• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.342-347
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• 2007

The dried fruit of the Rubus coreanus, which is well-known in Korea and referred to as 'Bokbunja,' has been employed as a traditional medicine for centuries. This crude drug has been utilized in Korea for the management of impotence, spermatorrhea, enuresis, asthma, and allergic diseases. Our previous study demonstrated that the ethanol extracts of R. coreanus have anti-inflammatory effects. The principal objective of the present study was to conduct a comparison of the anti-inflammatory effects of the ethanol extracts of R. coreanus and R. occidentalis; here, we tested the unripe (URCE), half-ripened (HRCE), and ripened fruits (RCE) of R. coreanus, and the unripe (UROE), half-ripened (HROE), and ripened fruits (ROE) of R. occidentalis. We found that URCE, UROE, HRCE, and HROE reduced the production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin $E_{2}$ as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 murine macrophages. Interestingly, the R. coreanus extracts showed stronger inhibitory effects on the production of these inflammatory mediators than the R. occidentalis extracts.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.65-80
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• 2014

Objectives: The object of this study was to observe the in vitro antibacterial effects of Gagam-seopyoungjeon aqueous extracts (GGSYJ) against Gardnerella vaginalis and the possible synergic combination effects with clindamycin. Methods: Antibacterial activities against Gardnerella vaginalis of GGSYJ were detected using minimal inhibition concentration (MIC), and the effects on the bacterial growth curve were also monitored at MIC and MIC${\times}$2 levels. The combination effects of GGSYJ with clindamycin were observed by checkboard microtiter assay, and the effects of bacterial growth curve treated with GGSYJ MIC+clindamycin MIC, 1/2 MIC and 1/4 MIC, respectively. The effects on the bacterial invasion and intracellular killing of GGSYJ were also observed using human vaginal epithelial (VK2) and murine macrophage (Raw264.7) cells with combination effects with clindamycin after treatment of GGSYJ MIC+clindamycin 1/2 MIC, 1/4 MIC and 1/6 MIC, respectively. Results: The MIC of clindamycin and GGSYJ against Gardnerella vaginalis were detected as $0.012{\pm}0.006$ (0.004~0.016)${\mu}g/ml$ and $1.016{\pm}0.524$ (0.391~1.563) mg/ml, respectively. Clindamycin and GGSYJ were also showed marked dosage-dependent inhibition of bacterial growth, and significant decreases of viable cells were detected in clindamycin MIC+GGSYJ MIC and clindamycin 1/2 MIC+GGSYJ MIC treatment as compared with each of single clindamycin MIC and GGSYJ MIC treatments. And significant decreases of intraepithelial and intra-macrophage viable bacteria numbers were detected in clindamycin 1/2 MIC+GGSYJ 1/2 MIC and clindamycin 1/4 MIC+GGSYJ 1/2 MIC treatment as compared with each of single clindamycin GGSYJ 1/2 MIC treatments, respectively. Conclusions: GGSYJ showed slight antibacterial effects against Gardnerella vaginalis, but they showed dosage-dependent inhibitory effects on the bacterial growth and VK2 epithelial invasions of bacteria with favorable accelerating effects of intracellular killing activities of macrophages. In addition, combination of GGSYJ also increased the inhibitory effects of clindamycin on the epithelial invasions of Gardnerella vaginalis and intracellular killing activities of macrophages against Gardnerella vaginalis as 2-fold higher as compared with clindamycin single treatment, respectively. Therefore, we expected that the clinical dosages of clindamycin can be reduced as 1/2 levels as combination with GGSYJ.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.209-213
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• 2007

In the recent, increased concern has been focused on the pharmacology and clinical utility of herbal extracts and derivatives as a drug or adjunct to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Salicis Radicis Cortex, A decoction has been mainly used for improvement of ozena and a diuretic effect in oriental medicine, but there was no study on the molecular mechanism of Salicis Radicis Cortex as an immunomodulator. Here we investigated the role of the aqueous extract of Salicis Radicis Cortex in the expression of inflammatory mediators, surface molecule, and related receptors in vitro and in vivo. In murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and peritoneal macrophages of C57BL/6N mice, water extract of Salicis Radicis Cortex increased the production of secretary TNF-alpha and Nitric oxide, and the expression level of CD14, LPS co-receptor and CD86, co-stimulatory molecule compared to negative natural extract ex vivo. Moreover, i.p. injection of water extract of Salicis Radicis Cortex significantly increased the secretion level of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-5 in serum of mice in vivo. Taken together, these results suggest that Salicis Radicis Cortex may regulate the immune response by secreting Th1 and Th2 types of cytokines in vivo and the possibility of its as natural immunostimulator.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.550-555
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• 2013

