• 약학회지
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• 제59권2호
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• pp.77-84
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• 2015

The spring convention of the Pharmaceutical Society of Korea (PSK), composed of eight symposia and two special symposia, was held at the K Seoul Hotel on April 17th and 18th in 2014. During the convention, the board meeting of PSK officially approved the birth of Pharmacy History (PH) Division as one of 19 divisions of PSK on April 17th. In the morning of April 18th, an inaugural symposium of PH division was held at the hotel with a theme of "History of Pharmacy in Korea". In this article, the establishment of PH division, content of the 1st symposium will be described. The future vision of PH division, which will be focused on the study of modern history rather than that of old history, will be described as well. The introduction of modern pharmacy education system to Korea and various events that happened during the establishment of the system may represent issues that should be investigated with the highest priority by the PH division.

• 약학회지
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• 제58권6호
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• pp.405-412
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• 2014

The history of pharmaceutical service system in Korea originated from the beginning of Korean people was reviewed with focus on the pharmaceutical administration and laws after the Liberation from Japan in 1945.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.239-243
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• 2012

Mushrooms have a long history of use in traditional medicine, and hundreds of novel constituents in mushrooms with miraculous biological properties have been identified recently. Although diverse effects for medicinal use of mushrooms such as anticancer activity are proven, their reversal activities of drug resistance in cancer cells was rarely reported so far. In the search for novel medicinal use of mushrooms, we tested the multidrug resistance (MDR) reversal activities of diverse mushrooms collected from Korea. Among, the mushroom extracts tested, Cantharellus cibarius (M02) and Russula emetica (M12) revealed MDR reversal activities of paclitaxel in the P-glycoprotein (Pgp)-positive HCT15 and MES-SA/dX5 cancer cells, but not in the Pgp-negative A549 and MES-SA cancer cells. In addition, these mushrooms also enhanced the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin, another well-kwown Pgp-associated anticancer drug against MES-SA/DX5 cells, but not against MES-SA cells. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity of cisplatin, a well-known Pgp-non-associated anticancer drug, was not affected by the mushrooms all the cells tested. From these results, we suspected that some ingredients of M02 and M12 have Pgp-associated MDR reversal activities.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제48권3호
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• pp.266-275
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• 2024

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a rare subpopulation of cancer cells that exhibit stem cell-like characteristics, including self-renewal and differentiation in a multi-stage lineage state via symmetric or asymmetric division, causing tumor initiation, heterogeneity, progression, and recurrence and posing a major challenge to current anticancer therapy. Despite the importance of CSCs in carcinogenesis and cancer progression, currently available anticancer therapeutics have limitations for eradicating CSCs. Moreover, the efficacy and therapeutic windows of currently available anti-CSC agents are limited, suggesting the necessity to optimize and develop a novel anticancer agent targeting CSCs. Ginseng has been traditionally used for enhancing immunity and relieving fatigue. As ginseng's long history of use has demonstrated its safety, it has gained attention for its potential pharmacological properties, including anticancer effects. Several studies have identified the bioactive principles of ginseng, such as ginseng saponin (ginsenosides) and non-saponin compounds (e.g., polysaccharides, polyacetylenes, and phenolic compounds), and their pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antifatigue, and neuroprotective effects. Notably, recent reports have shown the potential of ginseng-derived compounds as anti-CSC agents. This review investigates the biology of CSCs and efforts to utilize ginseng-derived components for cancer treatment targeting CSCs, highlighting their role in overcoming current therapeutic limitations.