the bacterial adhesion and invasion assay, MRSA intracellular invasion were notably decreased in the presence of 0.125 - 2 mg/ml of C. longa extract compared to the control group. These results suggest that ethyl acetate extract of C. longa may have antibacterial activity and the potential to restore the effectiveness of β-lactams against MRSA, and inhibit the MRSA adhesion and invasion to HMFs.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.536-541
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• 2013

Background Pathogens in the nasal cavity during nasal surgery could lead to a systemic infectious condition, such as bacteremia, nosocomial infection, or toxic shock syndrome. However, there is no research about the prevalence of nasal carriage in patients with nasal bone fracture. Methods This was a prospective, double-blind, randomized study about the rate of nasal carriage in 200 patients with nasal bone fracture in Korea. Nasal secretions were taken from both the middle nasal meatus and colonized. All analyses were carried out using SPSS software. Results Pathogens were identified in 178 of the 200 cases. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were the most cultured bacteria in 127 (66.84%) of the 190 total patients after excluding 10 cases of contaminated samples, and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCNS) were found in 48 (25.26%). Staphylococcus aureus was the second most identified pathogen, found in 36 (18.95%), followed by 7 cases (3.68%) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The prevalence rate of MRSA in the females was higher than that in the males (RR=4.70; 95% CI, 1.09-20.18), but other demographic factors had no effect on the prevalence rate of MRSA and MRCNS. Conclusions The prevalence rate of these pathogens in patients with nasal bone fracture in Korea was similar to other reports. However, few studies have addressed the prevalence rate of CNS and MRCNS in accordance with risk factors or the change in prevalence according to specific prophylaxis against infectious complications. Additional research is needed on the potential connections between clinical factors and microbiological data.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.31-45
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• 2020

Objectives In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of a 70% ethanol extract of Maneung-hwan (MEH), which is prescribed by practitioners of oriental medicine for use against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methods The antibacterial activity of MEH against MRSA strains was evaluated using the disc diffusion method, broth microdilution method (minimal inhibitory concentration, MIC), checkerboard dilution test, and time-kill test. The mechanism of action of MEH was investigated by bacteriolysis using detergents or ATPase inhibitors Additionally, mRNA and protein expression were investigated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot assay, respectively. Results The MIC of MEH was 25~1,600 ㎍/mL against all the tested bacterial strains. We showed that MEH extract exerts strong antibacterial activity. In the checkerboard dilution test, the fractional inhibitory concentration index of MEH in combination with antibiotics indicated synergism or partial synergism against S. aureus. The time-kill study indicated that the growth of the tested bacteria was considerably inhibited after a 24-h treatment with MEH and selected antibiotics. To measure the cell membrane permeability, MEH (3.9 ㎍/mL) was combined with Triton X-100 (TX) at various concentrations N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodimide (DCCD) was also tested as an ATPase inhibitor. TX and DCCD cooperation against S. aureus exhibited synergistic action. Accordingly, the antimicrobial activity of MEH in the context of cell membrane rupture and ATPase inhibition was assessed. Additionally, the expression of genes and proteins associated with resistance was reduced after exposing MRSA to MEH. Conclusions These results suggest that MEH possesses antibacterial activity and acts as a potential natural antibiotic against MRSA.