Decursin is a major component of the root of Angelica gigas(Umbelliferae), which has been traditionally used in Korea as a tonic and to treat anemia, hemiplegia, and women's diseases. The objective of this study is to identify the anti-cancer mechanism induced by decursin on apoptosis of human leukemia and lymphoma cells. Cytotoxicity of decursin on U937, HL-60, MOLT-4, THP-1 cells showed the significant effects. First of all, $IC_{50}$ of decursin on four cell lines was 27.1, 32.4, 17.4, $15.1{\mu}M$, respectively. So $IC_{50}$ in THP-1 cells was the smallest among 4 cell lines treated with decursin($15.1{\mu}M$). In order to understand the apoptosis-mechanism by decursin, we examined the gene expression of bcl-2(anti-apoptotic), bax(pro-apoptotic) and p53(tumor suppressor)after treating the THP-1 cells with decursin(10, 50 and $100{\mu}M$). It was found bcl-2 gene was decreased dose dependently, the expression level of bax gene of THP-1 cells treated with $100{\mu}M$ of decursin was about 3 times higher than those of control, and p53 gene was increased In the same concentration($100{\mu}M$), p53 gene was increased dose dependent manner. In protein express, bcl-2 and p53 protein showed a tendency to decrease. bax was increased about 4 fold. Therefore decursin is a useful chemotherapeutic agent against leukemia.

Phytochemical investigation of the 80% MeOH extract from the stems of Lagerstroemia indica resulted in the isolation of eighteen compounds; four norsesquiterpenes, fourteen phenolic derivatives. Their chemical structures were characterized by spectroscopic methods to be tachioside (1), isotachioside (2), 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl ${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (3), gallic acid 4-methyl ether (4), protocatechuic acid (5), gallic acid (6), vanillic acid (7), vanillin (8), 2-methoxy-5-hydroxymethyl-phenyl-1-O-(6"-galloyl)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (9), 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenol-1-O-${\beta}$-D-(6'-O-galloyl)-glucopyranoside (10), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl-1-O-(6'-O-galloyl)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (11), vomifoliol (12), vomifoliol 9-O-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (13), 6R,9R-3-oxo-${\alpha}$-ionol-9-O-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (14), dihydrophaseic acid 4'-O-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (15), ${\beta}$-hydroxypropiovanillone 3-O-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (16), myrciaphenone A (17), and coumaric acid (18). Compounds 1-5 and 7-18 were isolated for the first time from this plant. Compounds 1-18 were investigated for their antioxidant properties using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacity assay, $Fe^{2+}$ chelating, and FRAP assay. It was found that 4, 6, and 11 possessed the highest antioxidant capacities.

In the course of our continuing search for biologically active components from Korean medicinal plants, we isolated the main compound, luteolin 5-glucoside from aqueous fraction of Ajuga spectabilis. The structure was elucidated by the basis of $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR and TOF ESI-MS data. Quantitative analysis of luteolin 5-glucoside was carried out on a XBridge C18 column ($S-5{\mu}m$, $4.6{\times}250mm$) with gradient elution composed of acetonitrile:water. The results exhibit that the average content of main compound in A. spectabilis were 0.048%. Oxidative stress plays a major role Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodogenerative disease. AD is major health problem and there is currently no clinically accepted treatment to cure or stop its progression. Pretreatment with luteolin 5-glucoside markedly attenuated $H_2O_2$-induced cell viability loss in a dose-dependent manner. Luteolin 5-glucoside also inhibited the formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species in SH-SY5Y. The results suggest that luteolin 5-glucoside from A. spectabilis has protective effects against oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity, which might be a potential therapeutic compound for treating and/or preventing neurodegenerative disease implicated with oxidative stress.

Endophytic fungi have yielded a variety of secondary metabolites so far. In the course of the project to find bioactive secondary metabolites from cultures of endophytic fungi, an isolate of Arthrinium phaeospermum (JS 0567) was selected for chemical investigation. A large scale culture of this strain in rice media was extracted with an organic solvent and the extract was subjected to a serious of chromatography, which led to six metabolites. Their chemical structures were elucidated as 2,3,6,8-tetrahydroxy-1-methylxanthone(1), 2,3,4,6,8-pentahydroxy-1-methylxanthone(2), 3,4,6,8-tetrahydroxy-1-methylxanthone(3), 3,6,8-trihydroxy-1-methylxanthone(4), 2,4,2',4',6'-pentahydroxy-6-methylbenzophenone(5), and 5,7-di hydroxy-3-methylphthalide(6) on the basis of spectroscopic data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the secondary metabolites from Arthrinium phaeospermum.

