• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.21-23
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• 1973

To see if the Panax Ginseng has any influence upon the amount of water and food intake, an experiment was carried out using 30 male rats. The animals were divided equally into the ginseng and the saline groups. For 5 days, animals belonging to the ginseng group received every day 0.5 ml/100g body weight of ginseng extract (4 mg of ginseng alcohol extract in 1 ml of saline), while animals belonging to the saline group received the same amount of saline. After the last medication on the 5th day, each animal was accommodated in a cage which was provided with a food well and a water supplier made of glass tube bent $30^{\circ}$ at the tip. The amounts of water and food consumed in the daytime (from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and at night (from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. next morning) were measured for 2 days. The ginseng group tended to consume water and food slightly more than the saline group did. However, the difference between the 2 group was far from reaching significancy. The influence of Panax Ginseng upon water and food intake was not evident.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.191-198
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• 2021

Background: Most clinical studies of immune responses activated by Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) have been conducted exclusively in patients. However, there is still a lack of clinical research on immune-boosting benefits of KRG for healthy persons. This study aims to confirm how KRG boosts the immune system of healthy subjects. Methods: A total of 100 healthy adult subjects were randomly divided into two groups that took either a 2 g KRG tablet or a placebo per day for 8 weeks. The primary efficacy evaluation variables included changes in T cells, B cells, and white blood cells (WBCs) before and after eight weeks of KRG ingestion. Cytokines (TNF-α, INF-γ, IL-2 and IL-4), WBC differential count, and incidence of colds were measured in the secondary efficacy evaluation variables. Safety evaluation variables were used to identify changes in laboratory test results that incorporated adverse reactions, vital signs, hematological tests, blood chemistry tests, and urinalysis. Results: Compared to the placebo group, the KRG intake group showed a significant increase in the number of T cells (CD3) and its subtypes (CD4 and CD8), B cells, and the WBC count before and after eight weeks of the intake. There were no clinically significant adverse reactions or other notable results in the safety evaluation factors observed. Conclusion: This study has proven through its eight-week intake test and subsequent analysis that KRG boosts the immune system through an increase in T cells, B cells, and WBCs, and that it is safe according to the study's safety evaluation.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.609-619
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• 2022

Obesity is a primary factor provoking various chronic disorders, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, and causes the death of 2.8 million individuals each year. Diet, physical activity, medications, and surgery are the main therapies for overweightness and obesity. During weight loss therapy, a decrease in energy stores activates appetite signaling pathways under the regulation of neuropeptides, including anorexigenic [corticotropin-releasing hormone, proopiomelanocortin (POMC), cholecystokinin (CCK), and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript] and orexigenic [agoutirelated protein (AgRP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and melanin-concentrating hormone] neuropeptides, which increase food intake and lead to failure in attaining weight loss goals. Ginseng and ginsenosides reverse these signaling pathways by suppressing orexigenic neuropeptides (NPY and AgRP) and provoking anorexigenic neuropeptides (CCK and POMC), which prevent the increase in food intake. Moreover, the results of network pharmacology analysis have revealed that constituents of ginseng radix, including campesterol, beta-elemene, ginsenoside Rb1, biotin, and pantothenic acid, are highly correlated with neuropeptide genes that regulate energy balance and food intake, including ADIPOQ, NAMPT, UBL5, NUCB2, LEP, CCK, GAST, IGF1, RLN1, PENK, PDYN, and POMC. Based on previous studies and network pharmacology analysis data, ginseng and its compounds may be a potent source for obesity treatment by regulating neuropeptides associated with appetite.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.222-226
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• 2017

Background: Long-term ginseng intake can increase longevity in healthy individuals. Here, we examined if long-term treatment with Panax ginseng Meyer (Korean Red Ginseng, KRG) can also enhance survival duration (SD) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 252 HIV-1 patients diagnosed from 1986 to 2013 prior to the initiation of antiretroviral therapy. Overall, 162 patients were treated with KRG ($3,947{\pm}4,943g$) for $86{\pm}63$ mo. The effects of KRG on SD were analyzed according to the KRG intake level and the length of the follow-up period. Results: There were significant correlations between the total amount of KRG and SD in the KRG intake group (r = 0.64, p < 0.0001) as well as between total amount of KRG and mean annual decrease in $CD4^+$ T-cell count in all 252 patients (r = -0.17, p < 0.01). The annual decrease in $CD4^+$ T-cell count (change in $cells/{\mu}L$) was significantly slower in KRG-treated patients than in patients receiving no KRG ($48{\pm}40$ vs. $106{\pm}162$; p < 0.001). The SD (in months) was also significantly longer in the KRG group than in the no-KRG group ($101{\pm}64$ vs. $59{\pm}40$, p < 0.01). Conclusion: KRG prolongs survival in HIV-1 patients, possibly by slowing the decrease in $CD4^+$ T-cell count.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.106-115
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• 2014

