Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common pruritic and chronically relapsing inflammatory skin disease. The pathophysiology of AD includes disturbed skin barrier functions, frequent allergic responses against allergens, defects in the antimicrobial immune defense, and a genetic predisposition. In this review we summarize advances in our understanding of the complex interdependent network of members of the rapidly growing protein superfamilies of cytokines and chemokines that lead to the development of AD.

Cytokines and Chemokines Orchestrate Atopic Skin Inflammation

The concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in 22 Italian cheese varieties that differ in several technological traits markedly varied from 0.26 to 391 mg kg−1. Presumptive lactic acid bacteria were isolated from each cheese variety (total of 440 isolates) and screened for the capacity to synthesize GABA. Only 61 isolates showed this activity and were identified by partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Twelve species were found. Lactobacillus paracasei PF6, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus PR1, Lactococcus lactis PU1, Lactobacillus plantarum C48, and Lactobacillus brevis PM17 were the best GABA-producing strains during fermentation of reconstituted skimmed milk. Except for L. plantarum C48, all these strains were isolated from cheeses with the highest concentrations of GABA. A core fragment of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) DNA was isolated from L. paracasei PF6, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus PR1, L. lactis PU1, and L. plantarum C48 by using primers based on two highly conserved regions of GAD. A PCR product of ca. 540 bp was found for all the strains. The amino acid sequences deduced from nucleotide sequence analysis showed 98, 99, 90, and 85% identity to GadB of L. plantarum WCFS1 for L. paracasei PF6, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus PR1, L. lactis PU1, and L. plantarum C48, respectively. Except for L. lactis PU1, the three lactobacillus strains survived and synthesized GABA under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. The findings of this study provide a potential basis for exploiting selected cheese-related lactobacilli to develop health-promoting dairy products enriched in GABA.

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Synthesis of γ-Aminobutyric Acid by Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from a Variety of Italian Cheeses

Gamma-aminobutyric acid as a bioactive compound in foods: a review

Kimchi is a traditional Korean food manufactured by fermenting vegetables with probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Many bacteria are involved in the fermentation of kimchi, but LAB become dominant while the putrefactive bacteria are suppressed during salting of baechu cabbage and the fermentation. The addition of other subingredients and formation of fermentation byproducts of LAB promote the fermentation process of LAB to eventually lead to eradication of putrefactive- and pathogenic bacteria, and also increase the functionalities of kimchi. Accordingly, kimchi can be considered a vegetable probiotic food that contributes health benefits in a similar manner as yogurt as a dairy probiotic food. Further, the major ingredients of kimchi are cruciferous vegetables; and other healthy functional foods such as garlic, ginger, red pepper powder, and so on are added to kimchi as subingredients. As all of these ingredients undergo fermentation by LAB, kimchi is regarded as a source of LAB; and the ferme...

Health Benefits of Kimchi (Korean Fermented Vegetables) as a Probiotic Food

Bacteria assigned to the genus Weissella are Gram-positive, catalase-negative, non-endospore forming cells with coccoid or rod-shaped morphology (Collins et al., 1993; Bjorkroth et al., 2009, 2014) and belong to the group of bacteria generally known as lactic acid bacteria. Phylogenetically, the Weissella belong to the Firmicutes, class Bacilli, order Lactobacillales and family Leuconostocaceae (Collins et al., 1993). They are obligately heterofermentative, producing CO2 from carbohydrate metabolism with either d(−)-, or a mixture of d(−)- and l(+)- lactic acid and acetic acid as major end products from sugar metabolism. To date, there are 19 validly described Weissella species known. Weissella spp. have been isolated from and occur in a wide range of habitats, e.g., on the skin and in the milk and feces of animals, from saliva, breast milk, feces and vagina of humans, from plants and vegetables, as well as from a variety of fermented foods such as European sourdoughs and Asian and African traditional fermented foods. Thus, apart from a perceived technical role of certain Weissella species involved in such traditional fermentations, specific Weissella strains are also receiving attention as potential probiotics, and strain development of particularly W. cibaria strains is receiving attention because of their high probiotic potential for controlling periodontal disease. Moreover, W. confusa and W. cibaria strains are known to produce copius amounts of novel, non-digestible oligosaccharides and extracellular polysaccharides, mainly dextran. These polymers are receiving increased attention for their potential application as prebiotics and for a wide range of industrial applications, predominantly for bakeries and for the production of cereal-based fermented functional beverages. On the detrimental side, strains of certain Weissella species, e.g., of W. viridescens, W. cibaria and W. confusa, are known as opportunistic pathogens involved in human infections while strains of W. ceti have been recently recongnized as etiological agent of “weissellosis,” which is a disease affecting farmed rainbow trouts. Bacteria belonging to this species thus are important both from a technological, as well as from a medical point of view, and both aspects should be taken into account in any envisaged biotechnological applications.

