This study compared the contents of ginsenoside according to the extract conditions of red ginseng to provide basic information for developing functional food using red ginseng. According to the result, the content of crude saponin was highest in 72 hours of extraction at $82^{\circ}C$ (RG-823). The content of prosapogenin (ginsenoside $Rh_1,\;Rh_2,\;Rg_2,\;Rg_3$) was highest in 48 hours of extraction, and followed by 72 and 24 hours at $82^{\circ}C$. And at $93^{\circ}C$ the prosapogenin contents were highest in the order of 48 hours, and next in 24 and 72 hours. In addition, ginsenoside $Rb_1,\;Rb_2$ Rc and Re were not detected in 72 hours of extraction at $93^{\circ}C$ (RG-933) presumedly due to hydrolysis, but ginsenoside Rd, Rf and $Rg_1$ were detected as long as 72 hours of extraction. These results show that protopanaxatriol group is relatively more resistant to heat than protopanaxadiol group.

A lectin was purified from Serrognathus platymelus castanicolor larvae and named as SPL. The purification was carried out by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephadex A-50 and gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-200. The purity of the protein was verified by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the purified lectin agglutinated erythrocytes of rabbit and human A, B, O, AB. SPL was tested it's ability to enhance the expressions of cytokines, $IL-1\alpha$, IL-2, IL-6, $TNF\alpha$ and $IFN\gamma$ by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from healthy donors. mRNA analyses were performed by RT-PCR at the moment of 1, 4, 8, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after stimulation of PBMC with purified SPL. The patterns of IL-2 band were slightly expressed from 24 h and the strongest band was appeared at 96 h. The expressions of $IL-1\alpha$ and IL-6 mRNA were strong from 1 to 8 h and those of $TNF\alpha$ were from 48 to 96 h. The mRNA encoding $IFN\gamma$ were not detected. The addition of SPL for macrophage cultures induced production of nitric oxide (NO) by cells in a dose-dependent manner. NO release was partially inhibited by $TNF\alpha$ antibodies. These results suggest that SPL has the ability to enhance cytokine expressions in PBMC and to induce the NO release by TNFa in macrophage cultures from PBMC cultures.

We examined the inhibitory activities against monoamine oxidase (MAO) of Taraxacum mongolicum in vitro and in vivo methods. Methanol extract of T. mongolicum showed significantly inhibitory activities on MAO-A and MAOB that were prepared from rat brain and liver in vitro. MAO-A and MAO-B activities were potently inhibited by chloroform fraction of T. mongolicum in vitro tests. The $IC_{50}$ values of each fraction on MAO-A are as followed; methanol extracts (0.90 mg/ml), $CHCl_3$ fraction (0.10 mg/ml), EtOAc fraction (0.36 mg/ml). and those on MAO-B are methanol extracts $(0.39{\mu}g/ml)$, $CHCl_3$ fraction $(0.18{\mu}g/ml)$, BuOH fraction $(0.22{\mu}g/ml)$. Those MAO-A and MAO-B activities in vivo tests have different tendency each other. MAO-A activity was increased by the oral administration of ethanol extract of T mon golicum, while MAO-B activity was decreased. The concentration of serotonin of brain tissue after oral administration of ethanolic extract of T. mongolicum is slightly increased in rat. This tendency is not different from the activity of deprenyl which is the well known MAO inhibitor used as a positive control. Based on these results, we can suggest that T. mongolicum may have the effects on the inhibitory activities against MAO. Thess activities of T. mongolicum is considerable for development of functional materials for the purpose of treatment and control of depressant, dementia, Parkinson' disease, stress and promoting exercise.

We investigated the antioxidant activities such as DPPH radical scavenging capacity, xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity, and superoxide radical scavenging capacity of the aqueous EtOH extract and its solvent fractions of Artemisia scoparia. The ethyl acetate fraction showed high antioxidant activity, compared to positive controls such as ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA), trolox, and allopurinol in these assay systems. Moreover, we examined the inhibitory effect of solvent fractions of A. scoparia on the production of pro-inflammatory factors that the nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin E2 $(PGE_2)$ production activated with LPS $(1{\mu}g/ml)$ in murine macrophage cell line RAW264.7. The amounts of protein levels were determined by immunoblottting. Tn the sequential fractions of hexane and dichloromethane inhibited the NO and $PGE_2$ production and the protein level of iNOS and COX-2. These results suggest that A. scoparia may have anti-inflammatory activity through the antioxidant activity and inhibition of pro-inflammatory factors.

