• Journal of Life Science
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.467-474
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• 2000

Male mice (ddY strain) were fed a laboratory chow diet containing the water extract from stem bark of Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) for 14 days. There were no significant difference in body weight gain, feed intake, the hepatic lipid profile and serum total cholesterol and phodpholipid concentrations. The concentration of triglyceride in serum was significantly lower in the RVS group than that in the control group. The concentration of high-density-lipoprotein cholestrol in serum was significantly higher in the RVS group than that in the control group. The methanol extract from RVS stem bark effectively inhibited the formation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances as a marker of lipid peroxidation of liver microsomes in a concentration-dependent manner. This study showed that the water extract from stem bark of RVS decreased the serum triglyceride concentration and methanol extract has an antioxidative activity.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2005

This study was carried out to investigate the antioxidant effect of Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) extracts. The antioxidant activity of ethanol and water extract from RVS was examined on model systems and cooked beef, respectively. As concentration of RVS ethanol extract increased (1, 10, 100, and 1,000 ppm), the reductive activity of DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) was significantly increased (14.79, 75.08, 82.02, and $83.97\%$ respectively) (p<0.05). The RVS ethanol extract (10 ppm) was showed higher antioxidant activity than control in liposome and meat homogenate (p<0.05). It had more antioxidative effect in 10 ppm RVS ethanol extract with 2 ppm $\alpha-tocopherol$ treatment The maximum antioxidant activity appeared at pH 6.0 in meat homogenate and at pH $5.0\~6.0$ in liposome. Cooked beef mixed with Rhus verniciflua Stokes water extract showed significantly lower TBARS value, POV during storage for 4 days at $4^{\circ}C$ (p<0.05). And the RVS water extract also showed strong antioxidant activity in cooked beef which accelerated NaCl-catalyzed oxidation. Therefore, the results suggest that RVS extract may be used in commercial meat products as natural antioxidant in the near future.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 2008

Rhus verniciflua Stokes(RVS), one of traditional medicinal plants in Asia, was found to have pharmacological activities such as antioxidative and antiapoptotic effects, raising the possibility for the development of a novel class of anti-cancer drugs. Thus, potential genotoxic effects of RVS in three short-term mutagenicity assays were investigated, which included the Ames assay, in vitro Chromosomal aberration test, and the in vivo Micronucleus assay. In Ames test, the addition of RVS water extracts at doses from 313 up to 5000 mg/plate induced an increase more than 2-fold over vehicle control in the number of revertant colonies in TA98 and TA1537 strains for detecting the frame-shift mutagens. The similar increase in reversion frequency was observed after the addition of RVS ethanol extracts. To assess clastogenic effect, in vitro chromosomal aberration test and in vivo micronucleus assay were performed using Chinese hamster lung cells and male ICR mice, respectively. Both water and ethanol extracts from RVS induced significant increases in the number of metaphases with structural aberrations mostly at concentrations showing the cell survival less than 60% as assessed by in vitro CA test. Also, there was a weak but statistically significant increase in number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes(MNPCEs) in mice treated with water extract at 2000 mg/kg while ethanol extracts of RVS at doses of up to 2000 mg/kg did not induce any statistically significant changes in the incidence of MNPCEs. Therefore, our results lead to conclusion that RVS acts as a genotoxic material based on the available in vitro and in vivo results.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.101-105
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• 2009

Alcohol oxidation activities and optimization of extraction conditions of Rrhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) extract were evaluated for the development of a functional biomaterial for improving liver function. When alcohol oxidation activities of RVS was analyzed, the Rrhus verniciflua Stokes bark (RVSB) were higher than the Rrhus verniciflua Stokes heartwood (RVSH). Alcohol oxidation activity value of RVSB increased in a concentration-dependent manner. In the comparative analysis between Hovenia dulcis Thunb (HOT) and Alnus japonica Steud (AJS) which was reported as a alcohol oxidation material, alcohol oxidation activity is much higher than the others. The experimental conditions were optimized for alcohol oxidation-active components production from RVSB. The extraction conditions such as temperature, time, pH and particle size were performed. It was recommended to extract the alcohol oxidation-active components from RVSB by hot water (pH 7.0) at $85^{\circ}C$ for 8 hours.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2000

