Submerzni uzgoj i karakterizacija polisaharida iz gljive Grifola frondosa – primjena u kozmetičkoj industriji

Grifola frondosa (maitake) is traditionally called \u27the king of mushrooms\u27 and \u27the hen of the woods\u27. Both the fruiting bodies and the mycelium of maitake have been reported to have antitumor and antiviral activities. Recently, submerged culture processes have been developed, with the intention of providing opportunities for increased economic exploitation of maitake. Commonly the aim of these processes is to produce extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), mostly glucans, and to explore their applications, particularly in the cosmetic industry. A wide variety of EPS with different molecular chain length and chemical compositions are produced under different culture conditions. In this article, various biological and physicochemical properties of the EPS of G. frondosa (GF-EPS) are described, with a view to applications in the area of functional cosmeceuticals. The GF-EPS, together with GF mycelial extract (GF-MPS), showed antioxidative activity, stimulation of collagen biosynthetic activity, cell proliferation activity, and inhibitory activity of melanogenesis, without significant cytotoxicity. These diverse functionalities suggest that both GF-EPS and GF-MPS can be promising cosmetic ingredients.Gljivu Grifola frondosa (maitake) u Koreji tradicionalno zovu kraljicom gljiva i šumskim bogatstvom. Dokazano je da plodište i micelij gljiva maitake imaju antitumorski i antivirusni učinak. Ekonomsko iskorištenje te gljive omogućeno je submerznim uzgojem. Uobičajeni je cilj uzgoja proizvodnja ekstracelularnih polisaharida (EPS), uglavnom glukana i istraživanje mogućnosti njihove primjene u kozmetičkoj industriji. Pri raznim uvjetima proizvodnje dobivaju se ekstracelularni polisaharidi različitih duljina lanaca i kemijskoga sastava. U ovom su radu opisana razna biološka i fizikalno-kemijska svojstva ekstracelularnih polisaharida gljive Grifola frondosa (GF-EPS), te primjena u proizvodnji kozmetičkih preparata s povoljnim utjecajem na ljudsko zdravlje. Ekstracelularni polisaharidi i ekstrakt micelija gljive Grifola frondosa (GFMPS) imaju antioksidativni učinak, stimuliraju biosintezu kolagena, bujanje stanica, sprečavaju nastanak melanoma i nemaju jače citotoksično djelovanje, zbog čega su prikladni za primjenu u kozmetičkoj industriji

Antiosteoporosis Activity of New Oriental Medicine Preparation (Kyungokgo Mixed with Water Extract of Hovenia dulcis

Protective effect of new oriental medicine (Kyungokgo mixed with water extract of Hovenia dulcis, KOGHD) was assessed on the bone loss induced mice by ovariectomy. In the in vivo experiments, antiosteoporosis effect of KOGHD was investigated using ovariectomized osteoporosis mice model. After 6 weeks of treatment, the mice were euthanized, and the effect of Kyungokgo (KOG) and KOGHD on body weight, spleen weigh, thymus weight, uterine weight, serum biochemical indicators, bone weight and length, immune cell population, bone morphometric parameters, and histological stains was observed. Our results showed that KOGHD prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture caused by ovariectomy, which were accompanied by the lower levels of bone turnover markers and immune cell population as evidenced by the inhibition of RANKL-mediated osteoclast differentiation without cytotoxic effect on bone marrow derived macrophages (BMMs). Therefore, these results suggest that the Hovenia dulcis (HD) supplementation in the KOG may also prevent and treat bone loss

Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana brassinosteroid-related acyltransferase 1 gene induces brassinosteroid-deficient phenotypes in creeping bentgrass

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are naturally occurring steroidal hormones that play diverse roles in various processes during plant growth and development. Thus, genetic manipulation of endogenous BR levels might offer a way of improving the agronomic traits of crops, including plant architecture and stress tolerance. In this study, we produced transgenic creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) overexpressing a BR-inactivating enzyme, Arabidopsis thaliana BR-related acyltransferase 1 (AtBAT1), which is known to catalyze the conversion of BR intermediates to inactive acylated conjugates. After putative transgenic plants were selected using herbicide resistance assay, genomic integration of the AtBAT1 gene was confirmed by genomic PCR and Southern blot analysis, and transgene expression was validated by northern blot analysis. The transgenic creeping bentgrass plants exhibited BR-deficient phenotypes, including reduced plant height with shortened internodes (i.e., semi-dwarf), reduced leaf growth rates with short, wide, and thick architecture, high chlorophyll contents, decreased numbers of vascular bundles, and large lamina joint bending angles (i.e., erect leaves). Subsequent analyses showed that the transgenic plants had significantly reduced amounts of endogenous BR intermediates, including typhasterol, 6-deoxocastasterone, and castasterone. Moreover, the AtBAT1 transgenic plants displayed drought tolerance as well as delayed senescence. Therefore, the results of the present study demonstrate that overexpression of an Arabidopsis BR-inactivating enzyme can reduce the endogenous levels of BRs in creeping bentgrass resulting in BR-deficient phenotypes, indicating that the AtBAT1 gene from a dicot plant is also functional in the monocot crop.111Ysciescopu

