• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.34 no.3 s.134
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• pp.233-236
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• 2003

An extract of Alnus japonica (Betulaceae) cortex has been traditionally used for purifying blood, and curing feces containing blood, enteritis, diarrhea, alcoholism and cut wounds. Alnus japonica cortex extract significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced paw edema at 1, 2 and 3 hrs after oral administration by 32.8, 24.4, and 46.9%. It also inhibited acetic acid-induced vascular permeability in mice by 15.3 and 28.0% at oral doses of 500 and 1,000 mg/kg, and it significantly reduced the volume of hindpaw of adjuvant-induced arthritis rats at the day 6 and 10 by 22.5 and 18.7% after the sample administration. Alnus japonica cortex extract increased threshold on inflamed paw (Randall-Selitto assay) at 3 hr by 137.5% compared to the control group. It also reduced the number of writhing syndrome dose- dependently.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.84-88
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• 1996

Alnus japonica cortex has been used as antidiarrhea, antihemorrhage and the remedy of indigestion. This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of the methanol extracts of the Alnus japonica cortex on the gastric lesion and ulcer. The methanol extract was fractionated with hexane, chloroform and butanol, followed by bioassay on antigastritic and antiulcer activity. The methanol extract showed low acute toxicity with minimum lethal dose of more than 5000 mg/kg, p.o. in mice. The chloroform and the butanol fraction reduced gastric lesion in HCI. ethanol induced gastritic model. On gastric secretion in pylorus ligated rat, the hexane and chloroform fraction decreased the volume and acidity. The butanol fraction had significant inhibitory effects on aspirin and Shay's ulcer. The butanol fraction showed a tendency to inhibit the decrease of mucin secretion due to ingestion of absolute ethanol.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.269.2-269.2
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• 2003

An extract of Alnus japonica (Betulaceae) cortex has been traditionally used for purifying blood, and curing feces containing blood, enteritis, diarrhea, alcoholism and cut wounds. In the preliminary test was carried out for determining whether it has the novel pharmacological activity, the butanol fraction showed significant inhibitory effect on carrageenan-induced paw edema as an acute inflammation, HCI.ethanol-induced gastric lesion and aspirin-ligation gastric ulcer. (omitted)

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2012

An extract of Alnus japonica (Betulaceae) cortex has been traditionally used for purifying blood, and curing feces containing blood, enteritis, diarrhea, alcoholism and cut wounds. In the present study, we demonstrated that the ethanol extract of Alnus japonica (EAJ) exhibited significantly cytotoxicity in human colon adenocarcinoma HT-29 cells. The results showed that the induction of apoptosis in HT-29 cells by EAJ was characterized by chromatin condensation and activation of caspase-3. EAJ-induced activation of caspase-9 and -3 caused the cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and the release of cytochrome c. The expressions of Bcl-2 and Bid were reduced by EAJ in HT-29 cells, whereas pro-apoptotic protein Bak was increased in the cells. EAJ-induced, dose-dependent induction of apoptosis was accompanied by sustained phosphorylation of MAP kinases (JNK and p38 MAPK), ASK1, and p53. NAC administration, a scavenger of ROS, reversed EAJ-induced cell death. In conclusion, these results indicated that EAJ can cause apoptosis through a ROS-mitochondria-caspases-dependent pathway in human HT-29 cells.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.201-206
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• 2004

The activities of antioxidation and alcohol dehydrogenase in hibitionin methanol extracts of thirty two medical herbs were tested using the method of DPPH activity, nitrite scavenging effect and alcohol dehydrogenase assay in vitro. In DPPH method, Eugenia caryophyllata, Thea sinensis, Paeonia suffruticosa, Alnus japonica showed over 90 % of free radical scavenging activities. The nitrite scavenging ability appeared Zanthoxylum bungeanum, Alnus japonica, Thea sinensis, Hovenia dulcis(cortex) and Illicium verum showed the high value. In connection with in vivo alcohol metabolism, thirteen medicinal herbs were screened for inhibition. As a reasult, we found significant inhibition of ADH by methanolic extracts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Pueraria thunbergiana(radix), Alnus japonica. These results indicate that the antioxidative effect was strongly related with alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor; Thea sinensis and Alnus japonica.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 1986

Actinorhizal plants being capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in symbiotic association with Frankia were surveyed for their root nodules, and the root nodules were collected for further studies. Three species of Alnus and Elaeagnus (A. hirsuta, a. firma, A. japonica; E. glabra, e. umbellata, E. macrophylla) and one species of Myrica (M. rubura) were confirmed to bear the root nodules of typical external shape. Morphological studies using light microscope and scanning electron microscope revealed the presence of vesicle clusters in the cortex region of the root. Two tentative endophyte colonies were isolated from the root nodule of A. hirsuta.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.132-136
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• 1992

The whole plants of Selaginella tamariscina, Orostachycis japonicus, the cortex of Ulmus mandshurica, and the wood of Alnus japonica have been used as folk medicine for treating cancer. The cytotoxic activity of these plants were tested using a calorimetric tetrazolium assay (MTT assay). S. tamariscina and A. japonica showed mild $IC_{50}$ value, comparing with O. japonicus and U. mandshurica. So, MeOH extracts of S. tamariscina and A. japonica were partitioned into $CHCl_3$, EtOAc and n-BuOH, successively. The $CHCl_3$, EtOAc and BuOH fractions of S. tamariscina and A. japonica showed low percent of survival against $P_{388}$ and $MKN_{45}$ cells respectively. To isolate active components, they were subjected to silica gel column chromatography. Compound I was obtained from EtOAc extracts of S. tamariscina and identified as amentoflavone by chemical and spectral analysis. Amentoflavone inhibited the survival of P388 cells dose dependently, while not clearly inhibited that of $MKN_{45}$ cells.