• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.17-41
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• 2016

Subjects : A literature research on the constitution and medicinal effect & adaptation diseases of "Bullsusan". "Bullsusan" is a herbal prescription composed of Angelicae Gigantis Radix(當歸) and Cnidii Rhizoma(川芎). Objectives : Through the researching on the records of "Bullsusan" in Korean Traditional Medical Books, gain the literature evidence for adaptation to these days child labor as a pre-labor keeping herbal medicine. And have detailed consideration on the constitution of prescription and medicinal effect & adaptation diseases of "Bullsusan". Methods : First, researched the records of "Bullsusan" in Korean Traditional Medical Books which were included at A Series of Korean Medicine(韓國醫學大系) and analysed component ratio, nickname, herbal manufacture and drug processing method, medicinal effect and adaptation diseases. Second, referred related Korean and Chinese researches that examined the medicinal effect and adaptation diseases of "Bullsusan" by scientific experimentation. Conclusions : We found total 46 records of "Bullsusan" from 20 kinds of Korean Traditional Medical Books included at A Series of Korean Medicine. Prescription component ratio of Angelicae Gigantis Radix and Cnidii Rhizoma were 3:2, 1:1, 2:1, 1:1. 3:2 had most 20 records and 1:1 had second 14 records. Especially 1:1 had a tendency of having nickname "Goonguitang", but not must had. First herbal manufacture was powder, it had 8 records. First drug processing method was decocting with water and alcohol, had 19 records. Medical Effects of "Bullsusan" can be induced to next 8, that were "remove get bad blood, give birth new blood", "easy labor by reducing fetal volume", "acceleration of labor", "test of fetal survival, elimination of dead embryo", "elimination of placenta", "revive", "allaying pain", "nourish the blood". From these medical effects, 9 adaptation diseases can be induced. That were "threatened abortion", "womb ache and vaginal bleeding by spontaneous abortion", "pre-labor keeping(prevention of hard labor)", "acceleration of labor", "hard labor", "missed abortion", "postnatal vaginal bleeding, dizziness, asthma, headache, womb ache", "postnatal mastoptosis and mastodynia", "first aid symptom like as dizziness, unconsciousness, stroke caused by excessive bleeding". The medical effect of "acceleration of labor" and "elimination of placenta" have been examined by modern clinical research. The effect of "remove get bad blood, give birth new blood", "allaying pain" and "nourish the blood" have been examined by modern experimental study. But overdosing on "Bullsusan" to pregnant mouse can cause natural abortion, so the proper dose of "Bullsusan" in pregnant period is very important.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2014

Microwaves are non-ionizing electromagnetic waves of frequency between 300MHz to 300GHz and positioned between the X-ray and infrared rays in the electromagnetic spectrum. In recent years, the use of microwave for extraction of ingredient from plant material has shown remarkable research interest and potential. Scutellaria radix has been used as a traditional medicine for a variety of diseases. It has been reported to exert beneficial health effects, such as anti-bacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and free-radical scavenging. Oxidative stress or the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads neuronal cellular death and dysfunction, and it contributes to neuronal degenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and stroke. In this study, we aimed to compare the neuroprotective and antioxidant effect of Scutellaria radix extracted by different methods using hot-water extraction (SBE-DW) or microwave extraction (SBE-DW-MW). As a result, we first examined HPLC analysis of hot-water and microwave extracts of Scutellaria radix. The hot-water and microwave extracts of Scutellaria radix showed the discernible difference patterns of HPLC analysis. Microwave-water extracts of Scutellaria radix increased DPPH radical scavenging activity more than hot-water extraction. Microwave-water extracts of Scutellaria radix also showed neuroprotective effects and ROS inhibition against glutamate-induced oxidative stress in mouse hippocampal HT22 cells, but hot-water extraction not showed. In addition, the phosphorylation of MAPKs induced by glutamate insult was prevented by microwave-water extracts of Scutellaria radix. Thus, these results suggested that microwave extraction can be utilized for improving the extraction efficiency and biological activity of Scutellaria radix.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2019

Objectives : A traditional herbal prescription, Kyung-Ok-Ko (KOK), has long been used in oriental medicine as an invigorant for age-related diseases, such as amnesia and stroke. However, the beneficial value of KOK for immune responses is largely unknown. Based on the above mentioned effects of KOK, other previous reports, and its use in traditional medicine, we hypothesized that KOK displays beneficial effects against methotrexate (MTX)-induced immune suppression. Methods : We investigated the effects of KOK (0.6 g/kg/day, oral (p.o.)) on deteriorated immunity caused by MTX (2 mg/kg/day, p.o.) in an immune suppression mouse model. MTX was fed to mice once a day for 7 days. After the immune responses of the mice deteriorated by MTX treatment, KOK in water was fed to the mice once a day for 14 days. We then measured the expression levels of various cytokines, such as T helper cell (Th1, Th2) cytokines, and the number of immune cells, such as spleen T cells, B cells, and macrophages. Results : The data showed that MTX decreased Th1 profiles (interferon $(IFN)-{\gamma}$, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12) and the number of immune cells, and increased Th2 profiles (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13), which were normalized significantly by post-administration of KOK. However, there was no significant difference in body-weight gain between MTX- and KOK-treated mice. Conclusion : These results indicate that KOK has immune-enhancing functions and reduces immunotoxicity of MTX, suggesting that supplementation with KOK will improve immune responses clinically and be useful for the prevention of immune-related diseases.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.250-257
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• 2023

Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter distributed in the central nervous system of mammals. However, high concentrations of glutamate are known to cause neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke by causing nerve cell death. In this study, the antioxidant activity and neuroprotective effect of subtropical natural products were analyzed. Among 11 subtropical plant extracts mainly tested, Sallacca wallichiana extract (SE) showed the greatest free radical scavenging activity. Then, we confirmed through WST-1 assay that SE protected HT22 cells against glutamate-induced cell death in a concentration-dependent manner. The protective effects of SE against glutamate-induced apoptosis in HT22 cells were also confirmed by flow cytometry analysis using Annexin V/PI double staining. We also confirmed using H₂DCF-DA single staining that SE inhibits glutamate-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species. And we were confirmed through that SE inhibited glutamate-induced phosphorylation of Mitogen-activated Protein kinases. Consequently, our results propose that SE may contribute to the development of therapeutics to prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.5 s.94
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• pp.363-370
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• 2005

Neural stem cells (NSCs) of the central nervous system (CNS) have raised a great interest not only for their importance in basic neural development but also for their therapeutic potentials in neurologically degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer and stroke. During the CNS development, two molecular cascades determine specification of midbrain dopamine system. In one pathway, FGF-8, sonic hedgehog and transcription factor Nurr1 specify dopamine neurotransmitter phenotype. In the other, transcription factors $Lm{\times}lb\;and\;Pt{\times}3$ are required for induction of dopaminergic neurons. In Nurr1 knockout mouse, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive cells fail to appear in substantia nigra, indicating that Nurr1 is essential in specification of dopaminergic cell phenotype. In this study, we used the immortalized human NSCs retrovirally transduced with Nurr1 gene to probe the Nurr1 mediated mechanism to induce dopamine phenotype. While Nurr1 over-expression alone did not generate dopamine phenotype in NSCs, applications of retinoid and forskolin induced expression of TH and AADC mRNAs. In addition, co-cultures of Nurr1 expressing NSCs with human astrocytes induced a marked increase of TH expression. In this co-culture system, the addition of retinoid and forskolin dramatically increased expression of TH. These results indicate that the immortalized human NSCs with Nurr1 gene could have a clinical utility for cell replacement for the Parkinson patients.