A drug interaction is a situation in which a substance affects the activity of a drug, synergistically or antagonistically, when both are administered together. It has been shown that orally taken ginsenosides are deglycosylated by intestinal bacteria to give ginsenosides metabolites, which has been considered to be genuine pharmacological constituents and to exhibit drug interactions. Animal experimental results demonstrated that ginsenoside metabolites play an important role in the inhibitory or inductive action of both CYPs (cytochrome p450) and P-gp (p-glycoprotein), thereby can be applied as metabolic modulator to drug interactions. Very few are known on the possibility of drug interaction if taken the recommended dose of ginseng, but it has been found to act as CYPs inductor and P-gp inhibitor in any clinical trial, suggesting the risk that side effects will occur. It has been recently reported that interactions might also exist between ginseng and drugs such as warfarin, phenelzine, imatinib and raltegravir. Moreover, medicinal plants are increasingly being taken in a manner more often associated with prescription medicines. Therefore, considering the extensive applications of ginseng for safety, the aim of this review is to present a comprehensive overview of ginseng and drug interactions based upon pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic evidences.

Two phenylpropanoids, three caffeoylquinic acid deravatives and an iridoid were isolated from the stem of Lonicera macckii. On the basis of physico-chemical data, these compounds were identified as caffeic acid methyl ester(1), 5-caffeoylquinic acid n-butyl ester(2), methyl 3,4-dicaffeoyl quinate(3), 3,5-dicaffeoyl quinic acid n-butyl ester(4), loganin (5) and caffeic acid(6). All compounds were isolated for the first time from the stem of this plant.

Four quinolone alkaloids, 2-heptyl-4-quinolone (1), 2-nonyl-4-quinolone (2), 2-undecyl-4-quinolone (3), and 2-undecen-1'-yl-4-quinolone (4), together with two nitrogen derived benzoic acid derivatives, N-acetylanthranilic acid (5) and o-acetamidobenzamide (6) have been isolated from the Arctic bacterial strain, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The structures of the compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR, and MS experiments, as well as by comparison of their data with published values. To the best of our knowledge, compounds 3-6 were isolated for the first time from P. aeruginosa.

The application of 112 samples of Citrus fruit peel, which is commonly cultivated in Korea as crude drug, has been limited due to the absence of criteria concerning chemical constituents and application of itself. In the context, this study is on the analysis of 11 flavonoid compounds. As a result, the flavonoid pattern could be classified into 5 groups. Furthermore, by utilizing this HPLC data, this study could provide a basis for fruit peel applications of not only Citrus unshiu, but also its cultivars, hybrids and some of Citrus plants which has been cultivated in Jeju Island for a long time. Moondan could be used for the same purposes as Chinese Huajuhong, and Poncirus trifoliata of Korean Jisil origin are effective enough, in terms of ingredients and function, compared with C. aurantium. Based on the content and composition of the PMF region in this study, C. unshiu and C. reticulata, as Tanaka System shows, should be considered as different hortcultural speicies. Also, Jikak, which is known as 'sour orange' until now, is confirmed as Chosen-daidai, C. tenuissima, that was reported by Tanaka in 1970, and this C. tenuissima could be used for the same purposes as sour orange.

