The antioxidant and anti-diabetes effects were evaluated by the ethanol extracts from Astragalus membranaceus root classified by years using through DPPH radical scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical (${\cdot}OH$) scavenging activity, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, reducing power activity, $\alpha$-amylase and $\alpha$-glucosidase inhibitory activities. $IC_{50}$ values for DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethanol extract from 6 years old root ($749.25{\mu}g/mL$) was higher than 1 year ($1452.67{\mu}g/mL$) and 3 years old root ($1095.61{\mu}g/mL$). 6 years old root showed better effects in ${\cdot}OH$ scavenging activity ($IC_{50}$: $10.58{\mu}g/mL$), reducing power, total phenolic contents ($26.13{\pm}0.79\;Tan\;{\mu}g/mg$, $24.03{\pm}0.74\;Cat\;{\mu}g/mg$) $\alpha$-amylase ($33.33{\pm}0.55%$) and $\alpha$-glucosidase inhibitory activity ($49.71{\pm}1.01%$). On the other hand, total flavonoid compound contents were estimated much higher in 1 year old root ($44.93{\pm}1.35\;Que\;{\mu}g/mg$, $70.32{\pm}2.03\;Rut\;{\mu}g/mg$) than others. Based on these results, It was suggested that 6 years old root of A. membranaceus has a potential candidate for functional cosmetic and medicine.

Thirty five methanol extracts from 19 natural local plants, which have been used as traditional anti-cancer medicine, were prepared. They were analyzed the cytotoxic effects on primary fibroblast cells and carcinoma cells. The root extract of Solanum nigrum were highly toxic in both cell lines with $IC_{50}$ values of less than $0.01{\mu}g/{\mu}l$, and 26 of 35 extracts were toxic in all cells with $IC_{50}$ values of $0.1{\sim}2{\mu}g/{\mu}l$. Three extracts including the fruit extracts of Solanum nigrum and Morus alba had no cytotoxic activity in both cell lines. Five of 35 extracts were highly toxic in cancer cells than in primary cells. Because primary cells were more resistant on these extracts, the five extracts were selected for anti-cancer agent candidates. Apoptosis or programmed cell death has an essential role in chemotherapy-induced tumor cell killing. Recently, inducers of apoptosis have been used in cancer therapy. When two of 5 cancer cell-specific cytotoxic extracts (Ulmus parvifolia and Zelkova serrata) were treated in concentration of $0.02{\sim}0.1{\mu}g/{\mu}l$, apoptosis were increased at 3-5 times in cancer cell lines. Finally, the apoptotic effects of these extracts were confirmed by cleavages of both poly-(ADP-ribose)-polymerase and caspase-3 as apoptotic markers. In this report, we suggested that two of 35 medicinal herb extracts can be useful anti-cancer drug candidates inducing apoptosis in several carcinoma cell lines.

It was previously reported that yeast elicitor transiently increased oleanolic acid and ursolic acid in Scutellaria baicalensis suspension cultures and also doubled phospholipase $A_2$ ($PLA_2$) activity. Thus, $PLA_2$ was purified from the soluble fractions of S. baicalensis suspension cultures and the characters of the purified $PLA_2$ were identified. The $PLA_2$ was purified about 160 times compared with the starting soluble-protein extract from S. baicalensis suspension culture cells. The purified protein showed a molecular mass of about 43 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The purified plant $PLA_2$ had a neutral pH optimum (pH 7.0) and required $Ca^{2+}$ for activity. The $PLA_2$ activity was inhibited by mammalian $PLA_2$ inhibitors such as 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid(ETYA) and arachidonyl trifluoromethyl ketone ($AACOCF_3$).