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The genus Weissella: taxonomy, ecology and biotechnological potential.

Chronic ethanol abuse can cause liver damage and unfavorable lipid profiles in humans and rodents. Phytonutrients have the potential to partially reverse some of the adverse effects of alcoholism. In this study, a germinated brown rice grown under conditions that favor high concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was evaluated for protective effects against the toxic consequences of chronic ethanol use. Serum and hepatic lipid concentrations and enzymes indicative of liver damage were determined in mice chronically administered ethanol. Balb/c mice were fed with either AIN-76 diet (control), control diet plus ethanol, or control diet plus ethanol and supplemental brown rice extract for 30 days. The extract naturally contained 841 nmol GABA per milliliter and was prepared from germinated brown rice. Serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), liver aspartate aminotransferase, and liver alanine aminotransferase levels were increased in mice administered ethanol, but not in mice given ethanol and...

Germinated Brown Rice Extract Shows a Nutraceutical Effect in the Recovery of Chronic Alcohol-Related Symptoms

Aims

To investigate the intracellular lipid accumulation inhibitory effect of spent culture medium extract and the cytoplasmic fraction of Weissella koreensis OK1-6 cells isolated from kimchi in differentiating 3T3-L1 cells.



Methods and Results

Differentiating 3T3-L1 cells were treated with either cytoplasmic fraction of W. koreensis OK1-6 cells or its spent media for 4 days. Both the spent culture medium extract and cytoplasmic fraction of W. koreensis OK1-6 cells significantly decreased the triglyceride concentration and intracellular lipid accumulation in the treated groups compared with the control group. The mRNA expression levels of C/EBP-α, one of the major transcriptional factors involved in adipocyte differentiation, were significantly less expressed in 3T3-L1 cells treated with the spent medium and cytoplasmic fraction. The expressions of aP2, fatty acid synthase (FAS) and SREBP1 genes were also decreased significantly.



Conclusions

These results suggested that W. koreensis OK1-6 could play a crucial role in preventing intracellular lipid accumulation by down-regulating the expression of adipocyte-specific genes C/EBPα, aP2, SREBP1 and FAS.



Significance and Impact of the Study

These results may contribute to nutraceutical and food industries in developing probiotic-based therapies for the treatment and prevention of obesity.

https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2012.05348.x

Intracellular lipid accumulation inhibitory effect of Weissella koreensis OK1-6 isolated from Kimchi on differentiating adipocyte

This study investigated the effect of Cheonggukjang on mRNA levels of hepatic acyl-CoA synthase (ACS), carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT-I), acyl-CoA oxidase (ACO) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2), and on serum lipid profiles in C57BL/6J mice. Thirty male C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups; normal diet (ND), high fat diet (HD) and high fat diet with 40% Cheonggukjang (HDC). Energy intake was significantly higher in the HDC group than in the ND and HD groups. The HDC group normalized in weight gain, epididymal and back fat (g/100 g) accumulation which are increased by high fat diet. Serum concentrations of triglyceride and total cholesterol in the HDC were significantly lower than those in the HD group. These results were confirmed by hepatic mRNA expression of enzymes and protein (ACS, CPT-1, ACO, UCP2) which is related with lipid metabolism by RT-PCR. Hepatic CPT-I, ACO and UCP2 mRNA expression was increased by Cheonggukjang supplementation. We demonstrated that Cheonggukjang supplement leads to increased mRNA expressions of enzymes and protein involved in fatty acid oxidation in liver, reduced accumulation of body fat and improvement of serum lipids in high fat diet fed mice.

