• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.95-99
• /
• 2004

This study was designed to investigate the effects of ethyl acetate(EtOAc) fraction of pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb et Zucc) needle on cholesterol and lipofuscin(LF) accumulations, acetylcholine(ACh) and its related enzyme activities such as choline acetyltransferase(ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase(AChE), and monoamine oxidase-B(MAO-B) activity, which destroyed the catecholamine related neurotransmitters in brain membranes of Sprague- Dawley (SD) rats. Male SD rats were fed basic diets (control group) and experimental diets (EtOAc-25, EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100) for 45 days. Cholesterol accumulations in mitocholndria and microsomes were significantly inhibited (11.8-12.1% and 9.6-13.0%, respectvely) in EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100 groups. ACh levels and ChAT activities were significantly increased about 10% in membranes of EtOAc-100 group compared with control group. AChE activities were significantly increased about 8 -12% in membranes of EtOAc-50 and EtOAc-100 groups compared with control group. MAO-B activities were significantly inhibited about 10% in membrane of EtOAc-l00 group compared with control group. These results suggest that ethyl acetate fraction of pine needle may play an effective role in inhibiting cholesterol and improving a membrane fluidity, and learning and memory impairments. (Korean J Nutrition 37(2): 95 -99, 2004)

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.67-76
• /
• 1990

Hydrocortisone 50 mg/kg (HC), dehydroepiandrosterone 250 mg/kg (DHEA), ${\beta}-estradiol$ 5 mg/kg (E2), and testosterone 20 mg/kg (TS) were subcutaneously injected into the castrated ICR mice at noon for four days, and the animals were sacrificed at 10-12 A.M. of the fifth day. The intestinal DAO activity was significantly decreased by HC, but it was rather increased by E2 and TS, respectively. And DHEA did not change the DAO activity. But the hepatic MAO activity was not affected by anyone of HC, DHEA, E2, and TS. Aminoguanidine 25 mg/kg produced the marked decrease of the intestinal DAO activity and the significant increases of the intestinal PT and SD contents, but it did not change the hepatic polyamine contents. HC and DHEA induced the significant increase of the intestinal PT content. E2 induced the marked increase of the hepatic PT content and the moderate increase of the intestinal PT content. TS little affected the polyamine contents of the liver and intestine. These results suggest that the E2-induced increase of the hepatic PT content is rather ascribed to the greater enhancement of PT synthesis than the inhibition of polyamine catabolism, and that the HC-induced increase of the intestinal PT content is due partly to the inhibition of polyamine catabolism via DAO.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.757-764
• /
• 2018

A cellulolytic fungus, YDJ14, was isolated from compost and identified as an Aspergillus sp. strain. Three extracellular ${\beta}$-glucosidases, BGL-A1, BGL-A2, and BGL-A3, were separated using ultrafiltration, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and High-Q chromatography. The molecular masses of the three enzymes were estimated to be 100, 45, and 40 kDa, respectively, by SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature of BGL-A3 were 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively, whereas the optimum pH and temperature of BGL-A1 and BGL-A2 were identical (4.0 and $60^{\circ}C$, respectively). The half-life of BGL-A3 at $70^{\circ}C$ (2.8 min) was shorter than that of BGL-A1 and BGL-A2 (12.1 and 8.8 min, respectively). All three enzymes preferred p-nitrophenyl-${\beta}$-$\text\tiny{D}$-glucopyranoside (pNPG) and hardly hydrolyzed cellobiose, suggesting that these enzymes were aryl ${\beta}$-glucosidases. The $K_m$ of BGL-A3 (1.26 mM) for pNPG was much higher than that of BGL-A1 and BGL-A2 (0.25 and 0.27 mM, respectively). These results suggested that BGL-A1 and BGL-A2 were similar in their enzymatic properties, whereas BGL-A3 differed from the two enzymes. When tilianin (a flavone glycoside of acacetin) was reacted with the three enzymes, the inhibitory activity for monoamine oxidase, a target in the treatment of neurological disorders, was similar to that shown by acacetin. We conclude that these enzymes may be useful in the hydrolysis of flavone glycosides to improve their inhibitory activities.