• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.159-174
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• 2007

Pharmacology of Korean Red ginseng gives us unique possibility to develop new class of antiepileptic drugs today and to improve one's biological activity. The chemical structures of ginsenosides (GS) have some principal differences from well-known antiepileptic new generation drugs. The antiepileptic effect of GS was also demonstrated in all models of epilepsy in rats (young and adult), which have studied, in all models of epilepsy including status epilepticus (SE), induced by lithium - pilocarpine. In our experiments in rats new evidences on protective effects were exerted as a result of premedication by GS. Pre-treatment of several GS could induce decrease of the seizures severity and brain structural damage (by MRI), neuronal degeneration in hippocampus. Wave nature of severity of motor seizures during convulsive SE was observed during lithium-pilocarpine model of SE in rats (the first increase of seizures was 30 min after the beginning of SE and the second - 90 min after. The efficacy of treatment on SE by ginsenoside as expected was observed after no less 3 weeks by daily GS i.p. administration. It is blocked SE or significantly decrease the severity of seizures during SE. The implication of presented data is that combination of ginsenosides from Korean Red ginseng and ginseng cell culture Dan25 that could be applied for prevention of epileptical status development. However, a development of optimal ratio of different ginsenosides $(Rb_1$ Rc, Rg, Rf,) should consummate in the new antiepileptic drug development.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2002

In this study, we examined the effects of dietary fatty acids on the fatty acid composition of phospholipid fractions in regions of the brain and on behavioral development in rats. The Sprague Dawley rats were fed the experimental diets 3~4 wks prior to the conception. Experimental diets consisted of 10% fat(wt/wt) which were from either safflower oil (SO, poor in $\omega$3 fatty acids), mixed oil MO, P/M/S ratio : 1:1.4:1, $\omega$6/$\omega$3 ratio = 6.3), or mixed oil supplemented with vitamin E (+500 mg/kg diet). At 3 and 9 weeks of age, frontal cortex (FC), corpus striatum (CS), hippocampus (H), and cerebellum (CB) were dissected from the whole brain. The fatty acid content was determined in the different phospholipid fractions: phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidyl-serine (PS), and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in the rat brain regions. In the visual discrimination test, the order of the cumulative errors made in Y-water maze test were SO > MO > ME. This suggested that the balanced diet supplemented with vitamin I had the most beneficial effect on learning ability. The overall characteristics of correlation between fatty acids and behavior development were that the frequency of cumulative errors were negatively correlated significantly with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), ie., 18:1 $\omega$9 and 22:1 $\omega$9. Docosa-hexaenoic acid (22:6 $\omega$3) of PS in frontal cortex (FC) was negatively correlated with the number of errors made in the Y-water maze test.22:5 $\omega$6 PS in hippocampus (H), PC and PE in corpus striatum (CS), PC in cerebellum (CB) were positively correlated with cumulative errors. And these errors were negatively correlated with 20:4 $\omega$ 6 of PE in corpus striatum (CS) and PC in cerebellum (CB). Especially, O1eic acid (18:1 u 9) in all phospholipid fractions (PC, PS, PE) of hippocampus was negatively correlated with the number of errors. These findings demonstrate that the MUFAs were might be essential for proper brain development, especially in hippocampus which is generally thought to be the regions of memory and learning.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.6 s.73
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• pp.979-986
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• 2005

Lead (Pb) exposure during development can produce neurological deficits. In this study, the effect of Pb exposure during neonatal development via lactation on anxiety of brain function was investigated. Long-Evans strain rats were raised through two generations. At the birth of the second generation, the dams were subdivided into two groups and supplied drinking water containing either $0.2\%$ Pb (Pb-treated group) or sodium (Na, Control group) acetate until weaning. Rats were sacrificed at 3 (weaning) and 11 weeks (maturity) for brain Pb and fatty acid analysis. Motor activity and elevated plus maze tests were initiated at 9 weeks. The brains in the Pb-treated group at weaning and maturity contained 1486$\pm$98 and $270{\pm}46$ ng Pb/g, respectively The control group showed the background level of Pb ($3.7{\pm}1.0_{ng}$ Pb/g) in both ages. The alterations in brain fatty acid composition induced by Pb exposure were more evident in 3 wks old than 11 wks old. For example, in 3 wks old, the percentages of $18:2_{n-6}$, $20:2_{n-6}$ and $18:2_{n-6}$ were decreased in the Pb-treated group with an increase in $20:4_{n-6}$ In motor activity test, there was a tendency of hyperactivity in the Pb-treated group compared with the control group but the difference was not significant. In elevated plus maze test, the Pb-treated group showed fewer numbers of visits to the open arms (P < 0.05), indicating that Pb exposure may lead to anxiogenic effect.