Morinda officinalis How. (Rubiaceae) has been used as tonic, warming, sex impulse and anti-inflammatory agents. Two known anthraquinones, rubiadin-1-methyl ether (I) and rubiadin (II) were isolated from root of M. officinalis. Their structures were identified using NMR and literature comparisons. The contents of I in eighteen M. officinalis were evaluated by HPLC-PDA. Chromatography was performed using a reversed-phase system with Luna $C_{18}$ (2) column and acetonitrile-water (50:50, v/v) with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min under UV 280 nm. Under these conditions, the content of rubiadin-1-methyl ether was 0.013%.

Processing of traditional herbal medicine is one of the pharmaceutical technique in oriental medicine. Most frequently used processing method in oriental medicine are roasting and steaming. In this studies, to elucidate the pharmacological transformation of traditional herbal medicine by means of processing them, Ginseng Radix (root of Panax ginseng, Araliaceae) was used as a sample. Processed ginseng radix (SGR, Sun Ginseng) was prepared by steaming of roots of white ginseng (GR) for 3 hours at $120^{\circ}C$. The biological activities of methanol extract of GR and SGR were investigated. According to DPPH radical scavenging effects, and inhibitory effects of xanthine oxidase and AAPH induced hemolysis, PGR exhibited more effective than those of GR in vitro. And, the antifatigue effect of GR and SGR were investigated using a weight-loading forced swimming test by monitoring swimming times and prolonged intensity exercise model rats by measuring blood biochemical parameters. GR and SGR were significantly prolonged swimming times in 8% body weight ratio loaded mice. Also, they had the inhibitory effects on the decrease of blood glucose levels, the elevation of serum creatinine, lactic acid and free fatty acid, and lactic dehydrogenase activities in forces swimming rats with 1% of the body weight attached to the neck for 3 hours. SGR was more excellent than GR on these effect. Also, these effects were transformed to the n-butanol fraction of methanol extract of SGR. From these results, it can be considered that SGR has antifatigue effect.

We examined anti-angiogenic effects of water extracts from 32 plant materials (20 Korean medicinal plants and 12 western herbs) using cell-based anti-angiogenic assay, HUVEC tube formation assay, and then we found that 7 plant extracts inhibited HUVEC tube formation strongly. The plant materials which showed anti-angiogenic effects are Cinnamomi Ramulus, Atractylodis Rhizoma alba, Polygalae Radix, Myristicae Semen, Artemisiae Iwayomogii Herba, leaves of Rosmarinus officinalis, and leaves of Melissa officinalis. We also investigated inhibitory effects of these anti-angiogenic herbal extracts on MMP (matrix metalloproteinase) activity which has important roles in angiogenesis. Among extracts tested in this study, water extract of Melissa officinalis showed the most potent anti-angiogenic and MMP inhibitory activity.

Brassica rapa L. (Turnip) which is one of the specialized crops in Ganghwa island, has been used for diuretic, digestive, and curative for jaundice, etc. In this study, the anti oxidative effects and hepatoprotective effects of turnip in vitro and in vivo were investigated in order to evaluate the possibility as hepatoprotective agents. Ethanol extract of turnip potently showed the scavenging effect on DPPH and inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation. Oral administration of turnip extract to dgalactosamine-induced experimental liver injured rats was significantly reduced the serum AST, ALT and LDH enzyme activities. And the decrease of catalase and SOD activities in liver microsolmal cytosol was significantly improved by the treatment of turnip. Based on these findings, it is presumed that ethanol extract of turnip may have the hepatoprotective effect on d-galactosamine-induced hepatotoxicity rat.

Sophorae Radix, the dried roots of Sophora flavescens Aiton (Leguminosae), has been used in oriental traditional medicine for treatment of skin and mucosal ulcers, sores, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, diarrhea, inflammation and arrhythmia. Present study was carried out for the gastroprotective effect of trifolirhizin from Sophora flavescens. This reports were evaluated antibacterial activity against Helicobacter pylori and HCl ethanol-induced gastric lesion in rats and showed the significant effectiveness. In pylorus ligated rats, the treatments of trifolirhizin showed decrease in the volume of gastric secretion and acid output. Also we evaluated the antibacterial activity against H. pylori treated with methanol extract and trifolirhizin from Sophora flavescens had a equivalent antibacterial activity with ampicillin against H. pylori at the dose of $100{\mu}g/mL$. It may be regarded that the antigastritic effects and antibacterial activity of trifolirhizin from Sophora flavescens are originated from reduction of total acid output identified by gastric secretion reduce, free radical scavenging effects and the antibacterial activity against H. pylori.

