• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.129-134
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• 2003

When ginsenoside $R_{*}$b1/ and $R_{b2}$ were anaerobically incubated with human fecal microflora, these ginsenosides were metabolized to compound K (IH-901). When ginsenoside $R_{g3}$ was anaerobically incubated with human fecal microflora, the ginsenoside $R_{g3}$ was metabolized it to ginsenoside $R_{h2}$. Among ginsenosides, IH-901 and 20(S)-ginsenoside $R_{h2}$ exhibited the most potent cyotoxicity against tumor cells: 50% cytotoxic concentrations of IH-901 in the media with and without fetal bovine serum (FBS) were 27.1-31.6 $\mu$M and 0.1-0.61 $\mu$M, and those of 20(S)-ginsenoside $R_{h2}$ were 37.5->50 and 0.7-7.1 $\mu$M, respectively. The cytotoxic potency of ginsenosides was IH-901>20(S)-ginsenoside R $h_{h2}$》20(S)-ginsenoside $R_{g3}$>ginsenoside $R_{b1}$(equation omitted) $R_{b2}$.EX>$R_{b2}$./.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.160.2-160.2
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• 2003

When ginsenoside $R_{b1}$ and $R_{b2}$ were anaerobically incubated with human fecal microflora, these ginsenosides were metabolized to compound K. When ginsenoside $R_{g3}$ was anaerobically incubated with human fecal microflora, the ginsenoside $R_{g3}$ was metabolized it to ginsenoside $R_{h2}$. Among ginsenosides, compound K and 20(S)-ginsenoside $R_h2$ exhibited the most potent cyotoxicity against tumor cells: 50% cytotoxic concentrations of compound K in the media with and without fetal bovine serum (FBS) were 27.1 - 31.6 mM and0.1 - 0.6 mM, and those of 20(S)-ginsenoside $R_h2$ were 37.5 $\rightarrow$ 50 and 0.7 - 7.1 mM mM, respectively. (omitted)

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.257-265
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• 2018

The Panax ginseng Mayer is used in conventional medicine in Asia owing to its preventing effects on thrombosis, hypertension, atherosclerosis, vasorelaxation and myocardial infarction. Because platelets are crucial mediators of cardiovascular diseases, many studies have investigated its functions. The previous study showed the antiplatelet effects of crude ginseng fraction and two of its components, ginsenoside Rg3 (20S and 20R). In addition, ginsenoside Rg3-enriched fraction shows an inhibitory effect on collagen-activated rat platelets. However, the mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. Thus, I investigated the inhibitory action of ginsenoside Rg3 (20S, G-Rg3) on the regulation of signaling molecules involved in ${\alpha}IIb/{\beta}_3$ activation. I found that G-Rg3, in a cyclic AMP dependent manner, inhibited thrombin-induced activation of human platelets and affinity of fibrinogen and fibronectin with ${\alpha}IIb/{\beta}_3$. Thus, in the present study, G-Rg3 showed an inhibitory effect on glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (${\alpha}IIb/{\beta}_3$) activation, suggesting its potential use for preventing platelet-mediated thrombotic disease.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1233-1241
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• 2017

The ginsenoside Rh2 has strong anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic effects. However, the application of ginsenoside Rh2 is restricted because of the small amounts found in Korean white and red ginsengs. To enhance the production of ginsenoside Rh2-MIX (comprising 20(S)-Rh2, 20(R)-Rh2, Rk2, and Rh3 as a 10-g unit) with high specificity, yield, and purity, a new combination of enzymatic conversion using the commercial enzyme Viscozyme L followed by acid treatment was developed. Viscozyme L treatment at pH 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$ was used initially to transform the major ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd into ginsenoside F2, followed by acid-heat treatment using citric acid 2% (w/v) at pH 2.0 and $121^{\circ}C$ for 15 min. Scale-up production in a 10-L jar fermenter, using 60 g of the protopanaxadiol-type ginsenoside mixture from ginseng roots, produced 24 g of ginsenoside Rh2-MIX. Using 2 g of Rh2-MIX, 131 mg of 20(S)-Rh2, 58 mg of 20(R)-Rh2, 47 mg of Rk2, and 26 mg of Rh3 were obtained at over 98% chromatographic purity. Then, the anti-cancer effect of the four purified ginsenosides was investigated on B16F10, MDA-MB-231, and HuH-7 cell lines. As a result, these four rare ginsenosides markedly inhibited the growth of the cancer cell lines. These results suggested that rare ginsenoside Rh2-MIX could be exploited to prepare an anti-cancer supplement in the functional food and pharmaceutical industries.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.80-86
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• 2013

