• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.32-36
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• 2019

Dendropanax morbifera Leveille, an endemic species in Korea, is best known as a tree that produces a resinous sap. Although D. morbifera is used in folk medicine for various diseases, its active ingredients are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated antioxidative activities of ethanolic extracts of three parts of this plant including leaves, debarked stems, and roots. The root extracts exhibited strong 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity compared with leaf or stem extracts. The root extracts showed hepatoprotective activity against t-butyl hydroperoxide-induced HepG2 cells, and reduced the ROS level in the cells. The root fractions lowered the mRNA level of COX-2 on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated Raw246.7 cells. These results suggest that ethanolic root extracts of D. morbifera are a source of antioxidant and hepatoprotective compounds, which indicate a potential for a botanical drug.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.125-134
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• 2019

Background: Excessive stress causes varied physiological and psychological disorders including male reproductive problems. Here, we attempted to investigate the protective effects of Korean Red Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer; KRG) against sub-acute immobilization stress-induced testicular damage in experimental rats. Methods: Male rats (age, 4 wk; weight, 60-70 g) were divided into four groups (n = 8 in each group): normal control group, immobilization control group, immobilization group treated with 100 mg/kg of KRG daily, and immobilization group treated with 200 mg/kg of KRG daily. Normal control and immobilization control groups received vehicle only. KRG (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) was mixed in the standard diet powder and fed daily for 6 mo. Parameters such as organ weight, blood chemistry, sperm kinematic values, and expression levels of testicular-related molecules were measured using commercially available kits, Western blotting, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Data revealed that KRG restored the altered testis and epididymis weight in immobilization stress-induced rats significantly (p < 0.05). Further, KRG ameliorated the altered blood chemistry and sperm kinematic values when compared with the immobilization control group and attenuated the altered expression levels of spermatogenesis-related proteins (nectin-2, cAMP responsive element binding protein 1, and inhibin-${\alpha}$), sex hormone receptors (androgen receptor, luteinizing hormone receptor, and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor), and antioxidant-related enzymes (glutathione S-transferase m5, peroxiredoxin-4, and glutathione peroxidase 4) significantly in the testes of immobilization stress-induced rats. Conclusion: KRG protected immobilization stress-induced testicular damage and fertility factors in rats, thereby indicating its potential in the treatment of stress-related male sterility.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1678-1727
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• 2006

This study was perfromed to develop the assessment guideline and endpoints for clinical trial with anticancer herbal medicine. The botanical products used to humans for long time may be applied to phase 3 clinical trial after submitting the evidences for safety and efficacy of them or completion of basic requirement of phase 1 and phase 2 for safety confirmation and dose determination. Syndrome improvement was chiefly evaluated by Zubrod and karnofsky(%) methods. We suggest the general clinical trial assessment with botanical products, by following assessment points, that is, tumor size for 50 points, survival fate for 10 points, major syndromes for 40 points. It is recommendable that the each symptom of Qi deficiency syndrome, blood deficiency syndrome and Qi stagnation syndrome was allocated by assessment points, Similarly, the each symptom was given the assessment points according to the severity of symptom, for example, slight for 3 points, moderate for 2 points and severe for 1 point in hepatocelluar carcinoma and lung cancer. Then, the efficacy of botanical products was evaluated by the difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment. Asking the neoplastic patients of questionnaire on physical, emotional, cognitive, social and role subjects availability, three more syndromes (Fatigue, Pain and Nausea/Vomit), quality of life(QOL) will be evaluated by GLM statistics. In addition, in case of lung cancer, 13 questions will be asked by the EORTC QLQ-C13 forms. As the assessment of endpoints for efficacy to reduce side effects induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the data of image scanning and hemato-urinalysis can be usefully applied on immune response, weight loss, indigestion, hemopoietic damage and injury of liver and kidney, while the changes of syndromes of side effect can be evaluated by differentiation methods of Qi and blood and five viscera. However, it is still necessary to determine the ratio between scientific analytical method and Oriental differentiation method as well as confirm the Oriental assessment endpoints by clinical trial. In addition, we suggest the continuous development of assessment endpoints on other carcinomas except of hepatocelluar carcinoma and lung cancer in future.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.1121-1126
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• 2009