This study was undertaken to determine whether Juglandis Semen (JAS) extract exerts protective effect against oxidant-induced inhibition of $Na^+-pump$ activity in cerebral cortex. $Na^+-pump$ activity was estimated by measuring ouabain-sensitive oxygen consumption. The oxygen consumption significantly inhibited by 1mM t-butylhydroperoxide (tBHP), which was prevented by addition of 2% JAS extract. The oxygen consumption was increased by an increase in $Na^+$ concentration from 5 to 100 mM, $K^+$ concentration from 0.5 to 10 mM, and $Mg^{2+}$ concentration from 0.2 to 5 mM. These changes in ion concentrations did not affect the inhibitory effect of tBHP and protective action of JAS on oxygen consumption. tBHP (l mM) produced a significant increase in lipid peroxidation in cerebral cortex, which was prevented by 2% JAS extraction. These results suggest that JAS exerts protective effect against tBHP-induced inhibition of $Na^+-pump$ activity in the cerebral cortex, probably through action as antioxidant.

In this study, we analyzed and quantified the contents of magnolol (1), honokiol (2), and obovatol (3) in the leaves of Magnolia species by HPLC. HPLC methods were developed and validated by ICH guide lines comparing the linearity, intraday precision, inter-day precision. The optimal conditions were as follows; wavelength: 288 nm, column: Zorbax Eclipse XDBC18 $(2.1\times150\;mm,\;5{\mu}m)$, mobile phase: Acetonitril - 0.1 % $H_3PO_4$ (45:55, v/v) buffer, flow rate: 0.5 ml/min. The contents of magnolol, honokiol and obovatol were 1.08%, 2.37%, and 0.57% in the leaves of M. officinalis, 0.50%, 0.03%, and 1.54% in the leaves of M. biloba, 0.37%, 0.03%, and 0.76% in the leaves of M. obovata. The contents of effective ingredients in the leaves of M. officinalis and M biloba were higher than that of M. obovata. Especially, the content of obovatol in the leaves of M. biloba was remarkably high. This result showed that the shapes of leaves have a certain relationship with the content of obovatol.

Ethanol extracts of the whole herb of Agastachis Herba (A) and of Pueraria Radix (P) alone and of their mixture (A+P) downregulated the cell growth, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression, prostaglandin $E_2\;(PGE_2)$, and cGMP production. A, P, and A + P inhibited the cell growth of HT-29 colon cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner but not the growth of normal colon cell, CCD-112CoN. In addition, they markedly inhibited the productions of $PGE_2$ and cGMP as well as the mRNA expression of COX-2. These data suggest that non-toxic concentration of A, P, and A + P have a significant effect on the in vitro growth of HT-29 cells, specifically through the inhibition of the $PGE_2$ production via COX-2.

Phytochemical investigation of the seed extract of Nelumba nucifera Gaerth (Nymphaeaceae) resulted in the isolation of a plant hormon, dihydrophaseic acid (1), a abscisic acid derivative. The chemical structure of 1 was elucidated by 2D-NMR spectroscopic analysis, COSY, DEPT, HMQC and HMBC.

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective activity of gomisin A and gomisin N, bioactive lignan components isolated from Schizandae Fructus, on hepatocyte injury induced by carbon tetrachloride($CCl_4$, 10 mM), t-butyl hydroperoxide(TBH, 0.5 mM), and D-galactosamine(GalN, 30 mM). Primary cultures of rat hepatocyte(18 h culture) were treated with $CCl_4$, TBH or GalN and various concentrations(0.1, 1, 10, $100{\mu}M$) of gomisin A or gomisin N. $CCl_4$ significantly increased the levels of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase(AST). These increases were inhibited by gomisin N. TBH significantly increased the level of AST; an increase that was inhibited by gomisin N. GalN markedly increased the levels of LDH and ALT, and these increases was significantly inhibited by both gomisin A and gomisin N. These results suggest that gomisin A and gomisin N have the hepatoprotective activity.