Phytolaccae Radix has long been used as a traditional indigenous medicine to cure edema and rheumatism. However, there is insufficient background information on toxicological evaluation of Phytolaccae Radix extract to support the safe use. Therefore, we conducted a series of standardized, OECD and KFDA guidelines compliant in vivo study, to find a dose levels for the 13 weeks toxicity study. The extract of Phytolaccae Radix was administered orally to F344 rats at dose levels of 0, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks. Each group was composed to five male and five female rats. In the result, there were no test article-related adverse changes in clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmology, hematology, clinical chemistry, gross finding at necropsy and organ weight examination. Therefore, we recommend that 2000 mg/kg/day is a highest treatment group in 13-week exposure study.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Allium hookeri on growth performance, bone strength, and blood biochemical profiles in growing broiler chickens. Twelve hundreds of one-day old Arbor Acres male broilers were divided into 6 treatments with 4 replicates and 50 birds per replicate (n=200 chicks/treatment). Chickens fed basal diet (Control), basal diet with commercial X (Positive control) at 0.05% of diet, or each one of the experimental diets (L3, L5, R3, R5) supplemented with the powder of A. hookeri leaf or root at 0.3 and 0.5% of diet respectively for 5 weeks. At the 5th week of feeding the diets, body weight, tibia strength, and blood biochemical profiles including antibody titers were measured. Dietary A. hookeri (L3, L5, R3, R5) significantly increased final body weight than the control group. And the dietary leaf of A. hookeri effectively increased the growth performance than dietary root of A. hookeri. Interestingly dietary leaf of A. hookeri improved tibia strength than the control group and L3 showed the highest value. The antibody titers against infectious bursal disease (IBD) increased with the addition of dietary leaf of A. hookeri compared with positive control, R3, and R5 groups. But there was no significant difference in serum biochemical parameters such as albumin, globulin, glucose, cholesterol, Ca, P, total protein, total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase. These results suggest that A. hookeri can be used as a good supplement to improve growth performance and health by increasing bone strength and antibody titer against IBD without any anti-nutritional or toxic effects in growing broilers.

Asparagus oligoclonos is one of the endemic halophytes used folk medicine in Korea. We isolated the main compound rutin from methanol extracts of A. oligoclonos based on nuclear magnetic resonance and TOF ESI-MS data. We have investigated the quantitative analysis method of main compound using HPLC and the results exhibit that rutin content of A.oligoclonos were 1.816%. To explore anti-oxidant from A. oligoclonos ethanol extracts (AOE), we investigated the antioxidant effects of AOE on $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress in RAW 264.7 cell. AOE were reduced $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress via enhancement of cell viability, and AOE significantly decreased ROS production depending on concentration. Next, to screen for anti-inflammatory activity of AOE, we investigated the inhibitory effects of AOE in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. AOE had no effect on cell viability at a concentration of $500{\mu}g/mL$. Nitric oxide (NO) production inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that AOE may be a useful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.

Aconiti Kusnezoffii Tuber has been traditionally used to treat the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and joint pain. The main constituents are diterpenoid alkaloids such as benzoylmesaconine, benzoylaconine, mesaconitine, aconitine, and hypaconitine. In Korea, Aconiti Kusnezoffii Tuber is officially defined as the tubers of Aconitum kusnezoffii Reichb., A. ciliare Decasisne, and A. triphyllum Nakai. On the other hand, only the tuber of A. kusnezoffii is to be used in China. In order to identify the botanical origin of Aconiti Kusnezoffii Tuber circulated in Korea, we analyzed 24 samples of Aconiti Kusnezoffii Tuber obtained from local markets for comparative DNA analysis. The sequence analysis of nrRNA ITS 1 was useful to distinguish Aconitum species and revealed that the roots of A. karakolicum were circulated in Korean markets without discretion. HPLC quantitative analysis showed that aconitine was detected at the highest amount in A. karakolicum. Authentic diterpenoid alkaloids were coinjected for quantification of aconitine-type ingredients. All data were statistically grouped by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This study suggests that both molecular and chemical analyses should be utilized for the standardization and the quality control for Aconiti Kusnezoffii Tuber.

