Acne vulgaris is a chronic dermatologic problem with multiple factors involved in its pathogenesis. Alternative solutions to acne treatment were instigated by antibiotic resistance despite of its extensive use. Purified bee venom (PBV) has been proposed as a promising candidate for that purpose. The present study was designed to confirm the antibacterial effect of PBV and access the efficacy of cosmetics containing PBV in subjects with acne vulgaris.

No Abstract Available.
Drug Resistance* ; Korea*

BACKGROUND: An immunochromatographic assay (ICT Diagnostics) which facilitates the diagnosis of tuberculosis(TB) by detecting serum antibodies mainly directed against specific 38KDa of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has come into the market. The test consists of a cardboard folding device containing nitrocellulose strip and absorbent pads. The whole procedure is completed within 15 min and does not require any additional equipment. The test has been reported to be sensitive and specific in diagnosing active TB. Thus the test had been evaluated with sera from TB patients and TB-free subjects. METHOD: Sera from patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis(40 sputum positives for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 79 sputum negatives, and 3 extrapulmonary tuberculosis) were obtained from the Double-Cross Chest Clinic of the Korean National Tuberculosis Association (KNTA) in Seoul. The control group consisted of TB-free 68 subjects(21 children under 7 years old and 47 healthy staff members of KNTA). RESULTS: Nine out of 68(13.2%) TB-free controls had positive antibody response. Total 106 of 122(86.9%) radiologically active patients had positive antibodies while 16 (13.1%) showed negative reaction. Antibody was detected in 38 of 40(95.0%) sputum positive patients and 68 of 82(82.9%) sputum negative patients who were under the antituberculosis chemotherapy. The sensitivity and specificity were all 87% and the positive predictive value was 92.2% while the negative predictive value was 78.7%, when the prevalence of TB in the sample was 64.2%. It is clear from our results that the detection of antibodies which mainly react with the 38KDa antigen of M. tuberculosis should not be suitable as first-line method of diagnosis, but considered only as an adjunctive test to standard techniques of tuberculosis diagnosis, when considering its high false positivity.
Absorbent Pads ; Antibodies ; Antibody Formation ; Child ; Collodion ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Immunochromatography ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Prevalence ; Seoul ; Serologic Tests ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis*

No abstract available.
Child* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Infant*

In the present study, we made an attempt to compare polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) with PCR-direct sequence analysis for their accuracy and sensitivity in detecting resistance to rifampicin (RMP). A total of 32 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis including 22 resistant and 10 sensitive isolates, whose drug susceptibility have been tested by conventional proportion method, were analyzed by using PCR-SSCP and PCR-sequence analysis. Among 22 RMP resistant isolates, 16 isolates showed SSCP profiles different from that of a RMP sensitive control strain, M. tuberculosis H37Rv indicating the possible existence of a sequence alteration in this region of the rpoB gene, while 6 resistant isolates displayed SSCP profiles indistinguishable from the sensitive control strain. On the other hand, all of 10 RMP sensitive isolates showed SSCP profiles similar to that of the sensitive control strain. Therefore, overall agreement rste between conventional proportion method and PCR-SSCP reached 81%. Subsequently, all of 32 clinical isolates were subjected to sequence analysis. The results from the sequence analysis revealed that all of 22 resistant isolates indeed contain mutations in the stretch of 81 bp region of rpoB gene, while none of 10 sensitive isolates contain any sequence alterations. Therefore, this study suggests that PCR-sequence analysis works more efficiently and accurately than PCR-SSCP analysis for rapid screening of RMP-resistant M. tuberculosis clinical isolates.
Hand ; Mass Screening ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Rifampin* ; Sequence Analysis* ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: The 463 codon mutation of katG gene has been reported as an useful marker for the detection of isoniazid(INH) resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. This study aimed to elucidate relationship between 463 mutation in katG gene and INH resistance in M. tuberculosis. METHOD: DNA was extracted from 28 INH susceptible strains(MIC > or = 0.2microg/ml on the Lowenstein Jensen media) and used for amplification of 189bp fragment containing 463 codon by PCR. Amplified fragments were digested by restriction enzyme Msp I, analyzed by single strand conformation polymorphism(SSCP) in the MDE gel and sequenced to prove mutation. RESULT: Only 7(25%) out of 28 were digestible by restriction enzyme Msp I. The SSCP pattern of 21 strains were distinctly different from that of M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Msp I undigestible PCR fragment was substituted at 463 codon from Arg(CGG) to Leu(CTG). CONCLUSION: This finding clearly indicate no relationship between 463 codon mutation of the katG gene and INH resistance.
Codon ; DNA ; Isoniazid* ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Tuberculosis

