• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.179-192
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• 2024

In this study, six types of natural products, Prunus tomentosa (P. tomentosa), Akebia quinata (A. quinata), Prunus armeniaca (P. armeniaca), Smallanthus sonchifolius (S. sonchifolius), Citrus japonica (C. japonica), and Citrus australasica (C. australasica), were used to verify the effect of improving sleep and skin barriers by stress relief. As a result of the experiment, the production of cortisol, a stress hormone, was significantly inhibited by the P. tomentosa, C. australasica, A. quinata, and C. japonica among the six natural products. In addition, the expression of GAD67, a GABA-producing enzyme involved in sleep regulation, showed a significant increase in P. tomentosa purified water extract and C. australasica 50% ethanol extract, and the extract by each P. tomentosa solvent was found to have the highest total polyphenol content. Based on the results, the P. tomentosa extract with the highest activity was finally selected, and subsequent experiments were conducted. Among each P. tomentosa solvent extract, the DPPH radical scavenging activity was the highest in the 30% ethanol extract, and purified water extract increased GABA production and skin barrier factors filaggrin and claudin-1 expression the highest. HPLC analysis confirmed quercitrin as the main component of P. tomentosa extract, and quercitrin content by extraction solvent was high in the order of 30% ethanol > purified water > 70% ethanol > 50% ethanol. Quercitrin inhibited the production of cortisol in a concentration-dependent manner, significantly increasing GAD67 expression and GABA production, which had been reduced by cortisol. From the results of this study, it has been demonstrated that P. tomentosa can be used as a cosmetic material to help improve sleep and strengthen skin barriers by relieving stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.343-349
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• 2010

The liver is the major target of ethanol toxicity and oxidative stress plays a role in development of alcoholic liver disease. This study was performed to investigate the effects of green tea extracts (GTE) on acute ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Experimental animals were divided into 4 groups, control, GTE, ethanol, and GTE+ethanol treatment, with 5 rats in each group. Ethanol (6 g/kg body weight (BW)) and GTE (200 mg/kg BW) were treated by gavage. At 1 hour, 3 hours and 20 days (6 g/kg BW every 2 days for total 10 doses) after ethanol and/or GTE treatments, animals were killed; hepatic tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-$\alpha$) and glutathione level, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), hepatic antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx) activities and hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were measured. At 1 hour and 3 hours, hepatic TNF-$\alpha$ levels were increased significantly in ethanol group and ethanol+GTE group but that levels was significantly lower in ethanol+GTE group compared with ethanol group. Hepatic glutathione level was decreased by ethanol treatment but GTE prevented the ethanol-induced glutathione decrement. The levels of liver marker enzymes (AST, ALT), liver antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx) and lipid peroxidation marker (TBARS) were not changed in rats of 1 and 3 hours after ethanol treatment. After 20 days, GTE decreased the changes of liver marker enzymes (AST, ALT) activities and TBARS level by ethanol. This study shows that GTE beneficially modulates TNF-$\alpha$ and glutathione levels in liver of ethanol administered rats. The GTE supplementation could be beneficial to liver by decreasing early changes of biomarkers of liver damage caused by ethanol.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2009

The immunomodulatory activities of the ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum, termed hereafter as GPE, were examined in immunosuppressed mice as well as in normal mice in the present study. Oral administration of GPE into mice prevented dexamethasone (DEX)-induced immunosuppression as determined by the mitogen-induced proliferation of the splenocytes and the the cytokine production (TNF-$\alpha$, IL-$1{\beta}$) in the whole blood culture. In addition, oral administration of GPE increased antitumor host defense in mice implanted with sarcoma-180 tumor cells. The immunoaugmenting activity of orally administered GPE was also confirmed in mice immunized with ovalbumin (OVA). Mice that were orally administered with GPE generated much more potent OVA-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses upon intravenous OVA injection compared to the untreated controls. These results demonstrate that oral administration of the ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum could be useful to increase host defense in immunocompromised situations such as stress- or tumor-induced immunosuppression.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.260-267
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• 2012