Nypa fruticans Wurmb is a species of palm, which is widely distributed in the mangrove forest of Southeast Asia. Various parts of N. fruticans has been used as a traditional medicinal plant. However, the physiological activities of N. fruticans has not yet been clarified well. Therefore, in this study, the 50% ethanol extract and its aqueous and ethyl acetate fractions of young shoots of N. fruticans were investigated for their antioxidant, cytoprotective effect, and antimicrobial activities. Every sample possessed very high free radical and various ROS scavenging capacities assessed by employing different in vitro assays such as $DPPH^{\cdot}$, $O_2^{{\cdot}-}$, ${\cdot}OH$, and $^1O_2$ scavenging activities. Based on these results, the cytoprotective effect was investigated using the oxidative hemolysis of erythrocyte. We found that the extract and fractions provide a greater protective effect compared with (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol. Furthermore, antimicrobial activities were confirmed against skin pathogens by broth microdilution assay. The ethyl acetate fraction had much higher antimicrobial activities than methyl paraben against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. Taken together, our results indicated that the young shoots of N. fruticans may have the potential role as a natural active ingredient through their antioxidant, cytoprotective effect, and antimicrobial activities.

Artemisiae Capillaris Herba is a dried aerial part of Asteraceae capillaris Thunb.(Compositae), which has been used in Korean traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. It has a variety of pharmacological activities and has been evaluated for potential as an active ingredient in cosmeceutical products. In the cosmetics industry, animal experiments is besides the major concern of ethics, there are few more disadvantages of animal experimentation like demand of skilled manpower, time consuming protocols and high cost. Therefore, various alternatives to animal experiments have been proposed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the skin permeation characteristics of chlorogenic acid and dimethyleculetin, which are constituent of Artemisiae Capillaris Herba by using Franz diffusion cell. As a result, skin permeability was characterized by flux(penetration rates) and $K_p$(permeability coefficient) value, chlorogenic acid had lower flux and $K_p$ than dimethylesculetin. According to the definitions of Marzulli, chlorogenic acid and dimethylesculetin would be classified as 'Moderate' and 'Very fast' respectively. In conclusion, skin permeation characteristics of chlorogenic acid and dimethylesculetin were confirmed through Franz diffusion cell, and suggests the direction of alternative method for skin permeation of natural compounds.

This study was designed to investigate the stability for chemical contents and biological activities of Mahwang-tang (MT) depending on the preservation temperature and periods. MT decoction pouches were preserved for 3 months at room temperature (RT, $23{\pm}1^{\circ}C$) and refrigeration ($4^{\circ}C$). To evaluate the stability of MT decoction, pH and sugar content were estimated. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis were performed to quantify the contents of marker compounds in MT. Anti-inflammatory effects of MT were evaluated to suppress the generation of nitric oxide, prostaglandin $E_2$ and cytokines (tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ and interleukin-6) in the RAW 264.7 cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. Total antioxidant capacity of MT was determined by ABTS radical scavenging activity. The pH of storage method and period showed a tendency to decrease gradually with time. There were no changes in sugar content depending on the preservation temperature and periods of MT decoction. Among the major components of MT, cinnamaldehyde was reduced time-dependently for 3 months of storage at RT. The inflammatory effect and antioxidant capacity of MT were reduced time-dependently at both RT and $4^{\circ}C$. Our results suggest that the preservation period of MT decoction is recommended in refrigeration within 3 months or less rather than at RT.

Many plant derived phytochemicals have been considered as the main therapeutic strategy against Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, and the most predominant cause of dementia in the elderly. Cholinergic deficit, senile plaque/${\beta}$-amyloid ($A{\beta}$) peptide deposition and oxidative stress have been identified as three main pathogenic pathways which contribute to the progression of AD. We screened many different plant species for their effective use in both modern and traditional system of medicines. In this study, we tested that MeOH extract of the stem bark of Hopea chinensis (Merr.) Hand.-Mazz. (HCM) affects on the processing of Amyloid precursor portein (APP) from the APPswe over-expressing Neuro2a cell line. We showed that HCM reduced the secretion level of $A{\beta}42$ and $A{\beta}40$ in a dose dependent manner. We found that HCM increased over 1.5 folds of the secretion level of $sAPP{\alpha}$, a metabolite of ${\alpha}$-secretase. Furthermore, we found that HCM inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity in vitro. We suggest that the stem bark of Hopea chinensis may be a useful source to develop a therapeutics for AD.