• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.160-167
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• 2010

Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) are the two most recognized ginseng botanicals. It is believed that the ginseng saponins called ginsenosides are the major active constituents in both ginsengs. Although American ginseng is not as extensively studied as Asian ginseng, it is one of the best selling herbs in the US, and has garnered increasing attention from scientists in recent years. In this article, after a brief introduction of the distribution and cultivation of American ginseng, we discuss chemical analysis of saponins from these two ginsengs, i.e., their similarities and differences. Subsequently, we review pharmacological effects of the saponins, including the effects on the cardiovascular system, immune system, and central nervous system as well as the anti-diabetes and anti-cancer effects. These investigations were mainly derived from American ginseng studies. We also discuss evidence suggesting that chemical modifications of ginseng saponins would be a valuable approach to develop novel compounds in drug discovery.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

Wound care has become increasingly important over the years. Various synthetic products for wound care treatment have been reported to cause toxic side effects and therefore natural products are in significant demand as they have minimal side effects. The presence of bioactive compounds in medicinal mushrooms contributes to various biological activities which assist in the early inflammatory phase, keratinocyte proliferation, and its migration enhancement which are pertinent to wound rehabilitation. Lignosus rhinocerus (tiger milk mushroom) can reduce the inflammation phase in wound healing by fighting off bacterial infection and modulating pro-inflammatory cytokines expression in the early stage to avoid prolonged inflammation and tissue damage. The antibacterial, immunomodulating, and anti-inflammatory activities exhibited by most macrofungi play a key role in enhancing wound healing. Several antibacterial and antifungal compounds sourced from traditional botanicals/-products may prevent further complications and reoccurrence of injury to a wounded site. Scientific studies are actively underway to ascertain the potential use of macrofungi as a wound healing agent.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 1999

The issue of health and nutritional wellbeing becomes one of the utmost concerns for the welfare of the elderly in a society of increased aging populations. This study was conducted to assess nutritional state and to identify possible dietary factors that might influence health and nutritional state of the free living elderly women. Two hundred sixty two elderly women, aged 60-90 who are actively participating in a continuing education program for the elderly in Seoul area, were interviewed using a dietary habit questionnaire and a 24-hour recall. Anthropometric measurements such as heights, weights, body mass index, and tricep skinfolds and dental status were significantly different between the two age groups, <75 and ${\geq}$ 75 years of age. Sixty eight percent of the subjects were using nutritional supplements regularly, in the descending order of vitamin-mineral supplements(40%), botanicals(27.6%), tonic drinks(16%), and health foods(13.2%). For hot beverages, our study subjects drank coffee (33.6%) and green tea (17.9%) frequently, followed by doongulae, job's tears, citron and kyulmyung tea. With regard to micronutrients, vitamin C intake was found to be lower in the group aged over 75 compared to that below 75 (p<0.05). Calcium intake was significantly higher among the elderly with good dental status followed by the groups with gingivitis, denture, and missed teeth with poor chewing abilities (p<0.05). The amount of personal spending money was found to be a significant contributing factor (p<0.05) to the energy and nutrient intake in an individual. The results of the present study can be applied to the identification of the possible factors that might intervene the aging process, to the planning of the nutrition education program, and to the development of health food products for the promotion of health and nutrition of the elderly women.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.99-115
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• 2002

