• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.421-426
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• 2008

Freshly harvested seed of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.; CMV) was strongly dormant because of hardseedness. Seeds of freshly harvested germinated only 8% while clipping the seed coat completely overcome the innate dormancy, which indicates inhibition of germination of the seed is mainly due to seed coat (87%). The dormant (intact) hard seeds did not imbibe water whereas the non-dormant (clipped) seeds took up rapidly. In natural environment condition, the hard seed coat dormancy was broken only after 5 months after seed harvest. To break such a strong seed coat dormancy, the chemical and heat treatments were effective. Concentrated sulfuric acid was more effective than dry heat and hot water treatments. Hot water treatment improved germination but the germination percentage was less than 41%. Treatments increased germination due to its effect on the seed coat integrity. A scanning electron microscope reveled that disruption of seed coat layers and subsequent development of numerous crack in the hilum region of the seed and on the seed coat surface of concentrated sulfuric acid treatment and formation of cracks in the dry heat treatments, respectively, were observed in the seed coat surface, which served as water entry points.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.885-891
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• 2014

This study investigated the physiochemical properties of Kanjang (soy sauce) contaning Astragalus memyranaceus to improve the acceptability and functionalities of Kanjang during its six-month ripening period. Kanjang was fermented in the traditional manner, and then 5 and 10% Astragalus memyranaceus (AM) were added to two samples of it, respectively. The pH, salinity, sugar content, crude protein, amino nitrogen, optical density, total polyphenol content, total flavonoid content, and sensory test results of Kanjang contaning Astragalus memyranaceus (AK) were then investigated. The pH remained the same in the two samples. The salinity was slowly increased, and the sugar content ($^{\circ}Brix$) was highest after 3 months. The crude protein and amino nitrogen contents increased with time. The optical density showed significant differences according to the rate of addition of AM. The total polyphenol contents were highest in the AK 5% sample aged for six months (up to 25.01 mg/mL). The flavonoid contents of the AK 5% sample was higher at five months (up to 200.15 mg/mL). Finally, the sensory test results of the AK 5% sample was higher than that of the other sample. These results suggest that Kanjang containing 5% Astragalus memyranaceus can be used as a functional Kanjang.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10413-10420
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• 2015

Side effects are an unavoidable consequence of chemotherapy drugs, during which liver injury often takes place. The current study was designed to investigate the protective effect of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) against the hepatotoxicity induced by frequently-used chemical therapy agents, cyclophosphamide (CTX), docetaxel (DTX) and epirubicin (EPI)) in mice. Mice were divided into five groups, controls, low or high dose groups ($DTX_L$, $CTX_L$, $EPI_L$ or $DTX_H$, $CTX_H$, $EPI_H$), and low or high dose chemotherapeutics+APS groups ($DTX_L$+APS, $CTX_L$+APS, $EPI_L$+APS or $DTX_H$+APS, $CTX_H$+APS, $EPI_H$+APS). Controls were treated with equivalent normal saline for 28 days every other day; low or high dose group were intraperitoneal (i.p) injected with low or high doses of CTX, DTX and EPI for 28 days every other day; low or high dose chemotherapeutics+APS group were separately intraperitoneal (i.p) injected with chemotherapeutics for 28 days every other day and i.p with APS (100 mg/kg) for 7 days continually from the 22th to the 28th days. The body weight, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), histopathological features, and ultrastructure morphological change of liver tissues, protein expression level of caspase-3 were estimated at different time points. With high dose treatment of DTX, CTX and EPI, weight gain was inhibited and serum levels of ALT and AST were significantly increased. Sections of liver tissue showed massive hepatotoxicity in $CTX_H$ group compared to the control group, including hepatic lobule disorder, granular and vacuolar degeneration and necrosis in hepatic cells. These changes were confirmed at ultrastructural level, including obvious pyknosis, heterochromatin aggregation, nuclear membrane resolution, and chondrosome crystal decrease. Western blotting revealed that the protein levels of caspase-3 increased in $CTX_H$ group. The low dose groups exhibited trivial hepatotoxicity. More interestingly, after 100 mg/kg APS, liver injury was redecued not only regarding serum transaminase activities (low or high dose chemotherapeutics+APS group), but also from pathological and ultrastructural changes and the protein levels of caspase-3 ($CTX_H$+APS group). In conclusion, DTX, CTX and EPI induce liver damage in a dose dependent manner, whereas APS exerted protective effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of mycelia of Lentinus edoes mushroom-cultured Astragalus membranaceus Bunge (LAM) on proliferation of cancer cell lines (Hep3B, MCF-7 and HeLa), sarcoma 180 (S-180), and anti-allergy. In an anti-cancer test using Hep3B (hepatic cancer cell), MCF-7 (breast cancer cell) and HeLa (uterine cancer cell), LAM extract showed higher antiproliferating effect than that of Astragalus membranaceus Bunge (AM) extract. In an anti-cancer testing using Hep3B cells and MCF-7 cells, LAM extract showed growth-inhibitory effect of 65.23% at 3 mg/mL and 69.23% at 5 mg/mL, respectively. In an anti-cancer testing using HeLa cells, LAM extract showed growth-inhibitory effect of 42.01% at 5 mg/mL. In addition, LAM showed the tumor suppressive effect in mice injected with S-180 cells. The growth-inhibitory rates against tumor cells were 47% for LAM and 37% for AM. LAM inhibited histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells activated by compound 48/80. These results suggest that Lentinus edodes mushroom-cultured herb has an antiproliferating effect against cancer cell lines (Hep3B, MCF-7 and HeLa), S-180 tumor and will be beneficial in the treatment of allergic reaction.

