In vitro evaluation of bioactive potential of Bacillus methylotrophicus YML008 against Propionibacterium acnes

Acne vulgaris is the most common skin diseases that people experience during their lives. Thirteen rhizosphere isolates were screened against Propionibacterium acnes. The bacterium exhibited the highest activity against P. acnes was identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus YML008 by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Scanning electron microscopy was used to assess the changes in morphology of P. acnes. Preliminary studies on the antimicrobial substance demonstrated the hydrophilic nature of compound with MIC of 0.17mg/ml and MBC of 0.3mg/ml. The cytotoxic effect of the extract was least [80% survival] as compared to benzyperoxide [40% survival]. These results suggest YML008 as a promising bioresource and may be useful as a lead bacterium to develop a new type of anti-acne skin care prep to cure or prevent acne. Further, mechanism of action and proper clinical trials may be promising for this research

Effect of Emollients Containing Vegetable-Derived Lactobacillus in the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis Symptoms: Split-Body Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) patients suffer from xerosis. Proper skin care, including the use of emollients, may help improve xerosis and minimize disease exacerbation. Lactobacillus sakei probio 65, isolated from the Korean vegetable-based product kimchi, can decrease interleukin 4 and immunoglobulin E levels and inhibit Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, it has reportedly shown positive dermatological effects in both animal and clinical studies. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of an emollient that contains Lactobacillus (treated) with a normal emollient (control) on AD. METHODS: This double-blind, randomized, split-body clinical trial involved 28 patients with AD. The patients applied the Lactobacillus-containing emollient on one side of their body and the control emollient on the other side twice daily for 4 weeks. Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and skin capacitance were evaluated and investigator global assessment and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were administered on weeks 0, 1, 2, and 4. RESULTS: The treated sides had significantly lower TEWL and VAS values and significantly higher skin capacitance values over time than the control sides. CONCLUSION: Topical application of Lactobacillus-containing emollients may improve the skin permeability of patients with AD.

Biochemical, Serological and Virulence-associated Characteristics of Yersinia enterocolitica Isolated in Korea / 감염

BACKGROUND: Yersinia enterocolitica is an inhabitant in lower intestinal tract of many domestic and wild animals as well as in nature. Of the several forms of diseases by Y. enterocolitica, acute enteritis, especially in young children, is most common. Infection of the bacteria is usually occurred through fecal-oral route by contaminated foods or water, especially mountainspring water. Therefore, we isolated Y. enterocolitica from feces of pigs and mountainspring water and investigated the biochemical, serological, genetical and virulence-associated characteristics of the bacteria for the epidemiological analysis. METHODS: Fifty-one strains of Y. enterocolitica were isolated from the samples and identified by biochemical tests and VITEK system. We performed antimicrobial susceptibility test, in vitro virulence-associated characteristics, biotyping, serotyping, and PCR-ribotyping and compared the methods, such as biotype, serotype and PCR-ribotyping, to differentiate the isolates. RESULTS: Biochemical properties of the isolates were very similar to those of reference strains. They were susceptible to chloramphenicol, tetracycline, norfloxacin, but resistant to bacitracin, ampicillin in antimicrobial susceptibility test. In vitro virulence-associated tests, the positive strains were 27 isolates (52.9%) in CRMOX+, 10 isolates (19.6%) in CV+, 30 isolates (58.8%) in CD+, 20 isolates (39.2%) in esculin+ and 20 isolates in salicin+ (39.2%). Thirty-one strains of 51 isolates (61%) harbored about 70 kb plasmid presumably associated with virulence factor. Biotypes and serotypes of the strains were 3B, 3A, 4 and O:3, O:13, O:16 in order, respectively. Type I having 700 and 800 bps products was the most common type of PCR-ribotypes. CONCLUSION: Biochemical properties, biotypes and serotypes of the isolates were similar with previously reports in Korea. PCR-ribotyping, a genetical method, could be a more effective tool for differentiating isolates of Yersinia enterocolitica than conventional methods such as serotype, biotype.

Trinucleotide Repeat Polymorphisms of SBMA Locus in Koreans Chinese, Japanese and Caucasoids / 체질인류학회지

SBMA (Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy) is a neurodegenerative disease and the extension of the triplet repeat DNA tracks on this SBMA locus is related with the onset of the genetic disease. In this study we investigated the PCR -based STRs (Short Tandem Repeats) polymorphisms for the SBMA locus in healthy South Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and Caucasoids. As the result, we could detect the significant differences among the four populations. And the allele distribution of each population was single modal. The CAG alleles of South Koreans and Chinese showed very similar distributions each other, but the distribution of CAG alleles in Japanese population was clsoer to the one of Caucasoids. The T test after doing the F test also detected the significant difference reflecting this similarity between Japanese and Caucasoids.