• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.251-265
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• 2007

Yanhyeoljeseuptang(YHJST) is a traditional herbal medicine used for the treatment of dermatitis. The aim of this study was to confirm whether or not YHJST has a preventive effect on development of atopic dermatitis in dinitrochlorobenzene(DNCB)-applied Nc/Nga mouse. This study was undertaken to develop a reliable mouse model demonstrating similar immunologic phenomena as human atopic dermatitis characterized with predominance of type-2 immune response. NC/Nga mouse were sensitized with $200\;{\mu\ell}$ of 1% 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene(DNCB) (acetone : olive oil = 3 : 1 mixture) and challenged twice or three times with $150\;{\mu\ell}$ of 0.2% DNCB in a week for the following 4 weeks. YHJST was administered orally to Nc/Nga mouse for 8 weeks, which led to the remarkable suppression on the development of dermatitis, as determined by various immune factors related to pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis in splenocytes and DLN cells. In this study, YHJST selectively suppressed T ce11 (CD4+, CD3+/CD69+, CD4+/CD25+) activation, which may be essential for ratio of IL-4 versus INF-$\gamma$ produced in the splenic T cell culture supernatants was approximately 3-fold higher in the mouse treated with DNCB than their control mouse respectively. Immunologic studies showed down-regulated that the capacity of spleen T cells to produce IL-4, but IFN-$\gamma$ was up-regulated by means of oral intake of these YHJST. These results strongly suggest that YHJST is a promising candidate for treatment of human atopic dermatitis.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.267-280
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• 2007

Gupoongjeseuptang(GPJST) is a traditional herbal medicine used for the treatment of dermatitis. The aim of this study was to confirm whether or not GPJST has a preventive effect on development of atopic dermatitis in dinitrochlorobenzene(DNCB)-applied Nc/Nga mouse. This study was undertaken to develop a reliable mouse model demonstrating similar immunologic phenomena as human atopic dermatitis characterized with predominance of type-2 immune response. NC/Nga mouse were sensitized with $200\;{\mu\ell}$ of 1% 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene(DNCB) (acetone : olive oil = 3 : 1 mixture) and challenged twice or three times with $150\;{\mu\ell}$ of 0.2% DNCB in a week for the following 4 weeks. GPJST was administered orally to Nc/Nga mouse for 6 weeks, which led to the remarkable suppression on the development of dermatitis, as determined by various immune factors related to pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis in splenocytes and DLN cells. In this study, GPJST selectively suppressed T ce11 (CD4+, CD3+CD69+, CD4+CD25+) activation, which may be essential for ratio of IL-4 versus INF-$\gamma$ produced in the splenic T cell culture supernatants was approximately 3-fold higher in the mouse treated with DNCB than their control mouse respectively. Immunologic studies showed down-regulated that the capacity of spleen T cells to produce IL-4, but IFN-$\gamma$ was up-regulated by means of oral intake of these GPJST. These results strongly suggest that GPJST is a promising candidate for treatment of human atopic dermatitis.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.137-144
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• 2009

In this study, quantitative and pattern recognition analyses for the quality evaluation of Herba Epimedii using HPLC was developed. For quantitative analysis, five major bioactive constituents, hyperin, epimedin A, epimedin B, epimedin C, and icariin were determined. Analysis was carried out on Capcell pak $C_{18}$ column ($250{\time}4.6$ mm, 5 ${\mu}m$) with a mobile phase of mixture of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid, using UV detection at 270 nm. The linear behavior was observed over the investigated concentration range (2-50 ${\mu}g/mL;\;r_2\;>$ 0.99) for all analytes. The intraand inter-day precisions were lower than 4.3% (as a relative standard deviation, RSD) and accuracies between 95.1% and 104.4%. The HPLC analytical method for pattern recognition analysis was validated by repeated analysis of one reference sample. The RSD of intra- and inter-day variation of relative retention time (RRT) and relative peak area (RPA) of the 12 selected common peaks were below 0.8% and 4.7%, respectively. The developed methods were applied to analysis of twenty Herba Epimedii extract samples. Contents of hyperin, epimedin A, epimedin B, epimedin C, and icariin were calculated to be 0$\sim$0.79, 0.69$\sim$1.91, 0.93$\sim$9.58, 0.65$\sim$3.05, and 2.43$\sim$11.8 mg/g dried plant. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that most samples were clustered together with the reference samples but several apart from the main cluster in the PC score plot, indicating differences in overall chemical composition between two clusters. The present study suggests that quantitative determination of marker compounds combined with pattern-recognition method can provide a comprehensive approach for the quality assessment of herbal medicines.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.549-555
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• 2014

