• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.37-49
• /
• 2014

Objectives & Methods : The objective of this study was to evaluate the single oral dose toxicity of Chongmyung-tang (CMT) in ICR mice. Korean traditional herbal prescription CMT has traditionally been used as a neuroprotective for treatment of learning disability and memory improvement. CMT, lyophilized aqueous extracts (yield=9.7%) were administered to female and male mice with oral dose of 2,000, 1,000 and 500 mg/kg (body weight) according to the recommendation of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) Guidelines. Animals were monitored for mortality, changes in body weight, clinical signs and gross observation during 14 days after administration upon necropsy; organ weight and histopathology of 14 principle organs were examined. Results : We could not find any CMT extracts treatment related mortalities, clinical signs, changes in body and organ weight, or gross and histopathological observations against 14 principle organs up to 2,000 mg/kg in both female and male mice, except for some accidental sporadic findings which did not show any obvious dose-relations and most of which also demonstrated in both the female and male vehicle control mice in this experiments. Conclusions : Based on the results of this experiment, the 50% lethal dose ($LD_{50}$) and approximate lethal dose (ALD) of CMT extracts after single oral treatment in female and male mice can be considered to be over 2,000 mg/kg, and is likely to be safe in humans.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.364-369
• /
• 1995

Anticarcinogenic activity of Moutan radix for mouse ascites cancer induced by mouse Sarcoma 180 (S-180) cells was investigated. Methanol extract of Moutan radix including other folk medicinal plants (Taxus cuspidata, Curcuma longa, Artemisia capillaris, Ligrstri fructus, and Liriope platyphylla) used to remedy or cure many chronic human diseases like cancer was fractionated into hexane, chloroform ($CHCl_3$), ethylacetate (EtOAc), and butanol (BuOH) fractions. Anticarcinogenic activity of the fractions, exhibited a strong cytotoxicity for L1210 and S-180 cells, was examined for mouse ascites cancer induced by S-180 cells. Male ICR mice (7 mice/treatment, $5{\sim}6$ weeks of age, $23{\pm}1\;g$ were injected i.p. with S-180 cells ($1{\times}10^{7}\;cell/1\;ml$ PBS). One day later, each mouse was given 0.1 ml of 10% DMSO containing sample ($30\;{\mu}g/g$ body weight) every day for 10 consecutive days. Control mice were only given 0.1ml S-180 cells and 0.1 ml 10% DMSO. Mice treated with EtOAc fraction of Moutan radix showed 28.7 days of life, which is 167% of control mice's life. Based on the dose-dependant experiment mice treated with $30\;{\mu}g$ showed longer life relative to mice treated with ootherr doses (5, 15, $60\;{\mu}g$), and mice treated with $60\;{\mu}g$ exhibited toxic symptoms. Body weight of mice treated with Moutan radix was significantly reduced relative to that of control mice (p<0.05). GC-MS analysis in conjunction with silica-gel column chromatography revealed that the EtOAc fraction contained 2-methoxylphenol, benzoic acid, 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)ethanone, 8-methyl-2,4(1H,3H)pteridinedione and 2,5-furan-dicarboxylic dimethyl ester as regards to the anticarcinogenic property of the EtOAc fraction. These results suggest that Moutan radix might be included as an anticarcinogenic medicinal plant for treatment of ascites cancer.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2021

Background and objective: Dermatitis is a chronic disease accompanied by such symptoms as itching and dry skin. The environment and diet can aggravate dermatitis, so attention to skin care is essential. Colocasia esculenta is used in various manners and for different purposes, including with regard to inflammation, aging, and the digestive system. The anti-inflammatory effect of Colocasia esculenta water extract was confirmed using RAW 264.7 macrophages with regard to male ICR mice. Methods: In the case of the ICR mice, 5% 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) was used to cause inflammation for 7 days, and 100 μL of Colocasia esculenta water extract and panthenol were administered orally for 10 days. In addition, RT-PCR, NO, ELISA was conducted. Results: As a result of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using RAW 264.7 macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), it was found that Colocasia esculenta water extract reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines. As a result of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining using mouse ear tissue, Colocasia esculenta water extract reduced ear thickness and showed an effect of suppressing ear edema. In addition, compared to the TPA-treated group, the Colocasia esculenta extract-treated group had reduced nitric oxide (NO) production by 18.23 μM and IL-13 production decreased by 136.55 pg/ml. Conclusion: Colocasia esculenta water extract has been shown to be effective in lowering inflammatory cytokine production. These results suggest that Colocasia esculenta water extracts can be used as natural products to treat dermatitis.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.37 no.2 s.145
• /
• pp.85-91
• /
• 2006