The ethanol extract of Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS), the Korean Lacquer tree, was subsequentely isolated and fractioned into two portions using distilled water (SED) and 99% ethanol (SEE) as elution buffers through silica gel column (4x28 em, 22 $\AA$. 28~200 mesh). To know the antioxidative effect of the RVS extracts, primary hepatocytes were exposed to hydroxyl radical generated by 20 mU/$m\ell$ glucose oxidase with SED or SEE for 4 hr. The addition of 100$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ SED in culture medium showed good protection from glucose oxidase (GO)-mediated cytotoxicity of hepatocytes, showing approximately equivalent to control. When the hepatocytes were incubated with 100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ SED or SEE only for 4 hr. the activities of cell-associated superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase were elevated up to 1.22 fold and 1.4 fold, respectively, compared to control. Further increase, 1.88fold in SOD activity or 1.64fold in catalase activity, was also observed when the hepatocytes were incubated with 100 units/$m\ell$ of commercial SOD or catalase for 4 hr. Moreover. the glucose oxidase-mediated cytotoxicity in cultured hepatocytes was generally reduced upon addition of lysate obtained from SED or SEE-stimulated hepatocytes in a dose-dependent manner. From these results, we suggest that, in cultured hepatocytes, RVS ethanol extract can efficiently reduce cytotoxicity induced by glucose oxidase and may increase the activity of cell-associated SOD and/or catalase, thereby preventing and/or scavenging superoxides and hydroxyl radicals in this experiment.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.171-176
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• 1998

The biological effects of the water extracts of Rhus Verniciflua Stokes (RVS) were evaluated by protection against hydroxyl radicals. Antioxidative activities were measured using both 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and thiocyanate method. Also we used the Glucose oxidase (GO) 20 mU/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$ hydroxyl radical generating system in mouse forebrain cell culture. Water was used for ex-traction from RVS as a solvent which has high polarity especially. In DPPH method, the antioxidative activities of the crude water extract were stronger than any other extracts of low polar-solvents. In the antioxidative effects of mouse forebrain culture using 20 mU/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$ GO, cell viabilities were evaluated 65.6%, 68.8% at 1 $\mu\textrm{g}$. 5 $\mu\textrm{g}$ addition of crude water extracts (30 mg/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$) respectively. 10 $\mu\textrm{g}$ addition of crude water extracts had more than 86.1% cell viabilities, P<0.0l significantly, compared with the group treated with GO alone. In comparison with the antioxidative activities of several commercial antioxidants (ascorbic acid, $\alpha$-tocopherol, catalase, serum), 273 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$ addition of crude water extracts (300 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$\textrm{m}{\ell}$) showed equivalent antioxidative effect to 25 uM ascorbic acid.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.309-318
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• 2005

Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) has been used as a food supplement and a traditional herbal medicine. In this study, we prepared various flavonoid fractions (RS, RW1, RW2 and RWE) from a hot water extract of RVS and their influence on male reproductive organs and spermatogenesis were studied in rats which were orally administered 200 mg/kg of them for 8 weeks. All experimental groups did not show any significant changes in body weight and blood clinical chemistry for liver function. Plasma testosterone level was elevated about 3.7, 5.2 and 6.3 folds in RW1, RW2 and RWE groups, respectively. The weights of testes and epididymides tended to increase slightly without the statistical significance in RW2 and RWE. The spermatozoon motility and epididymal sperm concentration were significantly increased (P<0.05) in RWE and RW1, respectively, when compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in histology and apparent shape of testes and epididymides among the control and the experimental groups. Collectively, RWE showed effectively the elevation of plasma testosterone level, spermatozoon motility and the epididymal sperm concentration without the significant increase of testis and epidiymides weights. When the component HPLC profile among the flavonoids fractions of RVS was compared, the ratio of components were only different. These findings suggest that the Rhus flavonoid fraction, particularly RWE, can stimulate the androgen-dependent male sexual function and it can be applied to the material of functional food for enhancing the sexual function.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.210-217
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• 2005