GCSB-5 preparation is a purified extract from a mixture six herbal medicines (Acanthopanacis Cortex, Achyranthis Radix, Saposhnikoviae Radix, Cibotii Rhizoma, Glycine Semen Nigra, Eucommiae Cortex) that have been widely used in traditional medicine to treat various bone disorders. This study was carried out to obtain the HPLC analysis method that can be used to establish quantitative analysis of Glycine Semen Nigra and Eucommiae Cortex for standardization of GCSB-5 preparation. HPLC analysis methods for the simultaneous determination of genistin (Glycine Semen Nigra) and geniposide (Eucommiae Cortex) were established for the quality control of herbal medicinal raw material and preparation. And validation of HPLC analysis methods were conformed for verification of HPLC methods by check to specificity, linearity, intra-day precision, inter-day precision and accuracy following ICH guideline. As the result of quantitative analysis, the contents of genistin and geniposide in the raw material of GCSB-5 preparation were 0.0426-0.0427 mg/g and 0.431-0.432 mg/g. And GCSB-5 preparation contained genistin of 0.0202-0.0203 mg/capsule and geniposide of 0.211-0.212 mg/capsule, respectively.

Korean folk medicine Bae Pung Dung has been used to cure a cold and jaundice. The botanical origin of the crude drug has never been studied pharmacognostically. To clarify the botanical origin of Bae Pung Dung, the morphological and anatomical characteristics of the leaves and stems of Solanum species growing in Korea, i.e. S. japonense Nakai, S. lyratum Thunb., S. nigrum L. were compared. As a result, it was determined that Bae Pung Dung was the whole plant body of Solanum lyratum and Solanum japonense.

Korean folk medicine 'Ma Ga Mog' has been used as a remedy for rheumatis, cough and bronchitis in Korea. The botanical origin of the crude drug has been no pharmacognostical confirmation on it. To clarify the botanical origin of 'Ma Ga Mog', the anatomical characteristics of the bark of Sorbus amurensis Koehne, S. commixta Hedl. and S. sambucifolia (Cham. et Schltdl.) Roemer var. psuedo-gracilis C. K. Schneid. were studied. As a result, it was clarified that 'Ma Ga Mog' from Korea was the bark of Sorbus amurensis Koehne and S. commixta Hedl.

The immunomodulatory activities of the ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum, termed hereafter as GPE, were examined in immunosuppressed mice as well as in normal mice in the present study. Oral administration of GPE into mice prevented dexamethasone (DEX)-induced immunosuppression as determined by the mitogen-induced proliferation of the splenocytes and the the cytokine production (TNF-$\alpha$, IL-$1{\beta}$) in the whole blood culture. In addition, oral administration of GPE increased antitumor host defense in mice implanted with sarcoma-180 tumor cells. The immunoaugmenting activity of orally administered GPE was also confirmed in mice immunized with ovalbumin (OVA). Mice that were orally administered with GPE generated much more potent OVA-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses upon intravenous OVA injection compared to the untreated controls. These results demonstrate that oral administration of the ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum could be useful to increase host defense in immunocompromised situations such as stress- or tumor-induced immunosuppression.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzhemier's disease. Neuropathologically, PD is characterized by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons. The neuronal toxicity of cytosolic excess dopamine (DA) has been described in many studies using several cell lines. In dopaminergic neurons, cytosolic excess DA is easily oxidized via monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B, tyrosinase or by auto-oxidation to produce neurotoxic metabolites such as DA quinone. So, in the present study, we induced cell death by treatment of DA ($600{\mu}M$) in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell which was treated samples before 24 hr, and cell viability was measured by fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACs) analysis. Of those tested, the extracts of Poria cocos (赤茯笭)(whole), Gastrodia elata (rhizomes), Eucommia ulmoides (炒)(barks), Syneilesis palmata (whole), Acorus gramineus (rhizomes), Ligustrum japonicum (leaves) showed neuroprotective effects in dose dependent manner.

The antitumor activity of the roots extract of Pueraria thunbergiana was investigated on the basis of cytotoxicity upon the cultured human tumor cell lines, in vitro. The purification of methylene chloride (MC) soluble part and ethylacetate (EA) soluble part of extract by column chromatography furnished seven isoflavonoids, two triterpenoids, one but-2-enolide. The structures of them were established by chemical and spectroscopic means to be lupeol (1), $\beta$-sitosterol (2), biochanin A (3), (-)-tuberosin (4), calycosin (5), daidzein (6), puerarin (7), daidzin (8), (+)-puerol-B 2-O-$\beta$-glucopyranoside (9), formononetin-7-O-$\beta$-glucopyranoside (10). Each isolates ($1{\sim}10$) were evaluated for inhibitory activities on the proliferation of cultured human tumor cell lines such as A549, SK-OV-3, HCT-15 and SK-MEL-2, respectively.