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of evening primrose oil (EPO) on the male sexual functions. EPO (daily 0.5 ml/mouse) was orally intubated for 28 consecutive days to experimental ICR mice, and same vol. of vehicle to control mice. On the 14th and 28th experimental day, the testis weight, number of complete intromissions and mating, serum testosterone and cGMP levels, prostaglandin leveIs of penile corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells, and NO-productive activity of endothelial cells were determined. The weight of body and testis, the number of complete intromissions during the 3hour period were somewhat increased in EPO treated mice than those of control. The number of sperm-positive females and testosterone level in serum were increased in experimental groups. The serum cGMP level was significantly increased but the NO production of ionomycin-stimulated HUVEC cells was not affected when EPO was added into cultures. These results suggest that oral administration of EPO enhanced the sexual functions of male mice, and EPO could be developed as a tonic improving sexual functions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.160-168
• /
• 1997

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of Panax ginseng saponin extracts on the dexamethasone-induced apoptosis of mouse thymus in vivo and mouse thymocytes in vitro. The saponin fractions of red ginseng (R-SAP) and white ginseng (Wl-SAP) were provided by the Korea Ginseng & Tobacco Research Institute, and the other saponin fraction of white ginseng (W2-SAP) was extracted in our laboratory. 1. The male ICR mice (3~4 wk old; weighing 15$\pm$2 g) were given by each saponin fraction of 5 mg/kg/ day for 4 days, and at one hour after the last treatment, they were injected by deuamethasone (5 mg/kg : DX). The mouse thymus was extracted at 6 hours after DX injection, and they were stained with hematoxylin-eosin reagents and an Apop-Tag kit, respectively, and the thymocytes prepared from it were labelled with anti-mouse FITC-anti-CD4 and anti-mouse PE-anti-CD8 and then analyzed by fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS). DX-induced reduction of thymus weight was significantly attenuated by W2- SAP but was not affected by other saponin fractions. And DX-induced apoptotic death of thymocytes, appeared in the histologic findings of the thymus, was inhibited by the saponin fractions and the order of these inhibitory potencies was R-SAP》W2-SAP>Wl-SAP. However, in respect of T cell receptors, the differentiation of thymocytes seems not to be changed by treatments with DX or/and the saponin fractions. 2. In the primary thymocyte culture, the DX-induced reduction of thymocyte MTT values was rather greater in RPMI 1640 medium of IWc fetal bovine serum (FBS) or horse serum (HS). In addition, the DX-Induced MTT reduction was significantly inhibited by R-SAP or W2-SAP, in the culture using that medium of 5% FBS or HS. But these saponin fraction did not effected the DX-induced reduction of thymocyte MTT value in primary culture of 10% FBS or 10% HS. These results suggest that R-SAP and some W-SAP fractions may protect thymocyte from stress or glucocorticoisteroid-induced death of them.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.151-157
• /
• 2012

In this research, the genotoxic effect of Bupleuri Radix (BR), the dried roots of Bupleurum falcatum Linne has been traditionally used as anti-inflammatory agent, was evaluated using the mouse micronucleus test. BR aqueous extract (yield = 16.52%) was administered once a day for 2 continuous days by oral gavage to male ICR mice at doses of 2,000, 1,000 and 500 mg/kg. Cyclophosphamide (CPA) 70 mg/kg was used as a known genotoxic agent in a positive control. The appearance of a micronucleus (MN) in polychromatic erythrocyte (PCE) is used as an index for genotoxic potential, and PCE ratio is used as an index of cytotoxicity. Although significant (p<0.01) increase of the number of PCE with one or more nuclei (MNPCE) was detected in CPA treated groups, no significant increases of MNPCE numbers were observed in all three different dosages of BR extracts treated mice with over 0.30 of the individual polychromatic erythrocyte ratio in all mice used in this study. The results obtained indicated that BR extract shows no genotoxicity effects up to 2,000 mg/kg dosing levels the limit dosage in rodents.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.81-89
• /
• 2012