This study examined the effects of baicalin, a bioactive flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis, on hepatic injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in alcoholic fatty liver. Rats were fed an ethanol liquid diet or a control isocaloric diet for 5 weeks, and then subjected to 60 min of hepatic ischemia and 5 h of reperfusion. Baicalin (200 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally 24 and 1 h before ischemia. After reperfusion, baicalin attenuated the increase in serum alanine aminotransferase activity. The levels of cytosolic cytochrome c protein expression, caspase-3 activity, the number of apoptotic cells increased after reperfusion, which were higher in ethanol-fed animals, were attenuated by baicalin. Following I/R, the hepatic lipid peroxidation was elevated, whereas hepatic glutathione content was decreased. These changes attenuated by baicalin. In ethanol-fed animals, baicalin augmented the increases in heme oxygenase-1 protein and mRNA expressions, and nuclear Nrf2 expression. In conclusion, our findings suggest that baicalin ameliorates I/R-induced hepatocellular damage by suppressing apoptosis and oxidative stress in alcoholic fatty liver.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.775-783
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• 2005

The ethanol extract of the peony root (Paeonia Lactiflora Pall, Paeoniaceae) as well as its major active components including gallic acid and methyl gallate were evaluated for their protective effects against free radical generation and lipid peroxidation. In addition, the protective effects against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative DNA damage in a mammalian cell line were examined. The ethanol extracts of the peony root (PREs) and its active constituents, gallic acid and methyl gallate, exhibited a significant free radical scavenging effect against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazine (DPPH) radical generation and had an inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation, as measured by the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) formation. The PREs did not have any pro-oxidant effect. They strongly inhibited the hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage from NIH/3T3 fibroblasts, as assessed by single cell gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, the oral administration of 50% PRE (50% ethanol extract of peony root), gallic acid and methyl gallate potently inhibited the formation of micronucleated reticulocytes (MNRET) in the mouse peripheral blood induced by a $KBrO_3$ treatment in vivo. Therefore, PREs containing gallic acid and methyl gallate may be a useful antigenotoxic antioxidant by scavenging free radicals, inhibiting lipid peroxidation and protecting against oxidative DNA damage without exhibiting any pro-oxidant effect.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.265-270
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• 2019

Growing evidence suggests that mediating apoptotic cell death of ER stress plays an important role in pathological development of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. The ethanol extract of Rodiola sacra (ERS) investigates whether ER stress protects neuroinvasive neuro-2A cells from homocysteine (Hcy) cell death and ER stress. In neuronal cells, Hcy markedly decreased the viability of the cells and induced the death of Annexin V-positive cells as confirmed by MTT assay. The Hcy cell viability and apoptotic loss pretreated with ERS were attenuated, and Hcy showed stress in the expression of C / EBP homologous protein, 78-kDa glucose regulatory protein and the junction of X-box binding protein-1 (xbp1) mRNA. ESR decreased Hcy-induced mRNA binding, GRP78 and CHOP cells induced Hcy-induced ER stress and apoptosis, and Western blotting revealed expression of heme oxygenase-1 and HO-1 enzyme activity Inhibition is indicative of therapeutic value for neurodegenerative diseases such as decreased cell death by hemin.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.389-402
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• 2024

Propose: This study examined the antioxidant and anti-gastritis properties of a mixture comprising Ipomoea batatas (IB) extract and Dioscorea japonica (DJ) extract. Methods: The mixture of IB and DJ extracts was analyzed for its total flavonoid content (TFC), total polyphenol content (TPC), and radical scavenging activities. Gastric lesions were induced by treating rats with 1 mL of a solution containing 60% ethanol and 150 mM HCl. The rats were then divided into 5 groups: CON (normal control), HEC (treated with 150 mM HCl-60% ethanol and distilled water), IBE (treated with 150 mM HCl-60% ethanol and IB extract at 350 mg/kg body weight [BW]), ID30 (treated with 150 mM HCl-60% ethanol and a mixture of IB and DJ extracts in a 7:3 ratio at 350 mg/kg BW), and DJE (treated with 150 mM HCl-60% ethanol and DJ extract at 350 mg/kg BW). Results: The ID30 group exhibited significantly higher TFC, TPC, and radical scavenging activities than the groups treated with single extracts. This group also showed a notable decrease in the formation of gastric lesions and preservation of gastric wall mucus. In addition, the serum levels of the inflammatory marker tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were significantly lower in the ID30 group than in the HEC group. Conclusion: The antioxidants present in the ID30 mixture effectively reduced oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species, mitigating gastric mucosal irritation induced by alcohol and acid. Furthermore, the mixture inhibited gastric acid secretion and inflammatory marker expression, such as TNF-α, preventing tissue damage. These findings suggest that the ID30 mixture is a potential preventative treatment for gastritis.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.563-569
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• 2009

