• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.23 no.7
• /
• pp.869-878
• /
• 2013

Eleven functional plant materials were identified via a literature search, and their antioxidant capacity and inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 cells were tested. Yields from hot water extracts of the materials were the highest (52.10%) in Lycii fructus, and the yields from Phellinus linteus were the lowest (5.7%). The yields of another were 14.50-42.47%. Total phenol and flavonoids contents were the highest in P. linteus. The $EC_{50}$ values for DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities were lower than $100{\mu}g/ml$ for Salvia miltiorrhiza, whereas the values for P. linteus, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Paeonia lactiflora were $100-200{\mu}g/ml$. The $EC_{50}$ value for the superoxide anion radical scavenging activity of all the extracts was higher than $300{\mu}g/ml$. P. linteus for the reducing power was shown the highest activity. $Fe^{2+}$ chelating activity was the highest in the Morus alba extract. In an MTT assay, the cell viability of the RAW264.7 LPS-exposed cells was above 80% in extracts of $50{\mu}g/ml$ and above 77% in extracts of $100{\mu}g/ml$ in all the plant materials except Acanthopanax sessiliflorum. NO production in the RAW264.7 LPS-exposed cells showed a 12-fold increase compared to the control. The NO production level of all the extracts was $6.86-26.18{\mu}M$. Notably, $100{\mu}g/ml$ of S. baicalensis extract showed a remarkable decrease in NO production (72%) compared with the control. The potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of S.baicalensis, P. linteus, S. miltiorrhiza, M. alba, and P. lactiflora suggest that they are potential candidates as functional materials.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.85 no.4
• /
• pp.605-618
• /
• 1996

Namsan area supposed to be a disturbed ecosystem and Kwangneung area considered to be a natural ecosystem were selected for the study. On the basis of the plant species composition, the study was planned to examine structural plant species diversity so as to provide basic ecological information to restore more stable and healthy ecosystem for Namsan. The stratified sample plot method was employed for collecting vegetation data, establishing $20m{\times}20m$ square plots for overstory trees, $4m{\times}4m$ plots for mid-story woody plants, and $1m{\times}1m$ plots for ground vegetation. The herbaceous plants were periodically investigated by taking into account for seasonal(spring, summer, and autumn) variation in presence. Ecological attributes were evaluated through analyzing species composition, species diversity, life forms, interspecies association, and growing habitat for various forest types, vertical layers, life forms, and seasonal variation. Even though the species diversity index of canopy trees in the deciduous forest of Namsan was estimated higher than that of the natural forest of Kwangneung, overall species diversity of plants in Kwangneung area was greater than that in Namsan area. Herbaceous plants presented in Kwangneung but not in Namsan were Aconitum pseudo-proliferum, Botrychium virginianum, Dryopteris tokyoensis, Scutellaria insignis, Tricyrtis dilatata, and Viola kamibayashii, most of them were endemic species of Kwangneung. Elaeagnus umbellata, and Prunes padus var. seoulensis were found only in Namsan. Such species typically composed of the natural deciduous forest as Acer mono, Acer triflorum, Carpinus laxiflora, Cornus controversa, Fraxinus mandshurica, and Phellodendron amurertse were limited growing in a small size of area in Namsan. The future project should be made for encouraging the growth and expansion of the distribution of such species to restore biodiversity in Namsan area.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.199-210
• /
• 2011

This study was conducted to develop functional sources of herbal cosmetics for treatment of skin aging and inflammatory disorders using volatile flavor extracts of four different herbal medicinal prescriptions including Cnidium officinale Makino (COM), Angelica gigas Nakai (AGN), Mentha arvense L. (MAL), Artemisiae argyi Folium (AAF), Paeonia lactiflora Pall (PLP), Rehmanniae Radix Preparata (RRP), Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG), Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (PGM), Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch (GUF). The volatile flavor extracts of four different herbal medicinal prescriptions (HH-1: COM, AGN, PLP, RRP, HH-2: COM, AGN, PLP, RRP, SBG, PGM, GUF, HH-3: COM, AGN, MAL, AAF, HH-4: COM, AGN, MAL, AAF, SBG, PGM, GUF) were extracted using SDE and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects were measured by using DPPH radical and SLO, respectively. As a result, HH-2 showed moderate DPPH radical scavenging activity (68.24 %) and the strongest SLO inhibitory activity (83.96 %) at 100 ${\mu}g$/mL. Moreover, HH-2 of four different prescriptions significantly inhibited NO production on LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner without considerable cell cytotoxicity at range of 2.0 ~ 50 ${\mu}g$/mL. Additionally, HH-2 also effectively suppressed the production of $PGE_2$ and IL-6, which are responsible for promoting the inflammatory process. Major volatile components of HH-2 were identified as eugenol, paeonol, butyl phthalide, ${\beta}$-eudesmol and butylidene dihydrophthalide by GC-MS analysis. Thus, these results suggest that HH-2 may be useful as a potential source of anti-inflammatory agents in herbal medicinal cosmetics.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.729-735
• /
• 2010