The anti-hyperlipidemic effects of an ethyl acetate fraction from Orostachy japonicus in a high lipid diet-induced hyperlipidemic rat model were assessed. The fraction, which contained kaempferol, astragalin, and isoquercitrin, was associated with significant weight loss and reduction of lipid contents in serum and liver tissues. The fraction, which contains mainly flavonoids, diminished the levels of malondialdehyde and hydroxyl radical, and increased the anti-oxidative enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Reduced bleeding and plasma clotting times resulting from the administration of the ethyl acetate fraction may reduce cardiovascular disease associated with hyperlipidemia.

Atopic dermatitis, caused by immune hyper-responsiveness, is wide spread in humans as well as in the dogs, especially in industrialized condition. Pet dogs are generally exposed to the same environment as their owners, and a significant portion of these animals are also known to suffer from this allergic disease. However, diagnosis and treatment methods of atopic dermatitis in animals have not been well established. We explored the possibility of using recently developed PG102 for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in the canine population. PG102 is a water soluble extract prepared from Actinidia arguta, and has been shown to produce significant therapeutic effect in variable allergy animal models. After oral administration of PG102 at a dose of 12.5 mg/kg daily for 4 weeks, severity of disease was greatly improved. IgE is one of representative members used to diagnose allergic diseases in humans. However, it is not well established whether there is any correlation between the serum level of IgE and atopic dermatitis. Our data indicated that dogs diagnosed to have atopic dermatitis contained higher level of serum IgE than the normal dogs and that treatment of dogs with PG102 significantly lowered the serum level of IgE. Taken together, this study demonstrated that PG102 treatment yielded significant amelioration of canine atopic dermatitis and down-regulation of serum IgE and that the serum level of IgE can be used as a convenient member for diagnosis of atopic dermatitis in dogs.

The present study investigated the antiproliferative effect of Litsea japonica in HL-60/ADR, adriamycin resistant human promyelocytic leukemia cells. The 80% ethanol extract of L. japonica markedly inhibited the growth of HL-60/ADR cells. When HL-60/ADR cells were treated with the extract, several apoptosis events like as DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation and the increase of the population of sub-G1 hypodiploid cells were observed. In the mechanism of apoptosis induction by L. japonica, we examined the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression levels, and activation of caspases. After the HL-60/ADR cells were treated with the extract, the Bcl-2 expression was decreased, whereas the expression of Bax was increased in a time-dependent manner compared to the control. In addition, the active forms of caspase-9 and -3 were increased and the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, a vital substrate of effector caspase, was observed. The results suggest that the inhibitory effect of L. japonica on the growth of the HL-60/ADR appears to arise from the induction of apoptosis via the down-regulation of Bcl-2 and the activation of caspases.

Thirty six essential oils from herb drugs entered in Korean official formulary, which are frequently used in oriental region, were tested for antibiotic resistance inhibition. When the oils were combined with ampicillin (Am) or amoxicillin (Amx) they showed significant inhibitory effects on the growth of multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus SA2 in considerably low concentration. The most effective combinations were oils from Acanthopanacis Cortex ($0.49{\mu}g/mL$) with Am and Cnidii Rhizoma and Lonicerae Flos (2.77 and $2.79{\mu}g/mL$, respectively) with Amx as shown in minimum resistance inhibitory concentrations.

Abies nephrolepis(Pinaceae) extracts were tested for determined immune system regulating activity based on antiinflammatory activity, antioxidant activity and anti-proliferative effect on HeLa cell line. The A. nephrolepis extracts increased dose-dependently anti-proliferation of HeLa cell line. The DM fraction of the extracts having anti-proliferatative effects of HeLa cell line was fractionalized four subfractions($D1{\sim}D4$). Inflammation-induced NO production was inhibited by D2 and D4 in LPS-activated RAW264.7 macrophages. And also, this fractions showed antioxidant activity examined by DPPH radical scavenging effects. These results suggest that the potential use of DM fraction of A. nephrolepis in chemoprevention and regulation overproduction of NO on pathogenic conditions. The mechanism of the inflammatory effects, however, must be evaluated through various parameters in the induction cascade of NO production.