breakdown of tooth-supporting tissues, producing dentition loss. Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), a Gramnegative anaerobic rod, is one of the major pathogens associated with periodontitis. Neutrophils are first line defense cells in the oral cavity that play a significant role in inflammatory response. Xylitol is a known anti-caries agent and has anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we conducted experiments to evaluate anti-inflammatory effects of xylitol on P. gingivalis infected neutrophils for possible usage in prevention and treatment of periodontal infections. P. gingivalis was intraperitoneally injected and peritoneal lavage was collected for cytokine determination. For in vitro study, neutrophils were collected from mouse peritoneal cells after zymosan injection or bone marrow cells. Neutrophils were stimulated with live P. gingivalis and ELISA was used to determine the effect of xylitol on P. gingivalis induced cytokine production. IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α concentration and neutrophil population in the peritoneal lavage was increased in P. gingivalis-infected mouse. Peritoneal cells infected with live P. gingivalis revealed significantly increased production of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α at multiplicity of infection of 10. Neutrophils from bone marrow and peritoneal lavage revealed increased production of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. Xylitol significantly mitigated P. gingivalis induced cytokine production in neutrophils. Findings indicate that xylitol is an anti-inflammatory agent in neutrophils infected with live P. gingivalis, that suggests its use in periodontitis management.

Although neutrophils function in both defense and tissue destruction, their defensive roles have rarely been studied in association with periodontitis. We hypothesized that periph¬eral neutrophils are pre-activated in vivo in periodontitis and that hyperactive neutrophils would show enhanced phago-cytic ability as well as an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Peripheral blood neutrophils from patients with aggressive periodontitis and age/gender¬matched healthy subjects (10 pairs) were isolated. The levels of CD11b and CD64 expression on the neutrophils and the level of plasma endotoxin were determined by flow cytometry and a limulus amebocyte lysate test, respectively. In addition, neutrophils were subjected to a flow cytometric phagocytosis assay and luminol-enhanced chemilumines¬cence for non-opsonized Fusobacterium nucleatum in parallel. The neutrophilsfrom most patients expressed increased levels of both CD11b and CD64. In addition, the plasma from these patients tended to contain a higher level of endotoxin than the healthy controls. In contrast, no differences were found between the two groups with regard to phagocytosis or ROS generation by F. nucleatum. The ability to phagocytose F. nucleatum was found to positively correlate with the ability to produce ROS. In conclusion, peripheral neutrophils from patients with aggressive periodontitis are hyperactive but not hyperreactive to F. nucleatum.

천연자원으로부터 항노화 화장품 신소재를 탐색하던 중, 국내 자생버섯의 일종인 붉은싸리버섯 자실체 추출물이 항산화 활성과 인체 호중구 엘라스타제 저해활성이 우수함을 확인하고 일련의 연구를 수행하였다. 붉 은싸리버섯 추출물의 DPPH 라디칼 소거활성은 붉은싸리버섯 추출물 500 μ g/mL 처리시 117.0 mg/mL (ascorbic acid 환산값)의 매우 우수한 소거활성을 나타냈다. Peroxy 라디칼 소거활성을 oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay 를 통하여 측정한 결과 붉은싸리버섯 추출물 1, 10, 20 μ g/mL 처리 시, 각각 0.8, 5.2, 7.8 ORACRoo (trolox equivalents, 1 μ M)로 농도 의존적으로 높은 소거활성을 나타냈다. 뿐만 아니라 cellular antioxidant capacity를 DCF fluorescence intensity (% of control)로 조사한 결과에서도 붉은싸리버섯 추출물 20 μ g/mL 처리시 약 30% 이상 높은 항산화 활성을 나타냈다. Human neutrophil elastase 저해활성은 농도 의존적으로 저해활성을 나타냈으며 특히 에탄올 추출분획에서 ED50 값은 42.9 μ g/mL이 었다. 붉은싸리버섯 추출물은 Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Candida albicans (C. albicans), Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) 균주 모두에서 항균활성은 나타나지 않았다. 또한 염증성 cytokine인 interleukin-10 및 interferon-γ (IFN-γ)의 생산 또는 분비 조절에는 영향을 미치지 않았다. 이상 의 결과로 붉은싸리버섯 추출물은 항산화활성과 elastase 저해활성을 우수하여 피부에 자극이 없는 항노화 화장 품 조성물로 유용하게 사용될 수 있음을 확인하였다.

The tremendous changes of uterine endometrium are observed during early pregnancy and protease and their inhibitors are involved in regulation of cell proliferation and remodeling of the tissues through remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM). Some of the proteases and protease inhibitors have been suspected to a factor in endometrial changes but many parts of their expression profiles and the physiological roles are not uncovered. To evaluate the functional roles of them, in this study the expression profiles of proteases and protease inhibitors were analyzed using real-time quantitative PCR analysis. Mmp9 (matrix metalloproteinase 9) mRNA levels peaked on day 4 at the time of implantation. On the other hand, Ela2 (neutrophil elastase, NE) mRNA levels were peaked on day 2 of pregnancy. Its expression were decreased until day 4 of pregnancy but increased rapidly until day 7 of pregnancy and decreased again. NE inhibitor Slpi (secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, SLPI) mRNA levels were related with the implantation stage and with the levels of Ela2. At the time of implantation the expression levels of Slpi mRNA were about 5 times higher than the Ela2 mRNA in the uterus. In the implantation stage embryos, Mmp9 specific mRNA was only detected at the blastocyst. On the other hand, the expression level of SLPI was higher than that of the Ela2 mRNA at blastocyst and 4.5 day p.c. embryos. Based on these results it is suggested that MMP9, SLPI, and NE have important physiological role in embryo implantation both in uterus and embryos.

심신수련의 일종인 기수련이 뇌호르몬계와 면역계에 미치는 영향을 살펴보기 위하여 9명의 건강한 노인을 대상으로 혈중내 코티졸, 성장호르몬과 멜라토닌의 변화와 호중구의 초과산화 이온 분비량을 조사하였다. 한시간의 기수련은 코티졸을 유의하게 감소시켰으며, 성장호르몬과 멜라토닌의 분비를 증가 시켰다. 또한 초과산화이온이 기수련에 의해 유의하게 변화하였으며 수련직후네 수련전에 비하여 유의한 차이가 있었다. 이러한 결과는 기수련이 코티졸, 성장호르몬, 멜라토닌등을 변화시켜 호중구의 기능을 증가시킨것이라 볼 수 있다. 호중구의 기능의 증가는 기수련을 통하여 일반적 감염과 염증반응에 저항력을 높여주는 것으로 생각된다.