Korean red ginseng has been shown to possess a variety of biological activities. However, little is known about antiviral activity of ginsenosides of Korean red ginseng. Here, we investigated the protective effect by oral administration of various ginsenosides on the lethal infection of haemagglutinating virus of Japan (HVJ) in mice. In a lethal infection model in which almost all mice infected with HVJ died within 15 days, the mice were administered orally (per os) with 1 mg/mouse of dammarane-type (ginsenoside-Rb1, -Rb2, -Rd, -Re, and -Rg2) or oleanolic acid-type (ginsenoside-Ro) ginsenosides 3, 2, and 1 d before virus infection. Ginsenoside-Rb2 showed the highest protective activity, although other dammarane-type and oleanolic acid-type ginsenosides also induced a significant protection against HVJ. However, neither the consecutive administration with a lower dosage (300 ${\mu}g$/mouse) nor the single administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 (1 mg/mouse) was active. In comparison of the protective activity between ginsenoside-Rb2 and its two hydrolytic products [20(S)- and 20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg3], 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3, but not 20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg3, elicited a partial protection against HVJ. The protective effect of ginsenoside-Rb2 and 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3 on HVJ infection was confirmed by the reduction of virus titers in the lungs of HVJ-infected mice. These results suggest that ginsenoside-Rb2 is the most effective among ginsenosides from red ginseng to prevent the lethal infection of HVJ, so that this ginsenoside is a promising candidate as a mucosal immunoadjuvant to enhance antiviral activity.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.401-414
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• 2013

Ginsenoside Rg3 (G-Rg3) contained only in red ginseng has been found to show various pharmacological effects such as an anticancer, antiangiogenetic, antimetastastic, liver protective, neuroprotective immunomodulating, vasorelaxative, antidiabetic, insulin secretion promoting and antioxidant activities. It is well known that G-Rg3 could be divided into 20(R)-Rg3 and 20(S)-Rg3 according to the hydroxyl group attached to C-20 of aglycone, whose structural characteristics show different pharmacological activities. It has been reported that G-Rg3 is metabolized to G-Rh2 and protopanaxadiol by the conditions of the gastric acid or intestinal bacteria, thereby these metabolites could be absorbed, suggesting its absolute bioavailability (2.63%) to be very low. Therefore, we reviewed the chemical, physical and biological transformation methods for the production on a large scale of G-Rg3 with various pharmacological effects. We also examined the influence of acid and heat treatment-induced potentials on for the preparation method of higher G-Rg3 content in ginseng and ginseng products. Futhermore, the microbial and enzymatic bio-conversion technologies could be more efficient in terms of high selectivity, efficiency and productivity. The present review discusses the available technologies for G-Rg3 production on a large scale using chemical and biological transformation.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.159-165
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• 2010

Red ginseng tail roots (9.8 g water/100 g sample) were puffed at 7, 8, 9, and 10 $kg_{f}/cm^{2}$ using a rotational puffing gun. Puffed red ginseng was extracted with 70% ethanol, and the concentrated extract was successively partitioned with diethyl ether, n-butanol and $H_{2}O$. Two unknown ginsenosides from puffed red ginseng were found at 63 and 65 min of retention time in HPLC chromatogram suggesting that chemical structure of some ginsenosides might be altered during the puffing process. Identification of two unknown compounds was carried out using TLC, HPLC and NMR. Two major compounds were isolated from TLC. According to TLC result, compound I was expected to be the mixture of ginsenosides Rk1 and Rg5, and compound II was expected to be a 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_{3}$. Three compounds were isolated from n-butanol fraction through repeated silica gel and octadecyl silica gel column chromatographies. From the result of $^{1}H$- and $^{13}C$-NMR data, the chemical structures of unknown compounds were determined as ginsenoside $Rg_{5}$ and 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_{3}$. Unfortunately, ginsenoside $Rk_{1}$ could not be separated from ginsenoside-$Rg_{5}$ in the compound I. It was carefully reexamined using HPLC and confirmed that the last unknown compound was ginsenoside-$Rk_{1}$.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.330-338
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• 2017

