• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.380-389
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• 2021

Metabolic syndrome (MS) refers to a clustering of at least three of the following medical conditions: high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, low high-density lipoprotein level, and high serum triglycerides. MS is related to a wide range of diseases which includes obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. There remains an ongoing need for improved treatment strategies for MS. The most important risk factors are dietary pattern, genetics, old age, lack of exercise, disrupted biology, medication usage, and excessive alcohol consumption, but pathophysiology of MS has not been completely identified. Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) refers to steamed/dried ginseng, traditionally associated with beneficial effects such as anti-inflammation, anti-fatigue, anti-obesity, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects. KRG has been often used in traditional medicine to treat multiple metabolic conditions. This paper summarizes the effects of KRG in MS and related diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease based on experimental research and clinical studies.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.321-330
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• 2022

Coronavirus has been spreading rapidly around the world since it broke out in China in 2019. Respiratory diseases caused by coronavirus infection cause various diseases ranging from asymptomatic subclinical infections to severe pneumonia and cardiovascular complications, leading to death. In this regard, natural products are being studied to prevent various diseases caused by COVID-19. In current review, we would like to present mechanisms related to the inhibition of heart disease in ginseng and ginsenoside against SARS-CoV-2. In many previous studies, ginseng and ginsenoside are known to have antioxidant, blood flow improvement, improvement of vascular and heart function, blood pressure control, suppression of myocardial infarction and heart failure, and antiarrhythmia. Therefore, ginseng and ginsenoside have a possibility to suppress cardiovascular complications caused by COVID-19. Many of research provide evidence for ginseng and ginsenoside as treatments for the risk of cardiovascular complications. However, in this review, more specific contents on the proposition of the efficacy of ginseng and ginsenoside for COVID-19 should be presented. Therefore, we hope that researches to reduce cardiovascular complications of ginseng and ginsenoside for COVID-19 should be presented to reduce mortality for COVID-19.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.236-241
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to find an environment friendly method of ginseng storage disease control using a natural plant extract. Essential oil was evaluated in terms of its antifungal ability against a variety of ginseng storage pathogens, and a variety of essential oils was conducted in order to assess the possibility of applying them as a component of a disease control strategy. Direct treatment with essential oil was demonstrated to exert a ginseng storage control effect. Methyl eugenol and thymol were shown to exert a mycelial growth inhibition effect of 80% on PDA media, using a paper disc containing 200 ppm of essential oil against Botrytis cinerea. The application of direct methyl eugenol treatment to ginseng resulted in a profound control effect. Both spray and dipping treatment of each methyl eugenol as well as thymol, evidenced a disease develoment of 10-20% as compared with the over 80% observed from all non-treated packages. Methyl eugenol in the large packages resulted in a disease index of 0.60 in the two essential oil treatments and also a small diseased area, as compared with the disease index of 1.65 and the wide diseased area observed in the non-treatment groups. Treatment with a mixture (methyl eugenol + thymol) in the synergistic effect test resulted in a relatively wide diseased area, as no discernable synergistic effect was detected. Methyl eugenol and thymol can be utilized as control agents in an environmentally friendly ginseng storage treatment, owing to the avirulent and clear effects detected in this study. In particular, ginseng must be ingested when fresh, and this is why a product for the control of ginseng storage diseases is so necessary.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2024

Since its outbreak in late 2019, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly caused global morbidity and deaths. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has major complications in cardiovascular and pulmonary system. The increased rate of mortality is due to delayed detection of certain biomarkers that are crucial in the development of disease. Furthermore, certain proteins and enzymes in cellular signaling pathways play an important role in replication of SARS-CoV-2. Most cases are mild to moderate symptoms, however severe cases of COVID-19 leads to death. Detecting the level of biomarkers such as C-reactive protein, cardiac troponin, creatine kinase, creatine kinaseMB, procalcitonin and Matrix metalloproteinases helps in early detection of the severity of disease. Similarly, through downregulating Renin-angiotensin system, interleukin, Mitogen-activated protein kinases and Phosphoinositide 3-kinases pathways, COVID-19 can be effectively controlled and mortality could be prevented. Ginseng and ginsenosides possess therapeutic potential in cardiac and pulmonary complications, there are several studies performed in which they have suppressed these biomarkers and downregulated the pathways, thereby inhibiting the further spread of disease. Supplementation with ginseng or ginsenoside could act on multiple pathways to reduce the level of biomarkers significantly and alleviate cardiac and pulmonary damage. Therefore, this review summarizes the potential of ginseng extract and ginsenosides in controlling the cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases by COVID-19.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2011

Objectives & Methods: This research may accounts for Self Targeting Therapy (STT) which is a peculiar operation of Mountain Ginseng Pharmacopuncture. The objectives include analysis of its mechanism and reporting of clinical cases. Results: 1. STT of Mountain Ginseng Pharmacopuncture refers to the function of curing and making a diagnosis of the disease by oneself. 2. The mechanism of STT is to pursue the latent illness and make the remedial action by oneself. In this process, the symptom of latent disease is outwardly expressed. 3. The most popular symptom expressed is manifestation of pecular sensation along the specific meridians. Then followed headache, dizziness, powerless and etc. Diverse symptoms can be expressed by a patient. 4. If the revealed symptoms are carefully observed, the cause of the disease or the patient state can be diagnosed easily. Conclusion: The mechanism of STT of Mountain Ginseng Pharmacopuncture can be a great asset in clinical trials. Other studies on STT of Mountain Ginseng Pharmacopuncture should be followed in the future.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.9-13
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• 2011