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Effect of Cheonggukjang supplementation upon hepatic acyl-CoA synthase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, acyl-CoA oxidase and uncoupling protein 2 mRNA levels in C57BL/6J mice fed with high fat diet

An extract obtained from germinated brown rice was evaluated for protective effects against the adverse effects of a chronic high fat diet. C57BL6/J mice were divided into three groups; normal diet＋water group (ND), high fat diet＋water group (HD), high fat diet＋brown rice water extract group (HD＋BE) and fed for 8 weeks (6 day/week). The ND group diet was 11 kcal fat %. The HD group and HD＋BE group diet were 42 kcal fat %. Weight gains were not significantly different between groups. However, abdominal fat % was 1.6-fold higher in the HD group than HD＋BE group. Feed consumption was significantly higher in the ND group than HD group. Serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol increased with a high fat diet, but decreased by brown rice water extract administration to the high fat diet group. Serum HDL-cholesterol decreased by the high fat diet, but increased by the brown rice water extract administration. Also, serum HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio was 2.3-fold higher in the HD＋BE than the HD. Liver triglyceride and total cholesterol were not significantly different among groups. These data suggest that brown rice water extract administration improves the serum lipid profiles of C57BL/6J mice.

Effect of Water Extract of Germinated Brown Rice on Adiposity and Obesity Indices in Mice Fed a High Fat Diet

We found that Chongkukjang, traditional unsalted fermented soybean, has an antiobesity effect in mice with diet-induced obesity and examined the changes in hepatic transcriptional profiles using cDNA microarray. High-fat diet-induced obese C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups: normal-diet control group (NDcon, 10% of total energy from fat), high-fat diet control group (HDcon, 45% of total energy from fat), and HDcon plus 40% Chongkukjang (HDC) and were fed for 9 weeks. The HDC group mice were pair-fed (isocalorie) with mice in the HDcon group. Final body weight, epididymal fat accumulation, serum total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol were improved in HDC group. The cDNA microarray analyses revealed marked alterations in the expression of about 800 genes. Several genes involved in fatty acid catabolism (Acaa2, Mgll, Phyh, Slc27a2, and Slc27a5) were normalized by Chongkukjang consumption. This study showed beneficial effects of Chongkukjang consumption in preventing diet-induced obesity and related metabolic abnormalities.

/pdf/hepatic-gene-expression-profiles-are-altered-by-dietary-1fkftfj3dc.pdf

Hepatic gene expression profiles are altered by dietary unsalted korean fermented soybean (chongkukjang) consumption in mice with diet-induced obesity.

Ju-Ryoun Soh

Papers

Germinated Brown Rice Extract Shows a Nutraceutical Effect in the Recovery of Chronic Alcohol-Related Symptoms

Intracellular lipid accumulation inhibitory effect of Weissella koreensis OK1-6 isolated from Kimchi on differentiating adipocyte

Effect of Cheonggukjang supplementation upon hepatic acyl-CoA synthase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, acyl-CoA oxidase and uncoupling protein 2 mRNA levels in C57BL/6J mice fed with high fat diet

Effect of Water Extract of Germinated Brown Rice on Adiposity and Obesity Indices in Mice Fed a High Fat Diet

Hepatic gene expression profiles are altered by dietary unsalted korean fermented soybean (chongkukjang) consumption in mice with diet-induced obesity.