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.

DNA Barcoding of Fish, Insects, and Shellfish in Korea

DNA barcoding has been widely used in species identification and biodiversity research. A short fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence serves as a DNA bio-barcode. We collected DNA barcodes, based on COI sequences from 156 species (529 sequences) of fish, insects, and shellfish. We present results on phylogenetic relationships to assess biodiversity the in the Korean peninsula. Average GC% contents of the 68 fish species (46.9%), the 59 shellfish species (38.0%), and the 29 insect species (33.2%) are reported. Using the Kimura 2 parameter in all possible pairwise comparisons, the average interspecific distances were compared with the average intraspecific distances in fish (3.22 vs. 0.41), insects (2.06 vs. 0.25), and shellfish (3.58 vs. 0.14). Our results confirm that distance-based DNA barcoding provides sufficient information to identify and delineate fish, insect, and shellfish species by means of all possible pairwise comparisons. These results also confirm that the development of an effective molecular barcode identification system is possible. All DNA barcode sequences collected from our study will be useful for the interpretation of species-level identification and community-level patterns in fish, insects, and shellfish in Korea, although at the species level, the rate of correct identification in a diversified environment might be low.