• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.17-24
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• 2007

Objectives : Licorice has been commonly used as a detoxification agent. We previously reported that licorice and its component, liquiritigenin, exhibits cytoprotective activity against Pb-induced toxicity. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of liquiritigenin on the lead-induced cytotoxicity in PC-12 cells. Methods : PC-12 cells were pre-treated with liquiritigenin, and further incubated with lead 100 ${\mu}M$ for $12^{\sim}48$ hours. The viability of PC-12 cells was measured by MTT assay, and the levels of proteins were analysed by western blot. Results : Severe cytotoxicity was induced and nitric oxide (NO) production was augmented by the exposure of lead. Liquiritigenin protected cells from lead-induced cytoxicity and reduced NO production in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibition of NO production was due to the suppression of iNOS protein via the inhibition of $NF-{\kappa}B$ nuclear translocation, determined by western blot analysis. Conclusions : These results suggest that liquiritigenin may exert cytoprotective effect against lead toxicity by inhibiting NO production.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.103-112
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• 2010

Objective : The aim of this study was to determine whether methanol extract of Do-Ki-Tang (DKT) inhibit free radical generation and production of nitrite an index of NO, $PGE_2$, iNOS, COX-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6 and MCP-1 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Methods : Cytotoxic activity of extract on RAW 264.7 cells was measured using 5-(3-caroboxymeth-oxyphenyl)-2H-tetra-zolium inner salt (MTS) assay. The expression level of inflammatory response-related proteins was confirmed by western blot. The production of proinflammatory cytokines was measured by ELISA. Results : Our results indicated that DKT scavenged DPPH radical and nitric oxide in vitro. Moreover, DKT significantly inhibited the LPS-induced NO, $PGE_2$ production and iNOS, COX-2 expression accompanied by an attenuation of TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6 and MCP-1 formation in macrophages. Furthermore, DKT treatment also blocked LPS-induced intracellular ROS production and the activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ and MAPKs. Conclusion : Our data suggest that the anti-inflammatory effect of DKT is mediated through down-modulation of pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines by blocking the signaling pathways of NF-${\kappa}B$ and MAPKs. These inhibitory effects by DKT represent a potential therapeutic approach to the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.535-544
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• 2017

Carnosol is a phenolic antioxidant present in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). It is known for anti-inflammatory effects, analgesic activity and anti-cancer effects. However, no study has been dedicated yet to its effect on atopic dermatitis (AD). Here, we show that carnosol effectively inhibited LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) generation and expression of inflammatory marker proteins (iNOS and COX-2) in RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, carnosol effectively inhibits the phosphorylation of STAT3 and DNA binding activity in RAW 264.7 cells. Pull down assay and docking model analysis showed that carnosol directly binds to the DNA binding domain (DBD) of STAT3. We next examined the anti-atopic activity of carnosol ($0.05{\mu}g/cm^2$) using 5% Phthalic anhydride (PA)-induced AD model in HR1 mice. Carnosol treatment significantly reduced 5% PA-induced AD like skin inflammation in skin tissues compared with control mice. Moreover, carnosol treatment inhibits the expression of iNOS and COX-2 in skin tissue. In addition, the levels of $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IL-1{\beta}$, and Immunoglobulin-E in blood serum was significantly decreased in carnosol treated mice compared with those of 5% PA treated group. Furthermore, the activation of STAT3 in skin tissue was decreased in carnosol treated mice compared with control mice. In conclusion, these findings suggest that carnosol exhibited a potential anti-AD activity by inhibiting pro-inflammatory mediators through suppression of STAT3 activation via direct binding to DBD of STAT3.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.123-128
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• 2002