The geographical origin of commercial red ginseng concentrate was studied using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The ginsenoside content of domestic and Chinese red ginseng concentrates was determined. Four types of suspected origin samples could be selected this technique. The LC-MS/MS data were statistically analyzed on the basis of canonical function analysis and principal component analysis. Domestic and Chinese samples could be discriminated via canonical function analysis using posterior probability. In addition, the mixture ratio (Korean or Chinese origin) of the unknown origin specimen could be predicted based on the relationship between the mixing concentration of red ginseng concentrates and principal component 1.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.173-185
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• 2019

Background: Galgeun-tang used in traditional Korean medicine, is a mixture of the medicinal plants Cinnamomi Ramulus, Ephedrae Herba and Puerariae Radix, and has been prescribed for the treatment of various ailments, including fever. Although the use of traditional medicinal herbs to treat diseases has recently increased, their safety and toxicity profiles incompletely elucidated. Thus, we evaluated Galgeun-tang's toxicity in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods and Results: Galgeun-tang (1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 mg/kg) was orally administered to rats for 13 weeks, and then, they were maintained for 4 weeks without administration (recovery period). Their clinical signs, and hematological and urinary properties, were monitored. The results showed that Galgeun-tang administeration slightly increased serum creatinine, urea nitrogen and, aspartate aminotransferase levels. Additionally, 2,000 and 4,000 mg/kg Galgeun-tang significantly increased urinary bilirubn and protein levels of male and female rats, which were restored during the recovery period. Conclusions: The no-observed-adverse-effect level of orally administered Galgeun-tang was 4,000 mg/kg in both female and male rats, and no target organs were identified. In addition, 400 mg/kg was found to be the no-observed-effect level for toxicity under the study conditions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.354-360
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• 2019

Ginsenosides, the major active ingredients of ginseng and other plants of the genus Panax, have been used as natural medicines in the East for a long time; in addition, their popularity in the West has increased owing to their various beneficial pharmacological effects. There is therefore a wealth of literature regarding the pharmacological effects of ginsenosides. In contrast, there are few comprehensive studies that investigate their pharmacokinetic behaviors. This is because ginseng contains the complicated mixture of herbal materials as well as thousands of constituents with complex chemical properties, and ginsenosides undergo multiple biotransformation processes after administration. This is a significant issue as pharmacokinetic studies provide crucial data regarding the efficacy and safety of compounds. Moreover, there have been many difficulties in the development of the optimal dosage regimens of ginsenosides and the evaluation of their interactions with other drugs. Therefore, this review details the pharmacokinetic properties and profiles of ginsenosides determined in various animal models administered through different routes of administration. Such information is valuable for designing specialized delivery systems and determining optimal dosing strategies for ginsenosides.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2019

We investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of Pyunkang-tang extract (PGT), a complex herbal extract based on traditional Chinese medicine that is used in Korea for controlling diverse pulmonary diseases, on cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary pathology in a rat model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The constituents of PGT were Lonicerae japonica, Liriope platyphylla, Adenophora triphilla, Xantium strumarinum, Selaginella tamariscina and Rehmannia glutinosa. Rats were exposed by inhalation to a mixture of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and sulfur dioxide for three weeks to induce COPD-like pulmonary inflammation. PGT was administered orally to rats and pathological changes to the pulmonary system were examined in each group of animals through measurement of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) at 21 days post-CSE treatment. The effect of PGT on the hypersecretion of pulmonary mucin in rats was assessed by quantification of the amount of mucus secreted and by examining histopathologic changes in tracheal epithelium. Confluent NCI-H292 cells were pretreated with PGT for 30 min and then stimulated with CSE plus PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate), for 24 h. The MUC5AC mucin gene expression was measured by RT-PCR. Production of MUC5AC mucin protein was measured by ELISA. The results were as follows: (1) PGT inhibited CSE-induced pulmonary inflammation as shown by decreased TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-6 levels in BALF; (2) PGT inhibited the hypersecretion of pulmonary mucin and normalized the increased amount of mucosubstances in goblet cells of the CSE-induced COPD rat model; (3) PGT inhibited CSE-induced MUC5AC mucin production and gene expression in vitro in NCI-H292 cells, a human airway epithelial cell line. These results suggest that PGT might regulate the inflammatory aspects of COPD in a rat model.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.451-455
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• 2020

Testosterone deficiency syndrome (TDS), also known as late-onset hypogonadism, is a clinical and biochemical syndrome associated with advanced age and characterized by deficient serum testosterone levels. The Elaeagnus multiflora fruit (EMF) and Cynanchum wilfordii (CW) have been used in traditional herbal medicine. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of EMF and CW mixtures (at the ratios of 3:7, 5:5, and 7:3) on TDS using TM3 cells and aging male rats. EMF, and mixtures of EMF and CW (at the ratios of 3:7, 5:5, and 7:3) significantly increased testosterone levels in TM3 cells (p <0.05). The rats were orally administered EMCW (EMF and CW mixed at the ratio of 3:7 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks consecutively. After 4 weeks of EMCW administration, latency time on the rotarod test, and serum testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels were significantly increased (p <0.05 and p <0.01). Moreover, the levels of globulin-bound sex hormones were decreased in the EMCW-fed groups. However, prostate-specific antigen levels did not differ among the groups. These results suggest that EMCW can be effectively used to alleviate TDS.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.1289-1299
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• 2020

Background: Hemorrhoid surgery is a frequently performed surgery in Korea, second only to cataract surgery. However, it has serious complications, including bleeding, infection, anal stenosis, and urinary retention, so active conservative therapies are in need at an early stage. Case summary: Thirteen patients with anal disease complained of main symptoms of pain, bleeding, and prolapse, with additional complaints of itching and mucus discharge. An herbal medicine mixture of Eulja-tang and Hwangryeonhaedok-tang was administered twice daily, and dry cupping therapy, acupuncture, and hot pack placements were administered on pelvic and sacral regions once weekly for four weeks. The symptoms were evaluated before and each week after the treatments. The treatments had statistically significant therapeutic effects. Conclusion: Korean medicine treatment-effectively alleviating the symptoms of anal disease, such as pain, bleeding, and prolapse-may represent an alternative therapy for conservative treatments in the early stages of anal disease.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.51-58
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• 2021

Korean red ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is a well-known traditional medicine, with numerous biological functions in the body. Portulaca oleracea (P. ole) belongs to the Portulacaceae family and has bioactive potential as a traditional medicine. This study aimed to determine the anti-inflammatory effects of Korean red ginseng extract (RGE) and P. ole extract on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW 264.7 cells. The combination of RGE (50 ㎍/mL) and P. ole (6.25 ㎍/mL) extracts significantly suppressed LPS-induced nitric oxide synthesis. The expression of proinflammatory mediators, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, were markedly decreased by the combined treatment with RGE (50 ㎍/mL) and P. ole (6.25 ㎍/mL). Moreover, iNOS and COX-2 protein expression levels were also significantly reduced in the combined treatment compared to the LPS-stimulated group. In addition, the nuclear translocation of phosphorylated nuclear factor kappa-B was suppressed by the treatment with RGE and P. ole. Moreover, the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway was also partially inhibited by the combination treatment with RGE and P. ole. Our results demonstrate that the treatment mixture with RGE and P. ole could be used as functional food and therapeutic herbal medicine in various inflammatory diseases.