This paper describes a pattern recognition method of Magnoliae flos based on a gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis of the essential oil components. The botanical drug is mainly comprised of the four magnolia species (M. denudata, M. biondii, M. kobus, and M. liliflora) in Korea, although some other species are also being dealt with the drug. The GC/MS separation of the volatile components, which was extracted by the simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE), was performed on a carbowax column (supelcowax 10; 30 m{\time}0.25 mm{\time}0.25{\mu}m$) using temperature programming. Variance in the retention times for all peaks of interests was within RSD 2% for repeated analyses (n = 9). Of the 74 essential oil components identified from the magnolia species, approximately 10 major components, which is $\alpha$-pinene, $\beta$-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, d-limonene, eucarlyptol (1,8-cineol), $\gamma$-terpinene, p-cymene, linalool, $\alpha$-terpineol, were commonly present in the four species. For statistical analysis, the original dataset was reduced to the 13 variables by Fisher criterion and factor analysis (FA). The essential oil patterns were processed by means of the multivariate statistical analysis including hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA). All samples were divided into four groups with three principal components by PCA and according to the plant origins by HCA. Thirty-three samples (23 training sets and 10 test samples to be assessed) were correctly classified into the four groups predicted by PCA. This method would provide a practical strategy for assessing the authenticity or quality of the well-known herbal drug, Magnoliae flos.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.65-76
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• 2018

Although there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of food allergies worldwide in recent decades, no effective therapeutic strategies have been developed. Modulation of the gut microbiota composition and/or function through probiotics has been highlighted as a promising target for protection against food allergies. In this study, we aimed to investigate the allergy-reducing effects of a probiotic mixture (P5: Lactococcus lactis KF140, Pediococcus pentosaceus KF159, Lactobacillus pentosus KF340, Lactobacillus paracasei 698, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 26N) in mice with ovalbumin (OVA)-induced food allergy. Administration of P5 significantly suppressed the oral OVA challenge-induced anaphylactic response and rectal temperature decline, and reduced diarrhea symptoms. Moreover, P5 also significantly inhibited the secretion of IgE, Th2 cytokines (interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13), and Th17 cytokines (IL-17), which were increased in mice with OVA-induced food allergy, and induced generation of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. These results revealed that P5 may have applications as a preventive agent against food allergy.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.179-193
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• 2020

Ginseng products on the market show high variability in their composition and overall quality. This becomes a challenge for both consumers and health-care professionals who are in search of high-quality, reliable ginseng products that have a proven safety and efficacy profile. The botanical extract standardization is of crucial importance in this context as it determines the reproducibility of the quality of the product that is essential for the evaluation of effectiveness and safety. This review focuses on the well-characterized and standardized ginseng extract, G115, which represents an excellent example of an herbal drug preparation with constant safety and efficacy within the herbal medicinal products. Over the many decades, extensive preclinical and clinical research has been conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of G115. In vitro and in vivo studies of G115 have shown pharmacological effects on physical performance, cognitive function, metabolism, and the immune system. Furthermore, a significant number of G115 clinical studies, most of them double-blind placebo-controlled, have reinforced the findings of preclinical evidence and proved the efficacy of this extract on blood glucose and lipid regulation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, energy, physical performance, and immune and cognitive functions. Clinical trials and 50 years of presence on the market are proof of a good safety profile of G115.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.33-36
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• 2019

Arginine is one of the basic aminoacid found to be associated with histones and also one of the essential aminoacids now. Arginine is provided by diet, and also found to be synthesised in the body through intestinal-renal axis. Justification---BMI---Associated Risks-How to gain body weight---Healthy. Foods to Gain Weight Fast---High-Protein Vegetables and Fruits(with Image)-Recipes---Physical exercises-List of fruits and vegetables grown in Bangladesh with local names, English names and Botanical names-taxonomic family names. Arginine as drug was first approved by FDA and has recognised as a excellent dietary supplement for curing diseases like preeclampsia during gestation, diabetes and insulin resistance in obese patients. Preeclampsia is characterised by high blood pressure and proteinuria in gestational period of after 20 weeks. Severe preeclampsia is characterised by headaches, blurred vision, and inability to have high photovision, nausea and vomiting. L-Arginine along with Vit C and E are given as medical food to the patients and decrease in condition symptoms is the project now under phase II clinical trial. However the role of arginine in ameolirating preeclampsia symptoms is uncertain except with that of hypertension. Arginine is used to treat pain in sickle cell anaemia, lung damage, reperfusion injury, Trauma and shock but should be excluded during sepsis.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.382-389
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• 2020