Physical activity is a primary cancer control strategy that has received little attention to date. However, an Increasing number of epidemiological studies have proposed that physical exercise may be beneficial by enhancing anticancer immune system responses. We investigated the effects of acute exercise on changes in nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. The amounts of NO generated by abdominal macrophages in mice were measured after exercise. Thirty-two mice, which were challenged with thioglycollate broth to activate peritoneal macrophages, were randomly assigned to control, exercise and recovery groups. The mice exercised on a motor-driven treadmill for 3 consecutive days, either moderately (18m/min, 30 min/day, 5％ grade) or severely (18-35m/min, 60 min/day, 5％ grade). The mice were killed immediately after exercise or after 6 hrs of recovery. Nitric oxide was quantified by the Griess assay. The exercised mice showed higher levels of NO generation than those of the control mice, but the intensity of exercise had no significant effect on NO generation. Mice allowed six hours of recovery after exercise showed higher levels of NO generation than that of animals sacrificed immediately after exercise, but there were no significant differences in NO generation with variations in the intensity of exercise. Increased levels of iNOS were found in the exercised groups, and this was greatest in the groups allowed six hours of recovery compared to those groups sacrificed immediately after exercise. The results of this study suggest that acute exercise may enhance an immune response by inducing macrophage-derived NO generation; these results support the epidemiological findings which support the benefits of exercise in the prevention and control of cancer. Further study is needed to determine the physiological significance of these findings, which could be applied to the use of therapeutic exercises to assist in the prevention and control of cancer.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.69-80
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study was to compare anti-Inflammation and anti-oxidation of Jeondo-San(JDS) extracted with two kinds of solvents, ethanol and water. Methods : Two kinds of JDS extractions were prepared 20, 50, $100\;{\mu}g/mg$. The Cytotoxicity was measured by MTT assay in Raw 264.7 cell. The anti-inflammation effects were measured by inhibitory efficacy on $PGE_2$, NO, TNF-$\alpha$, COX-2 and iNOS in Raw 264.7 cell. The anti-oxidation effects were measured by ROS inhibitory efficacy, intracellular GSH synthesis and DPPH Radical scavenging in HaCaT cell. Results : 1. All of JDS extraction groups had no cytotoxicity in Raw 264.7 cell. 2. All of JDS extraction groups showed significantly inhibitory effect on production of $PGE_2$. Inhibitory efficacy increased in accodance with concentration. 3. All of JDS extraction groups showed significantly inhibitory effect on production of NO. Inhibitory efficacy increased in accodance with concentration. 4. All of JDS extraction groups did not show significantly inhibitory effect on production of TNF-$\alpha$. 5. $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ JDS extracted with ethanol and $50\;{\mu}g/ml$, $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ JDS extracted with water showed inhibitory effect on iNOS expression. 6. All of JDS extraction groups showed significantly inhibitory effect on production of ROS. Inhibitory efficacy increased in accodance with concentration. Ethanol extractions were better than water extractions. 7. $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ JDS extracted with ethanol only produced GSH of $32{\pm}5.2%$. 8. All of JDS extraction groups showed significantly scavenging effect of DPPH radicals. Inhibitory efficacy increased in accodance with concentration. Ethanol extractions were better than water extractions. Conclusion : Two kinds of JDS extractions have not cytotoxicity and inhibit production of NO. JDS extracted with water was effective in anti-inflammation, JDS extracted with ethanol was effective in anti-oxidation.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.381-386
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• 2012

Eucommia ulmoides OLIVER (EU) is a traditional Korean herbal used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the present study, the molecular pharmacology basis of its anti-inflammatory effect is revealed in this work, EU was studied in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophage cells (RAW 264.7) as an established inflammation model. After activation, nitric oxide (NO) production and iNOS mRNA were measured by using a colorimetric assay (Griess reagent), and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. The change in the content of $PGE_2$, $TNF{\alpha}$, and IL-6 was concurrently monitored by ELISA. In results, we found that in the concentration range without showing cytotoxicity, EU produced a remarkable anti-inflammatory effect and showed a dose-dependent inhibition of LPSinduced NO production. Compared with indomethacin, EU has more potency and a specific action of NO inhibition, $PGE_2$, IL-6, and TNF-${\alpha}$ inhibition. These results suggest that EU may be a suitable herbal medicine to yield the greatest anti-inflammatory activity for food additives and medicine.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.175-185
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• 2009

