• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.95-99
• /
• 2007

In order to find novel cancer chemopreventive agents, quinone reductase (QR) inductive activity of methanol extract of herbal medicines was examined using murine hepatoma, hepa1c1c7 cells. QR has been used as an anticarcinogenic marker enzyme in cancer chemoprevention study. The methanol extract of Alpinia officinarum (Zingiberace) showed showed significantly strong quinone reductase inductive activity compared to the control group. The methanol extract of Alpinia officinarum was successively fractionated with various solvents according to polarity. Hexane, ethyl acetate, buthanol and water fractions were obtained and theirs activities were assessed. The QR inductive effect was moved to the ethyl acetate fraction and was highly increased. The CD (concentration required to double the specific activity of QR) value of ethyl acetate fraction was 8.6 ${\mu}g/mL$. Alpinia officinarum also showed strong antioxidant activity. These results suggest that Alpinia officinarum can be developed as cancer chemopreventive agent.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.151-158
• /
• 1990

Investigations on the liability of nitrogen usuage by Nostoc muscorum that has nitrogen fixing ability, and cultured tobacco cells as they were associately cultured on nitrogen-free media and effects of polyamine on the associated culture condition were carried out. In addition, measurement on the activity of nitrate reductase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate dehydrogenase and glutamate synthase that take part in the metabolic pathway of nitrogen fixation product were performed. Among enzymes participating in the metabolic pathway of nitrogen fixation products, the activity of nitrogen reductase stimulated five times in associated culture, and that of glutamine synthetase of N. muscorum increased two times after heterocyst differentiated. Activity of glutamate dehydrogenase increased markedly when cultured tobacco cells were solely incubated on nitrogen-free media, but inhibited when cultured associately. And, glutamate synthase was showed the highest activity in 0.1 mM of spermine treated group.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.366-369
• /
• 2005

NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) transfers electrons from NADPH to cytochrome P450 and also catalyzes the one-electron reduction of many drugs and foreign compounds. Various spectrophotometric assays have been performed to examine electron-accepting properties of CPR and its ability to reduce cytochrome $b_5$, cytochrome c, and ferricyanide. In this report, reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) by CPR has been assessed as a method for monitoring CPR activity. The principle advantage of this substance is that the reduction of MTT can be assayed directly in the reaction medium by a continuous spectrophotometric method. The electrons released from NADPH by CPR were transferred to MTT. MTT reduction activity was then assessed spectrophotometrically by measuring the increase of $A_{610}$. MTT reduction followed classical Michaelis-Menten kinetics ($K_m\;=\;20\;{\mu}M$, $k_{cat}\;=\;1,910\;min^{-1}$). This method offers the advantages of a commercially available substrate and short analysis time by a simple measurement of enzymatic activity of CPR.

• Journal of Korea Foresty Energy
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.29-36
• /
• 2003

This paper concerned the application of improvement in Vivo of Traditional Method for determination of nitrate reductase (NR) activity of leaves to dominant tree species in five forest communities of northern aspect of Changbai Mountain. The results indicated that the NR activity of tree species was related to shade tolerance, and the intolerant tree species had higher NR activity. The NR of a species was also related to the vertical structure and ecological site condition. The tree species, which have higher NR activities should be selected for fast growing and high yield tree species.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.161-169
• /
• 2011

To develop a new natural cosmetic hair care product for scalp treatment, we investigated the effect of enzyme modified (Viscozyme, Pectinex) oriental medical prescriptions on hair growth and melanogenesis. Enzyme modified oriental medical prescriptions showed the antioxidative effect, inhibitory effects on lipoxygenase activity and $5{\alpha}$-reductase activity and melanogenic activity. In human irritation test, they did not show any adverse effect. Based on these results, we suggest that enzyme modified oriental medical prescriptions may potentially be used in a cosmeceutical hair care product for scalp treatment.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 1999

The enzyme steroid $5{\alpha}-reductase$ is responsible for the conversion of testosterone into the most potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In man, this steroid acts on a variety of androgen-responsive target tissues to mediate such diverse endocrine processes as male sexual differentiation in the fetus and prostatic growth in men. Androgen levels in the prostate may influence carcinogenesis in this organ. The use of a $5{\alpha}-reductase$ inhibitor, finasteride, in the chemoprevention of prostate cancer is being evaluated in a clinical trial and have been used successfully for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Therefore, for the discovery of $5{\alpha}-reductase$ type 2 inhibitors, we have evaluated the inhibitory effects of solvent fractionated extracts of natural products on $5{\alpha}-reductase$ type 2 activity. We have tested approximately 80 kinds of natural products after partition into n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous layers from 100% methanol extracts of plants. The ethyl acetate fractions of Perilla sikokiana $(seed,\;IC_{50}\;:\;6.2\;ug/ml)$, Sophora flavescens $(root,\;IC_{50}\;:\;8.9\;ug/ml)$, and Angelica tenuissima $(root,\;IC_{50}\;:\;11.7\;ug/ml)$ revealed inhibitory effects on $5{\alpha}-reductase$ 2 activity in LNCaP cells. The effective ethyl acetate fractions of Perilla sikokiana, Sophora flavescens, Hydnocarpus anthelmintica, and Angelica tenuissima were subfractionated by column chromatography and tested. The subfractions $F4\;(IC_{50}\;:\;1.1\;ug/ml),\;F5\;(IC_{50}\;:\;2.0\;ug/ml),\;and\;F6\;(IC_{50}\;:\;5.8\;ug/ml)$ of the ethyl acetate fraction of Perilla sikokiana and the subfraction $F8\;(IC_{50}\;:\;5.3\;ug/ml)$ of the ethyl acetate fraction of Sophora flavescens displayed greater inhibition of $5{\alpha}-reductase$ type 2 than did finasteride in LNCaP cells. These active fractions are under the process of further sequential fractionation to find the effective pure compounds against $5{\alpha}-reductase$ 2 activity.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.306-312
• /
• 2002

