All bacteria possess homeostastic mechanisms that control the availability of micronutrient metals within the cell. Cross-talks between different metal homeostasis pathways within the same bacterial organism have been reported widely. In addition, there have been previous suggestions that some metal uptake transporters can promote adventitious uptake of the wrong metal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential components of innate immunity across all species. AMPs have become the focus of attention in recent years, as scientists are addressing antibiotic resistance, a public health crisis that has reached epidemic proportions. This family of peptides represents a promising alternative to current antibiotics due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and tendency to avoid resistance development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistatin-5 (Hst5) is a member of the histatin superfamily of cationic, His-rich, Zn(II)-binding peptides in human saliva. Hst5 displays antimicrobial activity against fungal and bacterial pathogens, often in a Zn(II)-dependent manner. In contrast, here we showed that under conditions that are characteristic of human saliva, Hst5 does not kill seven streptococcal species that normally colonize the human oral cavity and oropharynx.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The incidence of Japanese encephalitis (JE) has markedly decreased after the national immunization program in Korea, but still reported intermittently in adults. Prospective studies are required to determine whether JE virus (JEV)-neutralizing antibody (NAb) levels decline with age after the final JE vaccination. In this study, we evaluated the titers of NAbs against JEV in Korean adolescents and adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B is a significant cause of septicaemia and meningitis worldwide. This phase 3 randomised, controlled study assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a multicomponent meningococcal serogroup B vaccine, 4CMenB, in healthy Korean adolescents.
Methods: 264 adolescents (11-17 years old) were randomised to receive two doses, one month apart, of 4CMenB or control vaccines [placebo followed by one dose of a quadrivalent meningococcal ACWY glycoconjugate vaccine (MenACWY-CRM)].
Osong Public Health Res Perspect
October 2014
Objectives: Several different methods are currently used to detect antibodies to Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in serum samples or cerebrospinal fluid. These methods include the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of each method in detecting vaccine-induced antibodies to JEV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously reported the development of a neutralization assay system for evaluating Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) neutralizing antibody (NAb) using pseudotyped-JEV (JEV-PV). JEV-PV-based neutralization assay offers several advantages compared with the current standard plaque-reduction neutralization test (PRNT), including simplicity, safety, and speed. To evaluate the suitability of the JEV-PV assay as new replacement neutralization assay, we compared its repeatability, reproducibility, specificity, and correlated its results with those obtained using the PRNT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report results of a randomized, double-blinded, active-controlled, phase III study conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of a new trivalent inactivated split-virus influenza vaccine (GC501) manufactured by the Green Cross Corporation in Korea. A total of 283 healthy children aged 6 months to < 18 yr were randomized to receive either GC501 or control. Of the GC501 recipients, seroconversion occurred in 48.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study was conducted to determine the immunogenicity and safety of an inactivated split-virus influenza A/H1N1 vaccine in healthy Korean children from 6 months to <18 years of age. The immunization schedule consisted of two vaccinations, 21 days apart. The unadjuvanted vaccine contained 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfantile spasm is an age-related refractory epilepsy. Topiramate is a new anticonvulsant with multiple mechanisms of action, and it may be effective for treating pediatric epilepsies. To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of first-line topiramate treatment for infantile spasm, 20 patients received topiramate monotherapy during this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report a Korean patient with glycogen storage disease type 1b (GSD-1b) whose diagnosis was confirmed by liver biopsy and laboratory results. The patient presented with delay of puberty and short stature on admission and had typical clinical symptoms of GSD as well as chronic neutropenia and inflammatory bowel disease. Mutation analysis of the glucose 6-phosphate translocase 6-phosphate translocase (SLC37A4) gene revealed that the patient was a compound heterozygote of two different mutations including a deletion mutation (c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntioxidants have been shown to be effective in murine models of sepsis. Protocatechuic acid has antioxidant activity. In the present study, the protective effects of protocatechuic acid and its derivatives were investigated in a mouse model of septic shock induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/D-galactosamine (GalN).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe regeneration of hyaline articular cartilage by cell-mediated gene therapy using transforming growth factor beta(1) (TGF-beta(1))-producing fibroblasts (NIH 3T3-TGF-beta(1)) has been reported previously. In this study, we investigated whether TGF-beta(1)-producing fibroblasts irradiated with a lethal dose of radiation are still capable of inducing the regeneration of hyaline articular cartilage. NIH 3T3TGF-beta(1) fibroblasts were exposed to doses of 20, 40, or 80 Gy, using a irradiator, and then injected into artificially made partial defects on the femoral condyle of rabbit knee joints.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from 35 healthy Korean volunteers were challenged by four catecholamines and clonidine, which were known as alpha-adrenergic agonists. Wide individual variations were observed with the respect to the pattern and the degree of aggregation in response to each agent. They fall into five distinct groups; Group A (2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFive aporphine alkaloids, N-acetylanonaine ( 1), N-acetylxylopine ( 2), N-formylanonaine ( 3), liriodenine ( 4), and lanuginosine ( 5) as the antiplatelet constituents, were isolated from the methanol extract of leaves of Magnolia obovata. This is the first reported occurrence of 2 and 3 from genus Magnolia and 5 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 1, 2 and 3 showed 60 approximately 264-fold stronger inhibitory effects than acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to rat platelet aggregation induced by collagen, epinephrine, arachidonic acid (AA), or U46619.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEfficient gene delivery of a baculovirus-derived vector (BV-p53-lacZ) to a human osteogenic sarcoma cell line, Saos-2, was serendipitously found while evaluating the vector for gene delivery to human p53-null tumour cells in a previous study. Therefore, we investigated other human, rat and mouse osteogenic sarcoma and other types of tumour cell lines for transduction efficiency via baculovirus vectors containing a lacZ reporter gene under the control of either a cytomegalovirus or Rous sarcoma virus promoter. The expression of beta-galactosidase protein, assessed by X-Gal staining and beta-galactosidase ELISA, demonstrated an extremely high level of transduction efficiency in some osteogenic sarcoma cell lines, such as U-2OS, Saos-2 and Saos-LM2.
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