Lemon Balm and Corn Silk Extracts Mitigate High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice.

Lemon balm and corn silk are valuable medicinal herbs, which exhibit variety of beneficial effects for human health. The present study explored the anti-obesity effects of a mixture of lemon balm and corn silk extracts (M-LB/CS) by comparison with the effects of single herbal extracts in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mice. HFD supplementation for 84 days increased the body weight, the fat mass density, the mean diameter of adipocytes, and the thickness of fat pads.

Prevalence of infection in household and feral cats in Korea.

This study was designed to investigate the prevalence rate of () infection in household cats in Korea. One hundred household cats and 50 feral cats from nine of the largest cities in Korea were enrolled in this study. The tests performed in this survey was an in-house rapid screen IgG and IgM combo test, faecal PCR test for oocysts, and an ELISA immunoassay for IgG antibodies.

Identification and distribution of Bacillus species in doenjang by whole-cell protein patterns and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis.

Many bacteria are involved in fermentation of doenjang and Bacillus species are known to perform significant roles. Although the SDS-PAGE technique has been frequently used for classification and identification of bacteria in various samples, there has been no investigation of the microbial diversity in doenjang. This study aims to investigate the identification and distribution of dominant Bacillus species in doenjang using SDS-PAGE profiles of whole cell proteins and 16S rDNA sequencing.

Analysis of microbial communities in doenjang, a Korean fermented soybean paste, using nested PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

Doenjang is a traditional Korean fermented soybean paste that provides a major source of protein. The microbial diversity of 10 samples of doenjang (5 commercially manufactured products and 5 homemade products) was investigated using nested PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). In the first step, the nearly complete 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes were amplified using universal primers.