Petiolus Nelumbinis, branches of lotus leaf or lotus flower is a traditional oriental herbal medicine widely used for treating a superheat or disorder of qi flow. Although there are many clinical results and literature study, it has been rarely conducted to evaluate the immuno-biological activity. The present study was conducted to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of PNM (Petiolus Nelumbinis MeOH extract) in vitro. To determine cytotoxic concentration of PNM, the cells were treated with PNM for 24 h after LPS addition, and the cell viability was tested by MTT assay. Both of dosages (30 and 100 ${\mu}g/ml$) of PNM had no cytotoxicity. In these concentrations, PNM significantly reduced the elevated levels of NO and $PGE_2$ by LPS. These inhibitory effects of PNM were due to the reduced expressions of iNOS and COX-2 protein. TNF-$\alpha$, IL-1$\beta$ and IL-6 are frequently encountered pro-inflammatory cytokines, and LPS plays a key role in inducing to the massive production of these cytokines. Thus, we next determined the levels of these cytokines. Although PNM had no significant inhibitory effect on the production of TNF-$\alpha$, the elevated levels of IL-1$\beta$ and IL-6 by LPS were dose-dependently reduced in PNM-treated groups. These results demonstrate that PNM has anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the production of proinflammatory cytokines, NO and $PGE_2$ in LPS-activated macrophage. Moreover, the reduction of NO and $PGE_2$ levels was due to the inhibition of iNOS and COX-2 protein expression by PNM.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.780-786
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• 2003

This study was carried out to know the immunity responses of the Spatholubus suberectus Dunn(hereinafter referred to STSD) to the synovial cells isolated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Various experiments were performed in vitro to analyse the immunity effects of STSD. Gene expression and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, iNOS and COX-2 were determined by RT-PCR and ELISA kit. And also the binding activity of NF-kB and AP-1 were measured by Electromobility shift assay (EMSA) and the production of ROS was measured by flow cytometry. The results were obtained as follows 1. The gene expression and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α were reduced significantly. 2. The gene expression of iNOS and COX-2 were reduced. 3. The binding activity of NF-kB and AP-1 were inhibited. 4. The production of ROS in human synovial cells was reduced significantly. Comparison of the results for this study showed that STSD had immunomodulatory effects of suppressing or enhancing. So we expect that STSD should be used as a effective drugs for not only rheumatoid arthritis but also another auto-immune disease. Therefore we have to survey continuously in looking for the effective substance and mechanism in the future.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.509-517
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• 2008

Gyejijakyakjimo-tang is a multi-herbal formula that is composed of nine medicinal herbs. Gyejijakyakjimo-tang has been reported to have antipyretic and analgesic effects. Gyejijakyakjimo-tang has traditionally been used for goat and rheumatoid arthritis. However, analgesic and antiinflammatory effects of Gyejijakyakjimo-tang has not been clarified yet. In this study, we investigated the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect of the aqueous extract of Gyejijakyakjimo-tang. We evaluated the aqueous extract of Gyejijakyakjimo-tang on Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in murine raw 264.7 macrophage cells. For this study, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) immunoassay, and nitric oxide (NO) detection were performed. Gyejijakyakjimo-tang suppressed $PGE_2$ synthesis and NO production by inhibiting the LPS-induced expressions of COX-2 and iNOS mRNA in murine raw 264.7 macrophage cells. These results show that Gyejijakyakjimo-tang has the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect by mostly suppressing COX-2 and iNOS expressions, and resulting in the inhibition of $PGE_2$ synthesis and NO production.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2010

Objectives : In this study, we compared the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Curcumae longae Radix (CLRa) and Curcumae longae Rhizoma (CLRh). Methods : We performed 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and 2,2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) cation scavenging assays, and determined total polyphenolic content to examine the anti-oxidant effects of CLRa and CLRh. We also evaluated the anti-oxidant effects of CLRa and CLRh against hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced toxicity in PC12 cells using thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) assays. Next, to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of CLRa and CLRh against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in microglia BV2 cells, we measured nitric oxide (NO) assay and inducible nitrite synthase (iNOS) using Western blotting analysis. Results : CLRa showed higher activity in DPPH and ABTS assays and lower total polyphenolic contents compared with CLRh. In PC12 cells, CLRa and CLRh showed no difference in H2O2-induced cell toxicity and ROS overproduction. In BV2 cells, CLRa showed higher effect than CLRh in NO and iNOS production induced by LPS. Conclusions : These results demonstrate that CLRa has higher radical scavenging activities and anti-inflammatory effect in BV2 cells comparing CLRh. However, CLRa and CLRh have no effect and no difference in $H_2O_2$-induced toxicity.