Suvremena primjena gljive Phellinus baumii – od fermentacije do proteomike

Phellinus baumii is a mushroom used as a folk medicine for a variety of human diseases in several Asian countries. Recently we have reported for the first time about the antidiabetic effect of the crude exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced from submerged mycelial culture of P. baumii in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The diabetic rats study revealed that orally administrated P. baumii EPS lowered the blood glucose levels and stimulated insulin excretion in diabetic rats, and consequently restored the functions of pancreas, liver, and kidney, suggesting that the EPS might be useful for the management of human diabetes mellitus. We undertook proteomic analyses for plasma, pancreas, liver, and kidney of the rats to search for novel biomarkers for monitoring diabetes before and after EPS treatments. In this article, we describe the production of EPS in submerged culture of P. baumii and studies of their hypoglycemic activity. We also explore the issue of proteomic analyses for mining biomarkers of diabetes.Phellinus baumii je gljiva koja se koristi kao narodni lijek za liječenje raznih bolesti u nekoliko azijskih zemalja. Nedavno smo po prvi put objavili da nerafinirani egzopolisaharidi (EPS), dobiveni submerznim uzgojem micelija gljive P. baumii, smanjuju razinu šećera u krvi štakora s dijabetesom induciranim streptozotocinom (STZ). Istraživanje je pokazalo da egzopolisaharidi gljive P. baumii, dodani oralnim putem, snizuju razinu šećera u krvi štakora, stimuliraju lučenje inzulina i time obnavljaju funkcije gušterače, jetre i bubrega. Zaključeno je da bi se mogli primjenjivati i u liječenju ljudi od dijabetesa. Autori su proveli proteomsku analizu plazme, gušterače, jetre i bubrega štakora za određivanje novih biomarkera za praćenje dijabetesa prije i nakon obrade egzopolisaharidima. U ovom je radu opisana proizvodnja egzopolisaharida u submerznoj kulturi gljive P. baumii i studija njihova utjecaja na razinu šećera u krvi. Također je provedena proteomska analiza radi određivanja biomarkera dijabetesa

Biopsychological traits of Sasang typology based on Sasang personality questionnaire and body mass index

BACKGROUND: The purpose of present study was to examine biological and psychological characteristics of people according to the Sasang typology, which is popular in Korea. We evaluated the Sasang Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) as a measure of temperament, and Body Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of the somatic properties of each Sasang type. METHODS: Subjects were 2506 (877 males, 1629 females) outpatients between the ages of 20 through 70 who requested traditional medical assessment and treatment in Korea. The structural validity of the SPQ was examined and its correlation with BMI was analyzed. The SPQ and BMI measures of each Sasang type across age and gender were presented and their differences were analyzed with Analysis of Variance. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis identified an acceptable three-factor structure of the SPQ measuring differences in individual’s behavior, emotion, and cognition. SPQ scores (29.71 ± 1.00, 28.29 ± 0.19 and 26.14 ± 0.22) and BMI scores (22.92 ± 0.09, 25.56 ± 0.10 and 21.44 ± 0.10) were significantly (p < 0.001) different among So-Yang, Tae-Eum and So-Eum Sasang types, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the SPQ and BMI is a reliable measure for quantifying the biopsychological characteristics of each types, and useful for guiding personalized and type-specific treatment with medical herbs and acupuncture

Effects of Berberine and Hwangryunhaedok-Tang on Oral Bioavailability and Pharmacokinetics of Ciprofloxacin in Rats

Hwangryunhaedok-Tang (HR) and berberine-containing single herbs are used to treat bacterial infection and inflammatory diseases in eastern Asia. The combination of berberine-containing herbal medicines and ciprofloxacin can be an excellent antibacterial chemotherapy against multidrug resistance bacteria. To evaluate the pretreatment effect of berberine and HR, vehicle, berberine (25 and 50 mg/kg/day), and HR (1.4 g/kg/day) were daily administered to rats for five consecutive days. On day 6, ciprofloxacin was administered (10 mg/kg, i.v. and 20 mg/kg, p.o.) to rats. To assess cotreatment effect of berberine and ciprofloxacin, berberine (50 mg/kg) and ciprofloxacin (20 mg/kg) were coadministered by single oral gavage. Pharmacokinetic data were estimated by noncompartmental model. Compared with ciprofloxacin alone (control group), coadministration of berberine (50 mg/kg) and ciprofloxacin significantly decreased Cmax of ciprofloxacin (P<0.05). In addition, the pretreatment of berberine (50 mg/kg/day) and HR (1.4 g/kg/day) significantly decreased Cmax and AUC0→∞, compared with control group (P<0.05). The oral bioavailability of ciprofloxacin was reduced by cotreatment of berberine and pretreatment of berberine and HR. Our results suggest that the expression of P-glycoprotein and organic anion and/or organic cation transporters (OAT/OCT) could take a role in reduced oral bioavailability of ciprofloxacin by berberine and HR