Aldose reductase, the key enzyme of the polyol pathway, is known to play important roles in the diabetic complication. The inhibitors of aldose reductase, therefore, would be potential agents for the prevention of diabetic complications. To evaluate active principles for the inhibition of aldose reductase from the rhizomes of Belamcanda chinensis, twelve phenolic compounds were isolated and tested for their effects on rat lens aldose reductase. As a result, isoflavones such as tectorigenin, irigenin and their glucosides were found to show a strong aldose reductase inhibition. Tectoridin and tectorigenin, exhibited the highest aldose reductase inhibitory potency, their $IC_{50}$ values, being $1.08{\times}10^{-6}{\;}M{\;}and{\;}1.12{\times}10^{-6}{\;}M$, respectively, for DL-glyceraldehyde as a substrate. Both compounds, when administered orally at 100 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, caused a significant inhibition of sorbitol accumulation in the tissues such as lens, sciatic nerves and red blood cells. Tectorigenin showed a stronger inhibitory activity than tectoridin. From these results, it is suggested that tectorigenin is attributed to be a promising compound for the prevention and/or treatment of diabetic complications.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.31-36
• /
• 2010

We analyzed antioxidant and quinone reductase (QR) inductive activities of various organs of pepper for utilizing by-product of them. Peppers were separated into fruits, roots, stems, and leaves and extracted with methanol for the analysis. As a result, pepper leaves showed higher phenol content than other organs. Using the DPPH assay, there was not considerably different activity depending on pepper organs, but pepper leaves showed significantly higher antioxidant activity using the ABTS assay. In FTC and TBA assay, stems and leaves showed significantly higher lipidperoxidation inhibitory activity. In QR inductive assay, pepper tissues showed different QR inductive activity: leaves>roots>>stems>fruits. In addition, pepper leaves showed highest antiproliferation activity on hepa1c1c7 among pepper tissues in $50-200\;{\mu}g/mL$. These results indicate that pepper leaves have high potential to be a good functional food material due to high QR inductive and antioxidant activities.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.152-160
• /
• 2004

Backgrounds : Androgenetic alopecia is a relatively common disorder, but its precise mechanism is not elucidated. There are two commercial drugs approved by FDA. One(finasteride) has an inhibition activity of 5$\alpha$-reductase(type 2) and the other(minoxidil) has a vasodilation activity. Objectives : A verified herbal remedy for baldness is needed for medicinal treatment or preventing alopecia, which could be demonstrated by alopecia-related in vitro & in vivo tests Methods : On the basis of oriental pharmacognosy, we classified many herbal medicines into four groups (malnutrition, aging, alopecia and gray hair) according to its effect. The mitosis induction of hairy dermal papillae cell and the metabolic inhibition for type 2 $5{\alpha}-reductase$ were tested with five herbal extracts. Also, five herbal extracts were added to the normal essence formulation (HHRHG0202-80) in ranges of 0.1~0.3%, which was applied two-mouse models to validate each hair growing activity in vivo. Results : Stimulation of follicular papillae cell proliferation was observed in treatment of three herbal extracts (Glycyrrhizae radix:159.7%, Corni fructus : 144.7%, and Coicis semen : 136.6%) at a dose of $10\mu\textrm{g}/ml$. Three herbal extracts (Biotae semen. Glycyrrhizae radix and Coicis semen) showed inhibitory activity for $5{\alpha}-reductase$(type 2) at 93.18%, 73.36% and 47.6%, respectively at the same dose. We observed the enhancement of hair growth activity in C57b1/6 mouse and the inhibition of alopecia in AGA mouse after topical administration of the hair essence. Conclusions : Hair essence product, which contains five medicinal plants, would be used for the remedy for male pattern baldness (MPB) and the other alopecia diseases.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.308-315
• /
• 2009

The activities of flower color biosynthesis-controlling enzymes, flavonoid 3'hydroxy lase (F3'H) and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), were analyzed in Llium longijlorum and 11 lily cultivars using biochemical and enzymological methods. Dihydroquercetin (DHQ) product was synthesized by F3'H using dihydrokaempferol (DHK) as a substrate in Lilium longiflorum. F3'H activity was also detected in the eight cultivars tested. The substrate-specific activity of F3'H was observed because eridictiol (ERI), which uses naringenin (NAR) as a substrate, was not detected in the tested cultivars. Leucocyanidin (LCy) product was synthesized by DFR using DHQ as a substrate in Lilium longiflorum. DFR activity was also detected in 'Le Reve', 'Montreux', 'Monte Negro', 'Etude', 'Acapulco', and 'Star Gazer', but not in 'Siberia', 'Royal Race', 'Nove Cento', 'Elite', and 'Cannes'. Substrate-specific activity of DFR was observed because leucopelargonidin (LPg), which uses DHK as a substrate, was not detected in the tested cultivars.