Pegmatite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock rich in rare elements such as uranium, tungsten, and tantalum with Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Se, Ge, and Ho. We tested in vitro and in vivo assays for the antiinflammatory activity of pegmatites. We firstly evaluated the suppressive effects of pegmatite on macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 cells stimulated with proinflammatory stimuli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to determine nitric oxide (NO) production and TNF-α and IL-6 release. The IC 50 values of pegmatite exceeded 5,000 μg/mL. Treatment of RAW 264.7 cells with pegmatite significantly inhibited LPS-stimulated NO production and proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-6 secretion in a dose-dependent manner (P⁄0.05). In vivo studies were tested with two animal models of arachidonic acid-induced mouse ear edema and an acetic acid-induced increase in capillary permeability. The pegmatite significantly attenuated ear edema induced by arachidonic acid and reduced the acetic acid-induced increase in capillary permeability in mice (P⁄0.05) when the pegmatite was administered topically (10 mg per ear) for 24 h. Therefore, pegmatite potentially shows an anti-inflammatory activity in the in vitro and in vivo mice and in the development of newer anti-inflammatory agents as mineral materials.
The present study was carried out to investigate the in vivo single-dose acute toxicity of Bacillus subtilis JNS isolated from Cheonggukjang, which is a probiotic candidate showing strong and broad antibacterial activity. The test sample was orally administrated to male and female ICR mice at a highest dose of 2,000 mg/kg for 14 days. No significant change in general conditions, mortalities, body weight changes, clinical signs, autopsy findings, or presence of gross lesions was observed in either sex of mice. The results indicate that up to 2,000 mg/kg of B. subtilis JNS had no adverse effect on ICR mice.
Antibacterial activity of 80% methanol extract from 13 commercial herb medicines was measured against fish pathogens Streptococcus iniae, causing several diseases in various kind of fish. Siegesbeckia pubescens showed the strongest antibacterial activity against S. iniae. Methanol extract of S. pubescens was further extracted using several organic solvents having different polarity. Extract from n-hexane and ethyl acetate fraction showed strong activity. Minimal inhibitory concentration, MIC of S. pubescens extract was measured and resulted showing 8 µg/mL with n-hexane fraction and 32 µg/mL with ethyl acetate fraction against S. iniae. The growth of S. iniae was fully inhibited by adding 50 µg/mL (final concentration) of n-hexane or ethyl acetate fraction in the liquid media. It is needed that, from these results, purification and isolation of responsible active compound(s) of these activities and further study on the synergy effect using combination with commercial antibiotics against fish pathogenic bacteria.
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