In this study we compared the cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening: MMSE-DS) and nutrient intake of elderly women with dementia in a long-term care facility (EW-LCF) and a day-time care facility (EWDCF). This survey was conducted from July 2015 to May 2017 on 73 elderly women with dementia (47 women in LCF and 26 women in DCF) in the city of Incheon. The data obtained from interviews with the subjects and caregivers were analyzed using the SPSS 20.0. The total score of the MMSE-DS and intakes of most nutrients in the EW-LCF were significantly lower compared to the EW-DCF (p<0.05). The nutrient adequacy ratios (NAR) of protein, vitamin A, C, B6, B12, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, calcium and phosphorus in the EW-LCF were significantly lower compared to the EW-DCF (p<0.05). However, the indexes of nutritional quality (INQ) of vitamin C, B6, thiamine, niacin, calcium, magnesium, and iron in the EW-LCF were significantly higher compared to the EW-DCF (p<0.05). As a result, the subjects showed an unbalanced and insufficient nutrition intake status regardless of the type of care facility. Most nutrient intakes of the EW-LCF with lower cognitive function were very significantly lower compared to the EW-DCF (p<0.001). Therefore, it is necessary to assess the cognitive function and nutritional status regularly at care facilities for the elderly women suffering with dementia and to provide specialized individual nutritional management.
This study was investigated to determine the contents of sulfur dioxide residues in medicinal herbs in Seoul Yang Nyoung Shi in 2010 (1,522 samples of 189 kinds). Samples were measured by modified Monier-Williams method. Of the total samples, 618 samples (84 kinds) were domestic, and 904 samples (158 kinds) were imported. The content of sulfur dioxide in the domestics showed the range of 0.0 to 1,298.0 mg/kg (average 12.7 mg/kg), while those in imported samples were the range of 0.0 to 3,982.2 mg/kg (average 42.4 mg/kg). The average (mg/kg) amount of sulfur dioxide by parts in medicinal herbs was as follows; Tuber 122.3, Radix 69.3, Rhizoma 37.4, Cortex 33.3, Fructus 8.8, Ramulus 4.9, Semen 4.6, Folium 3.4, Flos 2.7, Perithecium 1.4. Of the total samples (1,522), 52 samples (3.4%) were violated the KFDA regulatory guidance of sulfur dioxide. Among these 52 unsuitable samples, 16samples (7 kinds) were domestic, and 36 samples (23 kinds) were imported. Approximately 88.1% of the total samples was less than 10 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide and 6.3% of the total samples showed more than 30 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide.
The increase in the consumption of herb medicines have made their use a public health problem due to the potential fungal contamination and the risk of the presence of mycotoxins. 360 samples of herb medicines were evaluated for the aflatoxin contamination. The natural occurrence of aflatoxins in these samples were determined using immunoaffinity column clean up and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with post-column derivatization. For samples analyzed, mean levels (incidence) of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 in positive samples were 1.4 μg/kg (46.4%), 0.4 μg/kg (25.4%), 1.1 μg/kg (37.8%) and 0.9 μg/kg (24.3%), respectively. Recoveries of the full analytical procedure were 71.7~99.7% for AFB1, 88.1~99.2% for AFB2, 82.8~95.5% for AFG1 and 77.9~90.0%for AFG2. The excess cancer risk estimated using the cancer potency of aflatoxin B1 (7 (mg/kg/day)−1 for HBsAg− and 230 (mg/kg/day)−1 for HBsAg+) were 1.30 × 10^(−5) ~ 1.22 × 10^(−7) for hepatits B surface antigen negative (HBsAg−) and 3.31 × 10^(−4)~ 3.12 × 10^(−6) for hepatits B surface antigen positive (HBsAg+) respectively. In conclusion, although the contamination levels of samples used in the study were low, further actions are also required to undertake a program of herbal surveys in order to access mycotoxin contamination overall so that the safety of public will be protected.
This study was conducted to investigate the content of sulfur dioxide residues in medicinal herbs in Seoul in 2009. Sulfur dioxide in the samples were determined by Monnier-Williams's modified method. A total of 1,821 samples of 205 different types of herbs were collected from Kyung-Dong Herb markets and Oriental medicine hospitals in Seoul. Of these samples, 642 samples were domestic, and 1,179 samples were imported. Of the 1,821 samples, 61 (3.3%, 31 types) failed to meet the regulations for sulfur dioxide residues of KFDA in medicinal herbs. Among these 61 unsuitable samples, 17 (7 types) were domestic, and 44 samples (26 types) were imported. The content of sulfur dioxide in the domestic medicinal herbs ranged from 0 to 809 mg/kg, while those in imported medicinal herbs ranged from 0 to 4,481 mg/kg. Approximately 84.6% of the samples contained less than 10 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide and about 10.0% of samples contained more than 30 mg/kg of sulfur dioxide.
Our paper shows the results of 302 samples of herb medicines about fungal contamination at Yakyeang markets in Seoul. The sample medicines were treated VICAM pretreatment and analysed by post column derivatisation procedure(PHRED-HPLC) with a fluorescence detector. Aflatoxin B1 was founded from 50.3% of samples, aflatoxin B2 was 39.7%, aflatoxin G1 was 21.2% and aflatoxin G2 was 23.5%. The detected ranges of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 were from 0.1 to 57.2 μg/kg, 0.1 to 42.6 μg/kg, 0.1 to 23.5 μg/kg and 0.1 to 9.5 μg/kg respectively. Among total samples, 26 samples contained aflatoxin B1 violated the regulation (less than 10 ug/kg) for aflatoxin B1 of KFDA. From the result, we could presumed that more than a half of samples were contaminated by aflatoxins. Therefore, it seems to be necessary that the new safety giudeline will be established aflatoxin B2, G1 and G2 from herb medicines as aflatoxin B1.