• Korean Journal of Korean Medical Institute of Dermatology and Aesthetics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-15
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the aqueous extract of the Astragalus membranaceous(AM). AM showed inhibitory effect on the tyrosinase activity using L-tyrosine as a substrate. Tyrosinase plays an important role in the process of melanin polymer biosynthesis. In vitro AM extract(1mg/ml) inhibited melanin biosynthesis and are useful for the material used in cosmetics. B16 mouse melanoma cells were cultured in different concentrations. The non-cytotoxicity of the plant extracts was confirmed by MTT assay.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.750-756
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• 2010

Two trials were conducted to study the effects of two Chinese herbal polysaccharides, Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides (ABPS), and one Chinese herbal saponin, Acantbepanax senticosus saponin (ASS), on the immunity and growth performance of weaned pigs. Experiment 1 was a 14-day growth assay, in which 32 weaned pigs were randomly allocated to one of four dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; ii) 0.05% APS; iii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight; and iv) 0.05% mixture of APS, ASS, and ABPS in a ratio of 1:1:1 by weight. Blood samples were collected on day 14 to determine plasma parameters. Feed intake, body weight gain, and feed efficiency were also determined. Experiment 2 was a 21-day immunity assay, in which 16 weaned pigs were randomly allotted to one of two dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; and ii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight. On day 21, pigs were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 3 h later blood samples were collected and analyzed for lymphocyte proliferation as well as interleukin 6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), growth hormone (GH), and cortisol levels. In Experiment 1, feeding Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin increased growth performance of the pigs. The effects of the mixture of APS and ASS were especially notable, as there was a significant improvement in growth performance compared with the control (p<0.05). The plasma concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG), nitric oxide (NO), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were increased in all treatments groups, with the mixture of APS and ASS increasing the level of IgG and NOS significantly (p<0.05), compared with the control. There was no difference in the NO level between the control and treatment groups (p>0.05). In Experiment 2, Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin showed immunostimulating effects. The level of cortisol, GH, and IGF-I were significantly increased (p>0.05), and the level of IL-6 showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the APS and ASS treatment after the LPS challenge. The mixture of APS and ASS could stimulate the blood lymphocyte proliferation significantly whether the LPS was injected or not (p<0.05). These results show that Chinese herbal extracts can improve growth performance and stimulate immunity of weaned pigs. A mixture of APS and ASS, compared with APS alone, could be a new kind of immunostimulant for weaned pigs, which could result in greater positive effects on their growth performance and immunity.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.157-164
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• 2018

