• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.382-387
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• 1998

Platycodon radix is a dried root of Platycodon grandiflorum (P. grandiflorum) A. DC, a perennial grown on the hills and fields in Korea and Japan, or cultivated in various districts. Recently, P. grandiflorum (Changkil) has been successfully cultivated for more than 20 years and generally has been employed as folk remedy for adult diseases such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes. We investigated various biological activities of the extracts from Changkil. When treated in vitro with B16-F1 mouse melanoma cell lines, it showed 100% laminin-binding inhibitory activities at the concentration over 0.125mg/ml. In in vivo test it showed 61.5% reduction of the solid tumor weight transplanted in mice and exhibited anticancer activity of 128% ILS against Sarcoma-180 ascites. It also increased the ratio of positive cells of natural killer cells in lymphocytic composition against Sarcoma-18O ascites and solid tumor transplanted in ICR mice when tests were carried out by FACScan method.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.651-656
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• 2006

This study examined the chemopreventive effect of saponins that were isolated from the roots of Platycodon grandiflorum A. DC (Campanulaceae), Changkil saponins (CKS), against the tobacco-specific carcinogen, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), -on lung tumorigenesis in A/J mice. The mice were treated with a single NNK dose (100 mg/kg b.w., i.p.). CKS (0.5, 1, 4 mg/kg body wt.) was administered orally daily for 3 days/week beginning 1 day after the NNK treatment and was maintained throughout the experiment. The administration of CKS suppressed the NNK-induced increase in the level of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, which are a marker of cell proliferation, in the lungs of the mice 4 weeks after the NNK injection. Twenty-five weeks after the NNK treatment, the mice were sacrificed and the number of surface lung tumors was measured. CKS significantly reduced the number of lung tumors induced by NNK in a dose dependent manner. These results suggest that CKS suppresses the development of lung tumors and has a chemopreventive effect against NNK-induced mouse lung tumorigenesis.