Extrinsic skin aging is characterized by the loss of skin tone and resilience, irregular pigmentation, and deep wrinkles. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Ehwa Makgeolli containing oriental herbs (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., Lycium chinense MILL., Morus alba L., and Saururus chinensis Baill) on skin whitening and wrinkling in human skin cells. We prepared Makgeolli extracts (HEE) with 70% ethanol. HEE significantly inhibited in vitro mushroom tyrosinase activity and reduced the cellular and secreted melanin content of mouse melanoma melanocytes (B16F1 cells). HEE down-regulated the protein expression of tyrosinase related protein (TRP)-1/-2, a key player in melanogenesis. Treatment with HEE in human keratinoctyes (HaCaT cells) inhibited the proteolytic activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2/-9 in a dose-dependent manner and dramatically reduced the expression of MMP-2/-9. In addition, HEE attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide production in murine macrophages (RAW264.7 cells). These results indicate that HEE may be a great cosmeceutical ingredient for its whitening, anti-wrinkle, and anti-inflammatory effects.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.700-704
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• 2007

In the recent, increased concern has been focused on the pharmacology and clinical utility of herbal extracts and derivatives as a drug or adjunct to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Here we investigated the role of the extract of Anethi Fructus in the expression of inflammatory mediators, surface molecule, and related receptors in vitro. In murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and peritoneal macrophages of C57BL/6N mice, water extract of Anethi Fructus increased the production of secretary tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and Nitric oxide (NO), and the expression level of CD14, LPS co-receptor and CD86, co-stimulatory molecule compared to negative natural extract ex vivo. The water extract of Anethi Fructus increased the production of interferon (IFN)-g from splenocytes. Also, water extract of Anethi Fructus increased ConA-induced cell proliferation. These results suggest that water extract of Anethi Fructus may enhance the immune response through immune modulation of macrophage and lymphocytes.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2001

This study was conducted to investigate the immunomodulatory activities of proteoglycan extracted from cultured mycelia of Ganoderma lucidum IY009. The proteoglycan contained two polymer peaks, one was the higher MW peak of 2,000 kD and the other was low peaks of 12kD. To understand the part of strong pharmaceutical activity between two peak, the proteoglycan was separated by ultrafiltration and column chromatography and then examined the various pharmaceutical effects. High molecular weight fraction possesing high content of ${\beta}-linked$ glucan was exhibited high antitumor activity, against sarcoma 180 bearing ICR mouse. And also, anticomplementary activity was highly observed in high molecule fraction than low it fraction. When the raw 264.7 and murine peritoneal macrophage treated with low fraction, high fraction and other stimuli. The activities inducing tumor necrosis factor of the high factions were $2.2{\sim}2.5$ times stronger than that of low fraction.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate distribution of particle size in phytate kit and compare filtered method with non-filtered method using 200 nm filter for sentinel lymphoscintigraphy (SLS). Materials and Methods: Five phytate kit of having the same available period was measured by particle size analyzer. For in-vivo experiment, $^{99m}Tc$-phytate was injected intradermally at both foot to perform lymphoscintigraphy. Imaging was acquired at 1hour after injection. Region of interest (ROI) was drawn in inguinal and background area for analysis. RAW 264.7 cells (Murine macrophage cell) were prepared for measurement of celluar uptake as a representative of macrophages. Paired t-test was performed using SPSS (SPSS Inc, USA) for statistical analysis. Results: The size of most particle in Techne phytate kit was distributed in 130~650 nm(90.5 %). In-vivo study, the ROI analysis showed similar result between filtered and non-filtered sample, and the numerical value of count/pixel were $58.3{\pm}5.97$ and $60.2{\pm}4.88$. In-vitro study, cellular uptake study also showed no difference between filtered and non-filtered sample by gamma counting. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that there was no meaning of 200 nm filtered method for SLS using $^{99m}Tc$-phytate.