'Pae Jang (敗醬)' is one of Chinese crude drugs used mainly as a edema, abdominal pain and hemoptysis, etc. With regard to the botanical origin of 'Pae Jang', it has been considered to be Patrinia scabiosaefolia of Valerianaceae, but there has never been studied pharmacognostically. To clarify the botanical origin of the 'Pae Jang', we studied on the anatomical characteristics of the roots of three species growing in Korea. Through our studies, the botanical origin of 'Pae Jang' from Korea was proved to be the under ground portions of Patrinia scabiosaefolia and Patrinia villosa.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy by hyperglycemia. To find natural agents improving diabetic nephropathy, 63 natural resources which used to the treatment of diabetes mellitus in a folk remedy were investigated with an in vitro system employing radical scavenging activity and inhibitory activity of AGEs formation. In results, the extracts of Aspalathus linearis, Rubus coreanus, Rosa rugosa, and Epimedium koreanum significantly inhibited the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical with $IC_{50}$ values less than $10{\mu}g/ml$. The extracts of Zea mays, Cucurbita moschata, Cudrania tricuspidata, and Aspalathus linearis effectively reduced the formation of AGEs compared with the positive control $N-acetyl-_L-cystenine$ (NAC) and aminoguanidine (AG). In addition, the extracts of Aspalathus linearis, Commelina communis, Cornus officinalis, and Lespodeza cuneata showed the all inhibitory activity against DPPH radical and AGEs formation. Also, these resources definitely showed the radical scavenging activity against peroxynitrite $(ONOO^-)$ and hydroxyl radical $({\cdot}OH)$ relating to high glucose-induced ROS production. Thus, these results suggest that some natural resources may regulate the initiation and progression of diabetic nephropathy through inhibition of ROS production and AGEs formation.

This research was investigated the effect of the Ginseng Radix plus Crataegi Fructus (Gin-CF) on Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, the effects of the Gin-CF extract on $IL-1\beta,\;TNF-\alpha$ of BV2 microglia cell line treated with LPS. The Gin-CF extract suppressed the over-expression of $IL-1\beta$ protein, $TNF-\alpha$ protein, MDA, and CD68/CD11b, in the mice with Alzheimer's disease induced by ${\beta}A$. These results suggest that the Gin-CF extract may be effective for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Investigation into the clinical use of the Gin-CF extract for Alzheimer's disease is suggested for future research.

The effects of evodiamine on monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity were investigated. MAO was purified from mouse brain and the $K_m\;and\;V_{max}$ values of MAO were $78.5{\pm}5.28{\mu}M$ and $0.68{\pm}0.07$ nmol/min/mg protein, respectively (n=4). Evodiamine at $30-120{\mu}M$ showed an inhibitory effect on MAO activity using a substrate kynuramine with an $IC_{50}$ value of $104.2{\mu}M$ (n=4). Evodiamine also exhibited a non-competitive inhibition on MAO. The $K_i$ value for evodiamine was $72.5{\pm}10.8{\mu}M$ (n=4). These results suggest that evodiamine partially contributes to the regulation of monoamine content.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Artemisia Princeps Var. Orientalis (AP) on serum lipids and the collagen content of the connective tissues in ovariectomized rats. From day 2 until day 37 after the ovariectomy, Sprague-Dawley female rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: sham-operated rats (Sham), ovariectomized control rats (OVX-control), and ovariectomized rats supplemented with the AP 50 mg/kg bw/day (OVX-AP). The AP ethanol extracts were orally administrated 1 mL per day. The OVX rats were significantly heavier than the sham-operated rats at all time points, but supplementation with the AP extracts tended to gain weight less than OVX-control. Although total-cholesterol was increased at OVX-control, supplementation with the AP extracts tended to result in less than OVX-control. Triglyceride was significantly decreased after supplemented with the AP extracts (p<0.05). HDL-cholesterol is appeared higher AP extracts group than OVX-control. According to the results, we could know the fact that AP extracts were effective on serum lipids content throughout decreasing total-cholesterol, triglyceride and increasing HDL-cholesterol in ovariectomized rats. Supplementation with the AP extracts prevented a decrease in the collagen level in bone and cartilage tissues. These results are consistent with the conclusions based on the estrogenic activities of AP. Therefore, it may be used to possibly improve the quality of life in menopausal women.