Tests of stability and toxicity, and clinical evaluation of anti-acne activity suggest that cryptotanshinone, a constituent of the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, is an effective active ingredient for acne vulgaris treatments. Acne vulgaris, called acne or pimples, is the most common disease of the pilosebaceous follicle unit of the skin. It affects nearly 80% of people between the ages of 11 and 30. Approximately 30% of teenagers have acne of sufficient severity to require medical treatment. Acne is a follicular disorder of the skin. It occurs in specialized pilosebaceous units on the face and body. Acne develops when these specialized follicles undergo pathologic alterations that result in the formation of non-inflammatory lesions (comedones) and inflammatory lesions (papules, pustules and nodules). An abnormality of keratinizing epithelium of these follicles, thought to be due to the action of sebum synthesized and secreted by the androgen-sensitive sebaceous glands, leads to inflammation induced by the follicular bacterium Propionibacterium acnes. Therapy involves treatments that modify these pathogenic factors and includes drugs with antikeratinizing, antibacterial and antiseborrheic actions. Acne vulgaris is a very frequent disease, seen primarily in adolescents, involving the sebaceous follicles. Acne vulgaris is characterized by a great variety of clinical inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions: comedones, papules, pustules, nodules, cysts and scars. Acne vulgaris is a multi-factorial disease. Although its pathogenicity is unclear, extensive studies have shown that hyperseborrhea, superinfection by P. acnes and endocrinologic androgenic changes play a role in the development of acne vulgaris.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.5
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• 2019

Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases globally and currently affects approximately 300 million people worldwide. As per scientific data, approximately 10-12% of adults; and 15% of children are affected by the disease. The increasing global prevalence of the disease imposes a high health care costs into its mechanisms and treatment. Unani system of medicine (USM) is a well known traditional therapy for number of diseases since ancient times. Time has proved that USM has a special role in treatment of chronic diseases, due its special Usooleillaj (Line of treatment). Dhiq al-Nafas (bronchial asthma) is also considered as a chronic disease. Since ancient times, the disease was cured by number of single as well as compound formulations by renowned Unani scholars. This review provides a comprehensive summary of medicinal plant throughout the world, with reference to renowned Unani scholars and physicians for treatment of Dhiq al-Nafas. A number of Unani single and compound drugs, highly efficacious and safe drugs are available for the asthma. The data were taken from classical literature of USM, Modern reference books & electronic journals. The recent information was collected from different authentic search engines. This review will provide the centuries therapeutic information's of classical literature and recent scientific studies of 12 herbal drugs mentioned in USM, which will help the academia, clinicians, research scholars and post graduate students from Unani Medicine, Traditional & Complementary Medicine and other related disciplines, having research interest or work in the Unani medicine.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.12-24
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• 2023

Sitophilus oryzae L. (Rice Weevil) is a stored pest of rice that causes extensive loss throughout the world. We tested the leaf powders of 12 plant species viz., Chrysanthemum sp., Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Citrus grandis, Citrus limon, Gliricidia sepium, Gymnema sylvestre, Hemigraphis colorata, Michelia champaca, Moringa oleifera, Murraya koenigii, Polyalthia longifolia, and Sauropus androgynus at dosages of 1.00, 1.50, 2.00 and 3.00g against the adult rice weevil and mortality was recorded at 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 12 and 2l days after treatment (DAT) by direct contact toxicity for their adulticidal effect. We observed 100 percent adult mortality in C. zevlanicum and M. koenigii among the tested leaf powders. In addition, the first-time tested H. colorata and S. androgynus also caused high mortality compared to other plants. All the plant powders caused moderate to high adult mortality. Hence, these plants could be effective botanical insecticides against S. oryzae as they comprise a potential source of bioactive chemicals and are generally free from toxicants. Applications of these natural derivatives in S. oryzae control could reduce the cost of control methods and storage of rice contamination. Therefore, the present study indicates that some plant extracts can be used as an alternative to toxic synthetic chemicals in the management of rice weevils.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.165-181
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• 2024