This study was designed to investigate the mechanism of the synergistic anticancer effect of Astragalus membranaceus (AM) and Adenophora triphylla var. japonica (AT) in H1299 human lung carcinoma cells. A combined treatment of ethanol extract of AM (EAM) and AT (EAT) explosively increased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in H1299 cells compared to the single treatment of each of them. Co-treatment of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) with EAM and EAT markedly enhanced the cell viability and suppressed apoptosis in H1299 cells, suggesting that ROS generation contributed to the anticancer effect of EAM and EAT. Interestingly, the combined treatment of EAM and EAT down-regulated p-AKT in H1299 cells, which was abrogated by NAC treatment. These results clearly indicated that ROS generation mediated the inactivation of AKT. Co-treatment of LY294002 with EAM and EAT significantly reduced the cell viability at a concentration which EAM and EAT didn't show any cytotoxicity. In addition, the recovery of cell viability by co-treatment of NAC with EAM and EAT was quite reversed by LY294002 treatment, which confirmed that the inactivation of AKT played a pivotal role in ROS-mediated apoptosis. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the synergistic anticancer effect of EAM and EAT was mediated by ROS generation and inactivation of AKT. We provide a valuable preclinical data for the development of more effective combination of AM and AT to treat lung cancer.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.127-129
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• 2009

Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea occurred on Astragalus sinicus in an experimetal rice field of Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services in Korea from 2008 to 2009. The symptoms appeared on the leaves, petiole and stems of infected plants. and then started with water-soaked, rotted and eventually died blight on plants. The colony were grayish brown and the optimum temperature for sclerotial formation was $20^{\circ}C$ on potato dextrose agar. The conidia were one celled, mostly ellipsoid or ovoid in shape, and were colorless or pale brown in color. The conidia were $7{\sim}16{\times}5{\sim}10{\mu}m$ in size and conidiophores were $14{\sim}28{\mu}m$ in length. On the basis of mycological characteristics and pathogenicity test on host plants, the fungus was identified as Botrytis cinerea Persoon: Fries.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.428-434
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• 2020

Background: This study aimed to investigate the quality characteristics of Astragalus membranaceus Bunge leaf (AMBL) fermented with lactic acid bacteria and the applicability of its biologically active compounds. Methods and Results: An assessment of physicochemical properties such as pH, total acidity, free sugars, and isoflavonoid (calycosin-7-o-β-d-glucoside, ononin, calycosin, and formononetin) was conducted. Furthermore, the levels of antioxidant compounds, including polyphenols and flavonoids, and radical scavenging activities of the extracts using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate and 2,2-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) were investigated. The calycosin content in the water extract of AMBL fermented with Leuconostoc mesenteroides increased by approximately twice as much as the control. Conclusions: These results indicate that L. mesenteroides can be used to improve biological activity through fermentation, and that AMBL can be used as a functional materials and edible resource in industrial areas.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.221-224
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• 1999

A field experiment was carried out to observe the weed control effects of vetch and to evaluate vetch characteristics on clay loam soil in no-till direct-sown rice-vetch cropping systems. The effects of weed control, forage productivity, and N content of vetch plants were investigated. With the progress of plant growth, density of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) gradually decreased, but densities of foxtail and other weeds decreased steeply due to the depression by the over-shaded vetch canopy in a no-till direct-sown rice-vetch cropping paddy field. The vetch density in tillage systems was lower than in notillage cropping systems. Lower vetch density occurred with an increase in foxtail density and other weeds. Weed control effect increased by the progress of vetch growth, which indicated that the vetch canopy over-shaded the weeds. Vetch straw was degraded rapidly submergence after with water at the time of wet sowing of rice. Early harvesting of vetch seed resulted in lower seed germination. To acquire enough seedlings without re-sowing, the harvesting of seed should be delayed at least 28 days after the flowering stage in order to ensure the vetch population is sustainable in a no-till direct-sown rice-vetch cropping system. In order to improve the survival of vetch plants, vetch seeds should germinate from the heading .stage to before the full-ripening stage of rice plants. To enhance the percent of over-wintering survival, vetch seeds should germinate no later than the end of October in southern Korea. The dry weight of vetch plants increased with the progress of vetch growth until the flowering stage but N content decreased for 30 days from before the flowering stage (2.9%) until the ripening stage (1.8%). We concluded that Chinese milk vetch could have an effect on weed control before the flowering stage, sustainability without re-sowing of seed annually, and effective green manure for rice pre-crop in no-till direct-sown rice-vetch relay cropping systems.