Background: Gut microbiota is regarded as one of the major factors involved in the control of body weight. The antiobesity effects of ginseng and its main constituents have been demonstrated, but the effects on gut microbiota are still unknown. Methods: To investigate the effect of ginseng on gut microbiota, 10 obese middle-aged Korean women took Panax ginseng extracts for 8 wk and assessment of body composition parameters, metabolic biomarkers, and gut microbiota composition was performed using 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing at baseline and at 8 wk. Significant changes were observed in body weight and body mass index; however, slight changes were observed in gut microbiota. We divided the participants into two groups, the effective and the ineffective weight loss groups, depending on weight loss effect, in order to determine whether the antiobesity effect was influenced by the composition of gut microbiota, and the composition of gut microbiota was compared between the two groups. Results: Prior to ginseng intake, significant differences of gut microbiota were observed between both at phyla and genera and the gut microbiota of the effective and ineffective weight loss groups was segregated on a principal coordinate analysis plot. Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that ginseng exerted a weight loss effect and slight effects on gut microbiota in all participants. In addition, its antiobesity effects differed depending on the composition of gut microbiota prior to ginseng intake.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1990.06a
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• pp.95-95
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• 1990

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.237-237
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• 1990

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 1976

A chronical intake of Substantial amount of alcohol would disrupt anormal function of liver if not develop liver diseases in relatively short period. In order to out whether ginseng or ginseng plus high protein diet have any protective effects on the liver of chronical alcoholist from developing malfunction enzymatic activities of both glutamic-pyruvic and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminases were measured on serum of rats maintained with basal low protein diet, basal diet plus 1 percent ginseng and high protein (40%) plus 1 percent ginseng and administered intraperitoneally with a Constant amount of ethanol either periodically or chronically. It was found that, unlike human subject GOT content was exceedingly high and significant difference was found either among treatment or among sexes thus indicating that either ginseng intake or high protein diet plus ginseng has a protective effect on the liver function of ethanol treated rats. From these results, it was suggested that the dietary ginseng might, have a protective effect on the alcohol hepatic disturbance. As one of probable mechanisms for the characteristic pharmacological activity, it was considered that a secondary action of the saponin of the dietary ginseng would result in the anti-inflammatory through the stimulation of de nove synthesis of certain functional proteins in hepatic organs.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.40-51
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• 2006

To investigate the association between Korean red ginseng (KRG) intake in HIV-1 infected patients and occurrence of grossly deleted nef genes ($g{\Delta}nef$), we characterized nef genes in 10 long-term slow progressors (LTSP) infected with HIV-1 subtype B and 34 control patients. LTSP was defined whose the annual decrease in CD4 T cells was less than $20/{\mu}l$ over 10 years in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. They were treated with KRG for a prolonged period. Nef genes were amplified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) using nested PCR and products were sequenced directly. Patient CD4 T cell counts decreased from $444{\pm}207/{\mu}l$ to $294{\pm}177/{\mu}l$ over $136{\pm}23$ months of KRG intake. This corresponds to an annual decrease in the level of CD4 T cells of $13.3/{\mu}l$. A total of 479 nef genes were amplified from 137 PBMC samples. Nine out of the 10 patients, 47 (34.3%) out of the 137 samples, and 92 out of the 479 genes revealed $g{\Delta}nef$. The deletion extended outside the nef gene in 25 $g{\Delta}nef$ obtained from 6 patients. The proportion of samples with $g{\Delta}nef$ (34.3%) was significantly higher than 4.8% in control patients (P<0.001). In addition, it significantly increased as the duration of KRG intake prolongs (P<0.01). These data suggest the possibility that occurrence of $g{\Delta}nef$ might be associated with long-term intake of KRG.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.413-420
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• 2011

We investigated whether Korean red ginseng (KRG) and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) affect the frequency of gross deletion in 5'LTR/gag in 20 hemophiliacs. This study is a prospective study in 20 hemophiliacs who were infected with Korean subclade B of HIV-1 from two cash-paid plasma donors in 1990. Over a 13-year period, we obtained 436 amplicons of 5'LTR/gag genes by nested polymerase chain reaction using 147 peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Of the 436 amplicons, 92 (21.1%) showed gross deletion in 5'LTR/gag. Despite of a 2.3-fold higher monthly dose of KRG intake, the frequency of gross deletion in 5'LTR/gag (16.4%) was significantly decreased during HAART compared with 28.1% prior to HAART (p<0.01). Gross deletion in 5'LTR/gag was 10% more detected on KRG-therapy than prior to KRG-therapy (p<0.05). In addition, we also obtained 28 amplicons containing premature stop codon or isoleucine at initiation codon of 254 amplicons sequenced on KRG intake (7.5%) or HAART (13.6%) compared with 0% before KRG intake. These findings indicate that high frequency of gross deletion in 5'LTR/gag and genetic defects prior to HAART are significantly associated with KRG intake and the detection of gross deletion in 5'LTR/gag is decreased by HAART.