In our previous study, it was reported that an herbal mixture, SH21B, inhibits fat accumulation and adipogenesis both in vitro and in vivo models of obesity. SH21B is a mixture composed of seven herbs: Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Prunus armeniaca Maxim, Ephedra sinica Stapf, Acorus gramineus Soland, Typha orientalis Presl, Polygala tenuifolia Willd, and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner (Ratio 3:3:3:3:3:2:2). The aim of this study was to investigate the detailed molecular mechanisms of the effects of SH21B on various regulators of the adipogenesis pathway. During the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells, SH21B significantly decreased the expression levels of central transcription factors of adipogenesis, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)$\gamma$ and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)$\alpha$. To elucidate the detailed molecular mechanism of the anti-adipogenic effects of SH21B, we examined the expression levels of the various pro-adipogenic or anti-adipogenic regulators of adipogenesis upstream of $PPAR{\gamma}$ and C/$EBP{\alpha}$. The mRNA levels of Krox20 and Kruppel-like factor (KLF) 15, which are pro-adipogenic regulators, were significantly down-regulated by SH21B treatment, whereas the mRNA levels of C/$EBP{\gamma}$ and KLF5 were not changed. KLF2 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), which are anti-adipogenic regulators, were significantly up-regulated by SH21B treatment. These results suggest that the molecular mechanism of the anti-adipogenic effect of SH21B involves both the down-regulations of pro-adipogenic regulators, such as Krox20 and KLF15, and the up-regulations of anti-adipogenic regulators, such as KLF2 and CHOP, which results in the suppression of central transcription factors of adipogenesis including $PPAR{\gamma}$ and C/$EBP{\alpha}$.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.225-230
• /
• 2008

Diabetes mellitus is the fifth leading cause of death among Koreans. Control of hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia is strongly correlated with decrease in risks for cardiovascular diseases, the most common and fatal diabetic complication. The effects of chronic feeding of a mixture of Chinese herbs on blood lipid profile were measured in an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus, db/db mice (C57BL/Ks). The Chinese herb mixture was composed of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer,Astragalus membranaceus, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Lycium chinense, Morus, Pueraria thunbergiana, Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina, Acanthopanax sessiliflorus, Schizandra chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Dioscorea batatas, Polygonatum doratumvar. pluriflorum, Paeonia lactiflora, and Rehmannia glutinosa in a ratio of 1 : 0.7 : 0.4 : 0.7 :0.4 : 0.7 : 1.1 : 0.9 : 0.4 : 0.4 : 0.7 :0.7 : 0.9 : 0.9. Methanol extract of the Chinese herb mixture was tested for the inhibitory activity against yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase in vitro. The Chinese herb mixture extract inhibited ${\alpha}$-glucosidase by 25.2% at the concentration of 0.5mg/mL. Four weekold male db/db mice (n = 14) were fed AIN-93G semipurified diet or diet containing 10% powder of the Chinese herb mixture for 6 weeks after 1 week of adaptation period. Body weight (39.5 ${\pm}$ 1.6 g) and food intake (4.3 ${\pm}$ 0.6 g/day) of the Chinese herb group were not significantly different from those of the control group (40.4 ${\pm}$ 2.6 g and 4.5 ${\pm}$ 0.6 g/day). Consumption of Chinese herb mixture significantly decreased plasma glucose level (442.5 ${\pm}$ 36.0mg/dL) compared with the control group (489.8 ${\pm}$ 34.6 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Plasma cholesterol level (159.2 ${\pm}$ 18.4 mg/dL) of the Chinese herb group was significantly lower than that of the control group (185.4 ${\pm}$ 13.7 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Blood glycated hemoglobin (6.3 ${\pm}$ 0.8%) and plasma triglyceride levels (99.4 ${\pm}$ 15.0mg/dL) of the Chinese herb group were not significantly different from those of the control group (6.7 ${\pm}$ 0.7% and 108.8 ${\pm}$ 11.0mg/dL). Thus, the Chinese herb mixture could be useful in the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular complications of diabetes.