Fibroin is an insoluble structural protein from Bombyx mori. It can be solubilized by dissolving in a hot $CaCl_2$ solution and subsequent dialysis. The aqueous solution is unstable and a transition from aqueous fibroin molecules rich in random coil is undergo to one rich in $\beta$-sheet content, resulting in hydrogelation. However, fibroin gel is so fragile and plastic that its mechanical property should be reformed for various applications. In this report, a semi-solid form of fibroin gel was prepared using glycerol and ethanol and was investigated to analyze their flow properties. A fibroin gel with 80% glycerol showed pseudoplastic and thixotropic properties. The square root of its yield stress varied linearly with fibroin concentration and it extrapolated to zero shear stress at 0.2% fibroin. A fibroin gel with 40% ethanol was shown to be highly thixotropic but its shear-thinning behavior was only observed above a certain level of shear rate. Its pseudoplasticity was restored by a high rate of shear stress.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a standardized special ethanol extract from Gynostemma pentaphyllum as a management for anxiety and stress of normal population. This is a two-arm, parallelgroup, randomized, double blind clinical trial comparing Gynostemma pentaphyllum extract 200 mg bid (GP-EX, n=48) or placebo bid (n=54). The main outcome measures were the decrease in anxiety sensitivity index (ASI), the State version (S-STAI) of the Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Trait version (T-STAT) of the STAI from baseline over a 6 weeks treatment period. In more anxious group (S-STAI50 or ASI19), the anxiety in group with GP-EX was decreased significantly than one in normal population with placebo [S-STAI50: T-STAI = from $57.7{\pm}6.5$ ($mean{\pm}S.D.$) to $46.8{\pm}11.2$ in normal population with GP-EX, p=0.002 vs. from $54.1{\pm}9.9$ to $49.0{\pm}9.6$ in normal population with placebo, p>0.05; ASI19: T-STAI = from $47.2{\pm}12.0$ to $42.4{\pm}11.1$ in normal population with GP-EX, p=0.022 vs. from $48.7{\pm}11.5$ to $46.0{\pm}10.4$ in normal population with placebo, p>0.05]. The most frequently reported adverse reactions considered possibly related to treatment were mild gastrointestinal events. GP-EX is more effective than placebo and is well tolerated as a therapy for anxiety and stress of normal population.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2017

Background: This study was performed to evaluate the protective effect of Saururus chinensis ethanol extract (SCE) against styrene toxicity in mouse spermatocyte cells [GC-2spd (ts) cell line]. Methods and Results: Cytotoxicity in mouse spermatocyte cells was measured using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was determined using 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA) assay. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting were performed to quantify the mRNA and protein expression levels, resepectiviely, of stress or apoptosis-related genes including p21, p53, heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3. The results of the MTT assay showed that $50 {\mu}g/m{\ell}$ SCE did not affect cell viability. ROS generation in mouse spermatocyte cells increased by treatment with $100{\mu}M$ styrene, and decreased by co-treatment with SCE. SCE repressed the mRNA expression of stress-related genes, which increased by styrene treatment. In addition, SCE inhibited the apoptosis of mouse spermatocyte cells by ameliorating mRNA and protein levels of apoptotic genes that were altered by styrene treatment. Conclusions: These results suggest that SCE may alleviate styrene toxicity in mouse spermatocyte cells by reducing ROS stress and regulating genes related to styrene toxicity.