Background: Ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2) is a ginseng saponin that is widely investigated because of its remarkable antitumor activity. However, the molecular mechanism by which (20S) G-Rh2 triggers its functions and how target animals avoid its cytotoxic action remains largely unknown. Methods: Phage display was used to screen the human targets of (20S) G-Rh2. Fluorescence spectroscopy and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy were used to confirm the interaction of candidate target proteins and (20S) G-Rh2. Molecular docking was utilized to calculate the estimated free energy of binding and to structurally visualize their interactions. MTT assay and immunoblotting were used to assess whether human serum albumin (HSA), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and bovine serum can reduce the cytotoxic activity of (20S) G-Rh2 in HepG2 cells. Results: In phage display, (20S) G-Rh2-beads and (20R) G-Rh2-beads were combined with numerous kinds of phages, and a total of 111 different human complementary DNAs (cDNA) were identified, including HSA which had the highest rate. The binding constant and number of binding site in the interaction between (20S)-Rh2 and HSA were $3.5{\times}10^5M^{-1}$ and 1, and those in the interaction between (20S) G-Rh2 and BSA were $1.4{\times}10^5M^{-1}$ and 1. The quenching mechanism is static quenching. HSA, BSA and bovine serum significantly reduced the proapoptotic effect of (20S) G-Rh2. Conclusion: HSA and BSA interact with (20S) G-Rh2. Serum inhibited the activity of (20S) G-Rh2 mainly due to the interaction between (20S) G-Rh2 and serum albumin (SA). This study proposes that HSA may enhance (20S) G-Rh2 water solubility, and thus might be used as nanoparticles in the (20S) G-Rh2 delivery process.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.329-338
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• 2017

This study was investigated the changes of quality stability and physicochemical characteristics of the Korean red ginsengs stored for a long times over 20 years. The Korean red ginsengs were stored for 4 to 22 years in canned packaging with polypropylene film and wooden box at room temperatures. The unusal phenomena such as discoloration and pin hole in packaging were not observed. General bacteria showed the vlaues of below 100 CFU/g, coliform groups and molds were not found in any samples stored for 22 year. Any samples also were not detected in mycotoxins. The contents of moisture, ash and crude saponin were the levels of 10.6~11.1%, 3.8~4.2% and 4.1~4.7% during the whole storage periods, respectively. The contents of maltol, which has been known as characteristic flavour and antioxidant of Korean red ginseng, showed remarkably increasing tendency from 0.10 mg/g for 4 years to 2.53 mg/g for 22 years during the storage. The contents of AFG (arginyl-fructosyl-glucose), arginine and free sugar were slightly decreased. Acidic polysaccharide and ginsenoside were not changed significantly during the storage periods. The contents of acidic polysaccharide and total ginsenosides were the 75.1~76.3 mg/g and 15.1~16.6 mg/g, respectively. The sums of ginsenoside-Rg1,-Rb1 and -Rg3s were the ranges of 9.3~9.9 mg/g and PD (ginsenoside-Rb1, -Rb2,-Rc,-Rd,-Rg3s,-Rg3r)/PT (ginsenoside-Rg1,-Rg2,-Re,-Rf,-Rh1) saponin ratios were the levels of 1.4~1.5. These results suggest that Korean red ginsengs stored for long periods show relatively stable quaility stabilities and not significantly changed the contents of ginsenoside and polysaccharide during the storage up to 22 years.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.573-582
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• 2013

This study was done in order to investigate the bioconversion of ginsenoside, as well as the quality characteristics of fermented ginseng, by using lactic acid bacteria. Quality characteristics such as the thin layer chromatography(TLC) pattern, ginsenosides, total phenolic content, electron donating ability, and total sugar of fermenting ginseng and red ginseng were analyzed. The ginsenoside Rg2r, Rh2s and Rh2r of the fermented ginseng and red ginseng for 65 hours at a temperature of $37^{\circ}C$ were not detected. The ginsenoside Rg1 and Re contents have decreased, while the Rh1, Rg2s, Rd, Rg3r, and Rg3s have increased due to fermentation. The ginsenoside Rg3 of the fermented red ginseng has increased and the contents were $114.83{\sim}131.68{\mu}g/mL$ (control $104.56{\mu}g/mL$). The total phenolic content and electron donating ability of the red ginseng have totally decreased after 7 days of fermentation. The total phenolic contents of the fermented ginseng and red ginseng with different lactic acid bacteria did not show any tendency as different strains. The electron donating ability of the fermented ginseng has increased; however, the electron donating ability of the red ginseng has decreased. The total sugars of the fermented ginseng and red ginseng with different lactic acid bacteria have also decreased.