Objectives: This study was aimed to review the global status of adverse event (AE) reports and the characteristics of the reported AEs of plants managed as herbal medicines (HMs) with toxic precautions in Korea. Methods: This is a cross-sectional quantitative study that analyzed information available through VigiAccess, a website that provides summarized statistical information from the WHO's global AE database to the public. VigiAccess was searched in 8 Jan, 2024. Information on the total number of reports, number of reports by year and continent, and the age and gender of patients were obtained, and the types of frequently reported AEs were also reviewed. Results: Data on the status of report submissions were obtained for a total of 9 HMs including Aconitum ciliare, Aconitum carmichaeli, Arisaema japonicum, Pinellia ternata, Euphorbiae Lathyridis, Croton tiglium, Strychni Ignatii, Strychnons nux-vomica, and Linum usitatissimum. The number of reports per HM was from 1 to 137. The most commonly reported type of AEs were gastrointestinal disorders in most of the HMs, followed by neurological disorders. Serious adverse events were reported only in Strychni Ignatii, Strychnons nux-vomica, and Linum usitatissimum, including one case of death. Conclusions: This study shows the status of reported AEs of botanicals considered as HMs with toxic precautions in Korea based on real world data. However, when interpreting the findings of this study, readers should consider the significant limitations of this study mainly because of the characteristics of the data source.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2013

Licorice, Glycyrrhizae radix, is one of the oldest and most frequently used botanicals in the oriental medicine. Our previous study showed that dehydrolyasperin C (DGC) isolated from licorice had antioxidant activity and induced phase 2 detoxifying enzymes in mouse hepatoma cells. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of exposure time to DGC on quinone reductase (QR), one of the anticarcinogenic biomarkers, and antioxidant potential of plasma using animal model. ICR mice were divided into 7 groups, in which mice in each group were injected with DGC (5 mg/kg b.w.) for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 hours respectively. Following the treatment the organs including liver, kidney, lung, stomach, large intestine, small and large intestines were collected and subjected to QR activity assay, western blotting, and FRAP assay. Exposure to DGC caused a significant induction of QR activity in stomach and large intestine of mice. Ferric reducing activity of plasma, a typical biomarker for antioxidative potentialshowed that DGC improved antioxidant potential in mice. However, no significant effect of DGC was observed in the other organs.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2007

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of dietary botanicals (herbs and plant extracts) on the performance, nutrient metabolizability, small intestinal microflora, IgG level and blood parameters in broiler chickens. In Exp. 1, 1,000 (500 each sex) broiler chicks($Ross^{(R)}$) were divided into 20 groups of 50 chickens each(25 birds each sex). Four groups were assigned to each of five dietary treatments:control and diets containing antibiotics($Avillamix^{(R)}$, avillamycin-premix), Herb M(Herb $mix^{(R)}$), Plant extract B(BIOSTRONG $510^{(R)}$) and Plant extract A($APEX^{(R)}$). In Exp. 2, 240(120 each sex) broiler chicks($Ross^{(R)}$) were devided into six treatment groups:control and diets containing antibiotics($Avillamix^{(R)}$, avillamycin-premix), Plant extract D($Digestarom^{(R)}$), Plant extract P($Phellozyme^{(R)}$), Plant extract G($Galicin^{(R)}$) and Plant extract C(CRINA $POULTRY^{(R)}$). Each treatment consisted of four replicates of 10 birds each. In both experiments, birds had free access to diets and water for 5 wk on floor pens(Exp. 1) and cages(Exp. 2). In Exp.1, production index of groups fed diets supplemented with herbs and plant extracts was slightly higher than the control and those fed Herb M was highest. In Exp. 2, groups fed diets supplemented with herbs and plant extracts consumed more feed than the control during the period between 4 and 5 wk(P<0.05). Feed conversion(feed/gain) was lower in antibiotics group than other groups. The values of RBC, Hb and HCT were higher(P<0.05) in chicken fed diets supplemented with the additives than in the control in Exp. 1. BA value was lower(P<0.05) in groups fed diets supplemented with the additives than in the control in Exp. 2. Serum IgG were higher(P<0.05) in groups fed diets supplemented with the additives than in the control in both experiments. The cfu of intestinal microflora and metabolizability of nutrients were not significantly different among treatments in both experiments. It was concluded that the botanical supplements can be used as an alternative to antibiotics in broiler diets.