"Eating cosmetic" market comes to prominence worldwide. Inner Beauty has established itself as the top trend nowadays and is leading the health functional food market. Another noticeable trend other than beauty-from-within is that products using "plant-based" natural botanical raw material are increasing. Based on these trends above, we have developed a plant extract named Agatri® for skin health using Agastache rugosa. By ingesting Agatri®, it is expected that the formation of skin wrinkles is suppressed, and skin elasticity is increased by suppressing the decrease in collagen content caused by ultraviolet rays. At the same time, it is possible to prevent skin aging by improving skin hydration and trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). The studies show that it significantly increased production of hyaluronic acid and collagen, and decreased production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). And Agatri® has been approved as an "Individually recognized functional ingredient for skin health by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korea in 2020. As a result, Agatri® is a good solution for those who are in need of skin protection from exposure to UV and aging.

• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.334-343
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• 2017

Eclipta prostrata and E. alba are annual herbal medicinal plants and have been used as Chinese medicinal tonics. Both species are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions as well as in Korea. Both species have similar morphological features but E. alba has smoother leaf blade margins compared with E. prostrata. Although both species are utilized as oriental medicines, E. prostrata is more widely used than E. alba. Morphological semblances have confounded identification of either species. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genomes of both species to provide an authentication system between the two species and understand their diversity. Both chloroplast genomes were 151,733-151,757 bp long and composed of a large single copy (83,285-83,300 bp), a small single copy (18,283-18,346 bp), and a pair of inverted repeats (25,075-25,063 bp). Gene annotation revealed 80 protein coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and four rRNA genes. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the genus Eclipta is grouped with Heliantheae tribe species in the Asteraceae family. A comparative analysis verified 29 InDels and 58 SNPs between chloroplast genomes of E. prostrata and E. alba. The low chloroplast genome sequence diversity indicates that both species are really close to each other and are not completely diverged yet. We developed six DNA markers that distinguish E. prostrata and E. alba based on the polymorphisms of chloroplast genomes between E. prostrata and E. alba. The chloroplast genome sequences and the molecular markers generated in this study will be useful for further research of Eclipta species and accurate classification of medicinal herbs.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.196-201
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• 1987

A study was carried out to investigate the possibility of acclimation of Coptis japonica Makino in Korea. Coptis japonica could be grown within 4 years as a medicinal crude drug if it is cultivated in the area of mountain facing north(300m above sea level) with 70% light interception and appropriate soil texture. It is to be noted that the propagation of the plant is more important than the yield of berberine because the berberine contents do not change in different conditions. The results were as follows; 1. The germination rates of the seeds by covering with the pine tree leaves were the highest and averaged 63%. 2. The germination rates of dry seeds were not affected in spite of low temperature and $GA_3$ treatment. 3. The germination rates of the seeds stored in moistured sand were averaged 85%, but in dry state, they were not germinated. 4. The number of leaves and fresh weight of Coptis japonica from the area of mountain facing north were increased significantly. 5. The growth and fresh weight of Coptis japonica were reduced in clay. 6. The best growth was obtained under 70% light interception. It is possible to intercrop between evergreen trees. 7. The foliage dressing did not affect the growth. 8. The number of leaves and fresh weight were increased from the 3rd year, and the average weight of rhizomes was 5.7g in 4th year. 9. The berberine contents of the rhizomes of Coptis japonica under various treatment conditions ranged from 9 to 10%. Coptidis Rhizoma from this study and from Korean market showed much higher berberine contents than those from Japanese market.