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Obesity is a growing health problem that many countries face, mostly due to the consumption of a Westernized diet. In this present study we observed the effects of a soybean extract fermented by Bacillus subtilis MORI (BTD-1) containing 1-deoxynojirimycin against high fat diet-induced obesity. The results obtained from this study indicated that BTD-1 reduced body weight, regulated hepatic lipid content and adipose tissue, and also affected liver antioxidant enzymes and glucose metabolism. These results suggest that administration of BTD-1 affects obesity by inhibiting hyperglycemia and free radical-mediated stress; it also reduces lipid accumulation. Therefore, BTD-1 may be potentially useful for the prevention of obesity and its related secondary complications.

Obesity is a serious health problem which may continuously increase the morbidity and mortality associated with a variety of acute and chronic diseases.This study aimed to examine the antiobesity effect of soy bean extract fermented by Bacillus subtilis MORI (BTD-1) and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying such effects using 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Lipid accumulations were significantly inhibited by BTD-1 treatment, which were accompanied by the decreased expression of CCAAT element binding protein α (C/EBPα) and the increased phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) protein expression. In addition, BTD-1 treatment increased the expression of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) along with significantly increasing glucose uptake into the adipocytes based on results of a 2-deoxy-D-[3H] glucose uptake assay. Our findings suggest that BTD-1 may suppress the differentiation of 3T3-L1 adipocytes and greatly facilitate glucose uptake into the adipocytes. Therefore, BTD-1 has a potential as a functional food ingredient in improving obesity and related metabolic disorders.

Organic acid (OA) profiling analysis was performed in culture media from Lactobacillus pentosus K34 (L. pentosus K34) and Pediococcus lolli PL24 (P. lolli PL24) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) following methoxime/ tert-butyldimethylsilyl derivatives. 12 OAs were positively identified in culture media. Most of OA levels from L. pentosus K34 of hetero lactic fermentation were found to be higher when compared with those from P. lolli PL24 of homo lactic fermentation, which may explain different OA metabolism in each strain. In addition, the distorted dodecagonal star patterns were readily dis- tinguishable, and the characteristics of each strain were well represented. The present study demonstrates that the OA metabolic profiling method by GC-MS combined with star pattern recognition is useful for the monitoring study of characteristic OA metabolism in various microorganisms.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-hyperlipidemic effect of soy bean extract solution fermented by Bacillus subtilis MORI (BTD-1E) in obese db/db mice. Eight-week-old male db/db mice were administered 33.3 mg/kg BTD-1E solution orally once a day for four weeks. The BTD-1E group showed significantly lower body weight compared with the db control group (P

Department of Life science, The University of Suwon, Hwaseong 445-743, Republic of Korea(Received 09 June 2011; Accepted 30 August 2011) 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) is an alkaloid that is foundat relatively high concentrations in mulberry leaf andtissues of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. DNJ is a wellknown inhibitor of α-glucosidase, an enzyme that isinvolved in the early stages of the N-linked glycopro-tein synthesis pathway. α-Glucosidase activity in thecell extract from B. mori-derived Bm5 cells showedapproximately 40-fold less sensitivity to DNJ than α-glucosidase activity in the cell extract from Spodopterafrugiperda-derived Sf9 cells. The replication of B. morinucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) was not inhibitedwhen it was propagated in BmN cells that were grownin medium containing up to 10 mM DNJ. In contrast,the replication of Autographa californica multiple NPV(AcMNPV) was reduced by 67% when it was propa-gated in Sf9 cells that were grown in medium contain-ing 10 mM DNJ. The viability of Bm5 and Sf9 cellsthat were grown in medium containing up to 10 mMDNJ was not affected. Our results suggested that thereduced replication of AcMNPV was the result of thehigher sensitivity of α-glucosidase activity in Sf9 cellsto DNJ.Key words: 1-Deoxynojirimycin, Bombyx mori nucleo-polyhedrovirus, BmNPV, Baculovirus, α-Glucosidaseinhibitor

Most of the available drugs for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) produce detrimental side effects, which has prompted an ongoing search for plant with the antidiabetic potential. The present study investigated the effect of soybean extracts fermented with Bacillus subtilis MORI, fermented soybean extracts (BTD-1) was investigated in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The possible effects of BTD-1 against hyperglycemia and free radical-mediated oxidative stress was investigated by assaying the plasma glucose level and the activity of enzymatic antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA). A significant increase in the levels of both plasma glucose and reactive oxygen species (ROS) was observed in the diabetic rats when compared to normal control group. After administration of BTD-1 (500 and 1000 mg/kg/day), the elevated plasma glucose level was significantly reduced while the plasma insulin level and the activities of SOD, GSH-Px, CAT and MDA were significantly increased. The results suggest that administration of BTD-1 can inhibit hyperglycemia and free radical-mediated oxidative stress. The administration of BTD-1 also inhibited the contractile response by norepinephrine (10(-10)-10(-5) M) in the presence of endothelium, and caused significant relaxation by carbachol (10(-8)-10(-5) M) in rat aorta. These findings indicate that BTD-1 improves vascular functions on STZ-induced diabetic rats. Therefore, subchronic administration of BTD-1 could prevent the functional changes in vascular reactivity in STZ-induced diabetic rats. The collective findings support that administration of BTD-1 may prevent some diabetes-related changes in vascular reactivity directly and/or indirectly due to its hypoglycaemic effect and inhibition of production of ROS.