Objectives : In this research, the genotoxic effect of $Scutellariae$ $Radix$(SR), the dried roots of $Scutellaria$ $baicalensis$ Georgi has been traditionally used as antipyretic agent, was evaluated using the mouse micronucleus test. Methods : SR aqueous extract(yield = 27.2%) was administered once a day for 2 continuous days by oral gavage to male ICR mice at doses of 2,000, 1,000 and 500 mg/kg. Cyclophosphamide(CPA) 70 mg/kg was used as a known genotoxic agent in a positive control. The appearance of a micronucleus(MN) in polychromatic erythrocyte(PCE) is used as an index for genotoxic potential, and PCE ratio is used as an index of cytotoxicity. Results and Conclusions : Although significant(p<0.01) increase of the number of PCE with one or more nuclei(MNPCE) was detected in CPA treated groups, no significant increases of MNPCE numbers were observed in all three different dosages of SR extracts treated mice with over 0.33 of the individual polychromatic erythrocyte ratio in all mice used in this study. The results obtained indicated that SR extract shows no genotoxicity effects up to 2,000 mg/kg dosing levels - the limit dosage in rodents.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.453-459
• /
• 2013

The objective of this study was to evaluate the single oral dose toxicity of Polygalae Radix (PR) in male and female mice. PR extract (yield = 18.6%) was administered to ICR mice as an oral dose of 2,000, 1,000 and 500 mg/kg (body weight) according to the recommendation of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) Guidelines (2009-116, 2009). Animals were monitored for the mortality and the changes in body weight, clinical signs and gross observation during 14 days after dosing. Upon necropsy, organ weight and histopathology of 14 principal organs were examined. It was observed that there were no mortalities, clinical signs, changes on the body and organ weights, gross and histopathological observations against 14 principal organs related to PR extract up to 2,000 mg/kg. Therefore, 50% lethal dose ($LD_{50}$) and approximate LD of PR aqueous extracts after single oral treatment in female and male mice were considered over 2000 mg/kg the limited dosages recommended by KFDA Guidelines, respectively.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 1999

This study was performed to investigate the antitoxic effect of Oenanthe javanica extracts on orally administered mercury compound. Adult male ICR mice were exposed to methylmercuric chloride (CH3HgCl)through drinking water. The control, mercury treated and Oenanthe javanica treated groups not showed significant differences in mean body and organ weights of mice. The distribution of mercury in the cerebellum, kidney, liver and spleen of the mouse were examined according to a histochemical mathod. Grains of mercury traces were located in the purkinje cell and granular layers of the cerebellum and cortex of kidney respectively. Lesser staining of the grains was seen in the collecting tubules of medulla. in the liver, mercury accumulations were present primarily in the hepatocytes around portal area containing interlobular bile duct, artery and portal vein. Also grains of mercury traces were accumulated in the white pulp of the spleen. In the group of Oenanthe javanica extracts, staining intensity of mercury was decreased in the Purkinje cell layer of cerebellum and in the portal area of liver respectively. Staining patterns in kidney and spleen of extracts group were similar to that of only mercury treated group.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 1993

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of gossypol injection spermatogenesis of mice. Gossypol was injected into the stroma of testes(TS) and the doses of gossypol injected were 5, 10 and 15mg per kg of body weights, respectively. The number of sperm and the weight of testes were gradually reduced(P<0.01) from 2 to 4 weeks after gossypol treatment in all groups of mice treated with gossypol, compared with the control group. The rates of malformation(loss of proacrosome, damage of midpiece and breaking of tail) of sperm were significantly(P<0.01) increased at 2 and 3 weeks after the injection of 10 or 15mg of gossypol. However, the weight of testes and the number of normal sperm were gradually increased and the malformation rate of sperm was decreased between 4 and 6 weeks after injection of 5mg of gossypol. The results of this experiment indicated that probably ireeversible suppression of spermatogenesis could be brought about easily and immediately by the single injection of gossypol into TS.