This study was designed to evaluate the quality comparison of emulsion-type sausages made from different Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) sources. The pigs were fed a supplemented concentrate diet with a RVS supplement of $4\%$ feed for 5 weeks before slaughter. The RVS extract was prepared from 100g of RVS sawdust and 1L of distilled water for 48 hours. Emulsion-type sausages were made using lean meat or dietary RVS han1 lean $(51.07\%)$, ice water or RVS extract $(19.63\%)$, back fat $(26.60\%)$ and other additives $(2.70\%)$. The treated sausages were divided into non-dietary meat with water (T1, Control), dietary RVS meat with water (T2), non-dietary meat with RVS extract (T3), and dietary meat with RVS extract (T4). The crude fat was significantly lower (p<0.05) in dietary RVS meat-added sausages (T2, T4) than in control sausage (T1). The lightness ($L^{\ast}$) and redness ($a^{\ast}$) were significantly lower (p<0.05) in RVS extract-added sausages (T3, T4) during refrigerated storage. The $a^{\ast}$ value was higher (p<0.05) in T2 than in the other treatments. The VBN and TBARS values were significantly lower in RVS extract-added sausages (T3, T4) during refrigerated storage. The hardness, adhesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness were significantly lower (p<0.05) in T2 than in the other treatments. This results showed that feeding of RVS in diet and/or RVS extract had a significant impact on the quality of emulsion-type sausage. The RVS extract-added emulsion-type sausages (T3, T4) showed dark and reddish color although they were more effective in delaying the protein deterioration and lipid oxidation. Consequently, the sausage prepared from pigs fed $4\%$ RVS with water (T2) was more effective in increasing the $a^{\ast}$ value, textural properties, and delaying the protein deterioration, lipid oxidation than that without RVS in diet.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.471-476
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• 2005

Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) has been used as a food supplement and a traditional herbal medicine for a men's sexual enhancement. In this study, we prepared a flavonoid fraction (RWE) from a hot water extract of RVS and its influence on sexual behavior was studied in male rats which were orally administered varying doses of RWE for 2 weeks. All doses of RWE stimulated sexual behavior in male rats such as reducing mounting latency and enhancing mount frequencies. However, intermission numbers were not changed and none of group can observe the ejaculation during behavioral testing time 5 min. Testosterone levels were Increased about 0$\∼$53$\%$ and 92$\∼$164$\%$ by the treatment of RWE for 1 and 2 weeks, respectively. However, estrogen levels in male rats tended to decrease in a dose dependent manner of RWE. At the dose of RWE 200 mg/kg, estrogen level was reduced to 77.5$\%$ and 70.3$\%$ of control after 1 and 2 weeks treatment. These findings suggest that the Rhus flavonoid fraction can stimulate the androgen-dependent male sexual behavior and it can be applied to the material of functional food for enhancing the sexual function.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.97 no.4
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• pp.478-484
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• 2008

We investigated the effect of Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) ingestion on plasma lipids, antioxidant defense and GOT, GPT for 5 weeks. 27 ICR mice were used as the subject that was divided into CON group (water ingestion), HALF group (RVS 50% ingestion), and MAX group (RVS 100% ingestion), respectively. Body weight in MAX was significantly lower than CON group (p<.05). A plasma of TG in both RVS groups were significantly lower than CON group (p<.05). Concentration of FFA in MAX was significantly higher than HALF and CON group (p<.05). Blood glucose, GOT, and GPT have not significance among them. Liver SOD was significantly increased in MAX compared to the CON (p<.05). In conclusion, 100% of RVS ingestion has the effect of lowering body weight, decreasing plasma lipids, and increasing antioxidant defense in mouse.