In this study, we investigated the suppressive effects of ore minerals on the allergic cell damages and oxidative cell damages. The ore minerals significantly reduced the productions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in rat basophilic leukemia cells challenged with 2,4-dinitrophenol-bovine serum albumin (DNP-BSA). Lipoxygenase activity was also reduced by the ore minerals. Moreover, the ore minerals showed weak protective effects on the oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide in pig kidney cells and retinal ganglion cells. Photohemolysis of erythrocytes in the presence of rose-bengal as a sensitizer was also inhibited by ore minerals. These results suggest that the ore minerals may be useful as the protectant for allergic and oxidative cell damages.
The antibacterial effects of anodic electrolyzed water against various bacteria were studied in this investigation. Complete inactivation of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria occurred within 15 s after exposure to anodic electrolyzed water. Moreover, 1/2, 1/5 and 1/10 diluted anodic electrolyzed water by adding deionized water showed strong antibacterial effects. However, the inhibitory effect of anodic electrolyzed water on the anaerobe of Propionibacterium acnes was much weaker than that on the aerobes, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The degraded fragments of E. coli cell were observed upon treating anodic electrolyzed water for 1 min by using scanning electron microscopy.