Bee venom (Apis mellifera L., BV) has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for antiaging, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial functions. The aim of this study was to access the skin sensitization of BV, a Buehler test was conducted fifty healthy male Hartley guinea pigs with three groups; Group G1 (BV-sensitization group, 20 animals), group G2 (the positive control-sensitization group, 20 animals), and group G3 (the ethyl alcohol-sensitization group, 10 animals). The exposure on the left flank for induction was repeated three times at intervals of one week. Two weeks after the last induction, the challenge was performed on the right flank. No treatment-related clinical signs or body weight changes were observed during the study period. The average skin reaction evaluated by erythema and edema on the challenge sites and sensitization rate in the BV-sensitization group at 30 hours were 0.0 and 0%, respectively, which are substantially low compared with in positive control group (average skin reaction: 0.55, sensitization rate: 40%) and identical with in vehicle control group, representing a weak sensitizing potential. The average skin reaction and sensitization rate observed at 54 hours were 0.0 and 0% in the BV-sensitization group, respectively, and 0.25 and 20% in the positive control group, respectively. It was concluded that BV classified to Grade I, induced no sensitization when tested in guinea pigs and may provide a developmental basis for a cosmetic ingredient or external application for topical uses.
Animals ; Bee Venoms ; Bees ; Body Weight Changes ; Cosmetics ; Edema ; Erythema ; Guinea ; Guinea Pigs ; Humans ; Male ; Skin

Bee venom (Apis mellifera L. BV) has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial functions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity after a single dermal administration of BV, BV was administered to 2 groups of Sprague-Dawley (SD) male and female rats (5 animals/group) at doses of 0 and 1,500 mg/kg body weight (BW). Mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes and gross findings were continually monitored for 15 days following the single dose. There were no unscheduled deaths in any groups during the study period. No BV related clinical signs and body weight changes were observed in any groups during the study period. There were no abnormal gross findings at necropsy on day 15 after the treatment. On the basis of the above results, it was concluded that there were no treatment-related effect on mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes and gross findings in SD rats treated with a single dermal dose of BV at dose of 1,500 mg/kg BW. Therefore, the approximate lethal dose of BV was considered to be over 1,500 mg/kg/day for both sexes of rats. BV may provide a developmental basis for a cosmetic ingredient or external application for topical uses.
Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Bee Venoms ; Bees ; Body Weight ; Body Weight Changes ; Cosmetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Rats

BACKGROUND: Priming and boosting vaccination strategy has been widely explored for new vaccine development against tuberculosis. As an effort to identify other vaccine candidates, this study was initiated to evaluate protective efficacy of adenylate kinase (AK), nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NdK), and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. METHOD: M. tuberculosis genes encoding AK, NdK, and Hsp70 proteins were amplified by PCR and cloned into E. coli expression vector, pQE30. Recombinant AK, NdK, and Hsp70 was purified through Ni-NTA resin. To evaluate immune responses, we performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for IgG isotype and IFN-gamma after mice were immunized subcutaneously with recombinant proteins delivered in dimethyl dioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA). Immunized- and control groups were challenged by aerosol with M. tuberculosis. The spleens and lungs of mice were removed aseptically and cultured for CFU of M. tuberculosis. RESULT: Vaccination with recombinant proteins AK, NdK, and Hsp70 delivered in DDA elicited significant level of antibody and IFN-gamma responses to corresponding antigens but no protective immunity comparable to that achieved with Mycobacterium bovis BCG. CONCLUSION: Recombinant proteins AK, NdK, and Hsp70 do not effectively control growth of M. tuberculosis in mice when immunized with DDA as an adjuvant.
Adenylate Kinase* ; Animals ; Clone Cells ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Heat-Shock Proteins* ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Lung ; Mice* ; Mycobacterium bovis ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombinant Proteins* ; Spleen ; Tuberculosis ; Vaccination

OBJECTIVEAcne vulgaris is a chronic dermatologic problem with multiple factors involved in its pathogenesis. Alternative solutions to acne treatment were instigated by antibiotic resistance despite of its extensive use. Purified bee venom (PBV) has been proposed as a promising candidate for that purpose. The present study was designed to confirm the antibacterial effect of PBV and access the efficacy of cosmetics containing PBV in subjects with acne vulgaris.

METHODSThe skin bacterium Propionibacterium acnes was incubated with PBV at various concentrations and bacterial growth was evaluated using the colony forming unit (CFU) assay. The mechanism of PBV employed in killing P. acnes was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, a total of 12 subjects were randomized in a double-blind, controlled trial to receive either cosmetics containing PBV or cosmetics without PBV for two weeks. Evaluations included lesion counts and skin microorganism.

RESULTSPBV exhibited antimicrobial activity in a concentration-dependent manner, reducing the number of P. acnes CFU by approximately 6 logs at a concentration of 0.5 mg. When PBV concentration was higher than 1.0 mg, no P. acnes colonies were spotted on an agar. TEM and SEM of untreated P. acnes illustrated the normal pleomorphic structure, whereas the PBV-treated bacterium lost the integrity of surface architecture. Significant difference (P=0.027) in the grading levels based on numbers of lesion counts for inflammatory and noninflammatory was observed in favour of the PBV group compared with the control group. In terms of average decrement of skin microorganism, subjects receiving cosmetics containing PBV experienced a significant 57.5% decrease of adenosine triphosphate levels, whereas participants receiving cosmetics without PBV experienced a nonsignificant decrease of 4.7%.

CONCLUSIONThese results show that the in vitro actions of antimicrobial activity of PBV were translated in vivo. Cosmetics containing PBV provided a certain degree of efficacy in terms of lesion counts and skin microorganism concentration compared with cosmetics without PBV in subjects with acne vulgaris. PBV may be a good candidate compound for developing therapeutic drug for the treatment of acne vulgaris.

Acne Vulgaris ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Anti-Infective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Bee Venoms ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Cosmetics ; Double-Blind Method ; Humans ; Propionibacterium acnes ; drug effects