This study was carried out to control the disease of wood-cultivated ginseng(panax ginseng) using natural materials. Four fungi spices such as Pythium ultimum, Alternaria alternata, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani which caused disease of the wood-cultivated ginseng were investigated. The infection of these fungi causes symptom on roots, stems and leaves. The leaves became dry and die. The disease caused by Pythium ultimum can be prevented by using friendly environmental materials like Chamaecyparis obtuse essential oil and Wormstop. Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum might be prevented by using wormstop extracted from Neem tree(Azadirachta indica). No substance tested effectively prevents the growth of Rhizoctonia solani.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.127-136
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• 2007

Ginseng, the root of Panax species, is a well-known herbal medicine. It has been used as traditional medicine in Korea, China and Japan for thousands of years and now is a popular and worldwide natural medicine. The active principles of ginseng are ginsenosides which are also called ginseng saponins. Traditionally ginseng has been used primarily as a tonic to invigorate weak body functions and help the restoration of homeostasis. Current in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate its beneficial effects in a wide range of pathological conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, immune deficiency and hepatotoxicity. Moreover, recent research indicates that some of ginseng's active ingredients exert beneficial actions on aging and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson´s disease. Essentially, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anti-apoptotic and immunostimulant activities are mostly underlying the postulated ginseng-mediated protective mechanisms. Next to animal studies, data from neural cell cultures contribute to the understanding of these mechanisms which involve decreasing nitric oxide, scavenging of free radicals and counteracting excitotoxicity. This paper focuses on own and other neuroprotective data on ginseng for dopaminergic neurons and intends to show aspects where neuroprotection e.g. by ginsenosides, additionally or preceding standard Parkinson therapy, could come about as a valuable contribution to slow neurodegenerative processes.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.599-609
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• 2021

Ginseng has long been considered as an herbal medicine. Recent data suggest that ginseng has antiinflammatory properties and can improve learning- and memory-related function in the central nervous system (CNS) following the development of CNS neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cerebral ischemia, and other neurological disorders. In this review, we discuss the role of ginseng in the neurovascular unit, which is composed of endothelial cells surrounded by astrocytes, pericytes, microglia, neural stem cells, oligodendrocytes, and neurons, especially their blood-brain barrier maintenance, anti-inflammatory effects and regenerative functions. In addition, cell-cell communication enhanced by ginseng may be attributed to regeneration via induction of neurogenesis and angiogenesis in CNS diseases. Thus, ginseng may have therapeutic potential to exert cognitive improvement in neuroinflammatory diseases such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.506-514
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• 2023

Dementia has become one of the most important diseases threatening human health. Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) have the highest incidence rates among the types of dementia, but until now, therapeutic methods have been limited. Panax ginseng has been used in China for thousands of years to treat dementia, and modern medical studies have found that it contains multiple active components, such as ginsenosides, polysaccharides, amino acids, volatile oils and polyacetylenes, many of which have therapeutic effects in treating AD and VaD. Studies have found that ginsenosides have multitarget therapeutic effects in treating dementia, such as regulation of synaptic plasticity and the cholinergic system, inhibition of Aβ aggravation and tau hyperphosphorylation, anti-neuroinflammation, anti-oxidation effects and anti-apoptosis effects. Other active components of Panax ginseng, such as gintonin, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides and ginseng proteins, also have therapeutic effects on AD and VaD. The effectiveness of ginseng-containing Chinese medicine compounds has also been confirmed by clinical and basic investigations in treating AD and VaD. In this review, we summarized the potential therapeutic effects and related mechanisms of Panax ginseng in treating AD and VaD to provide some examples for further studies.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.245-252
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• 2024

Ginseng is a traditional herbal medicine used for prevention and treatment of various diseases as a tonic. Recent scientific cohort studies on life prolongation with ginseng consumption support this record, as those who consumed ginseng for more than 5 years had reduced mortality and cognitive decline compared to those who did not. Clinical studies have also shown that acute or long-term intake of ginseng total extract improves acute working memory performance or cognitive function in healthy individuals and those with subjective memory impairment (SMI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or early Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia who are taking AD medication(s). Ginseng contains various components ranging from classical ginsenosides and polysaccharides to more recently described gintonin. However, it is unclear which ginseng component(s) might be the main candidate that contribute to memory or cognitive improvements or prevent cognitive decline in older individuals. This review describes recent clinical contributors to ginseng components in clinical tests and introduces emerging evidence that ginseng components could be novel candidates for cognitive improvement in older individuals, as ginseng components improve SMI cognition and exhibits add-on effects when coadministered with early AD dementia drugs. The mechanism behind the beneficial effects of ginseng components and how it improves cognition are presented. Additionally, this review shows how ginseng components can contribute to SMI, MCI, or early AD dementia when used as a supplementary food and/or medicine, and proposes a novel combination therapy of current AD medicines with ginseng component(s).