Four flavone compounds were isolated from the whole plants of Setaria faberi Herrmann (Gramineae) through repeated column chromatography. Their chemical structures were elucidated as tricin (1), and three C-glycosylflavone, 2"-O-rhamnosylvitexin (2), 2"-O-rhamnosylscoparin (3), and 2"-O-rhamnosylorientin (4), respectively, by spectroscopic analysis. These compounds were isolated for the first time from this plant.

The present GC-MS analysis elucidated the composition of the essential oil obtained from the herb of Elsholtzia ciliata(Lamiaceae). Overall, the content of monoterpenes was higher than that of sesquiterpenes. Monoterpenes rich in this oil were carvone (peak area, 26.180%), camphor (2.304%), borneol (9.974%), dihydrocarveol (3.296%), ${\alpha}$-citral (=geranial, 4.025%), geranic acid (2.961%), while sesquiterpenes occupying relatively higher percentage were ${\alpha}$-humulene (0.918%), (-)-spathulenol (0.974%), ${\alpha}$-caryophyllene oxide (2.014%), globulol (1.362%), ${\beta}$-caryophyllene oxide (0.750%). The components characterizing this oil were 1-octen-3-ol, acetophenone, and butylated hydroxytoluene. The $IC_{50}$ of this oil on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) were $42.37{\mu}g/ml$ and $121.34{\mu}g/ml$, respectively, suggesting that the essential oil of E. ciliata may be active on the memory loss of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

In traditional Korean medicine, Osmunda japonica Thunb has been used as hemostasis and antipyretic treatment. The main compound "cinnamtannin B-1" was obtained by column chromatographic separation, and its structure was determined by spectroscopic methods, including $^1H$, $^{13}C$ NMR, and IT-TOF-ESI MS. Ash, moisture and extract content and acidinsoluble ash were monitored as identification test to establish the analytical methods. The optimum reflux extraction condition was 100% methanol extracted 30 min for 2 times. A quantitative analysis using HPLC method exhibited that the main compound at 24.7 min and its content was 0.96% in methanol extraction.

In present study, we conducted quantification analysis of phenolic compound (paeonol), monoterpene glycoside (paeoniflorin), and tannin ((+)-catechin in the 70% ethanol extracts of non-processed Moutan Radicis Cortex (MRC) and processed MRC by roasting using a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector. Three marker components were separated on Gemini $C_{18}$ analytical column and the column was maintained at $40^{\circ}C$ using two mobile phase system consisting of 1.0% (v/v) aqueous acetic acid and 1.0% (v/v) acetic acid in acetonitrile. The flow rate and injection volume were 1.0 mL/min and 10 mL. In non-processed MRC sample, the concentrations of three marker compounds, (+)-catechin, paeoniflorin, and paeonol were 0.20, 1.18, and 2.12%, respectively. On the other hand, the concentrations of the three compounds in processed MRC samples were 0.03-0.24, not detected-1.08, and 0.76-1.82%, respectively.

Pinus densiflora contained diverse phenol compounds like flavonoid, phenylpropanoid and tannin. PineXol$^{(R)}$ is nutraceutical preparation which was treated from bark of Pinus densiflora. Validation and contents determination of taxifolin, (+)-catechin and procyanidion B1 for the preparation of Pinus densiflora (PineXol$^{(R)}$) were confirmed using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). As a result, content of taxifolin, (+)-catechin and procyanidin B1 were, respectively 4.90%, 2.35% and 8.19%. These analysis method and results could be used as important basic data for the preparation of Pinus densiflora.

In this study, the radical scavenging activity and protective effect of ethanol extract from leaf of Engelhardtia chrysolepis HANCE (ECE) against oxidative stress were investigated under in vitro and cellular system. ECE showed strong radical scavenging activities in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl(${\cdot}OH$) and nitric oxide(NO) radical as a concentration-dependent manner. Particularly, strong scavenging activity against the ${\cdot}OH$ and NO radical were observed with the $IC_{50}$ value of $1.30{\mu}g/ml$ and $12.61{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Furthermore, the cellular oxidative stress was induced by amyloid beta($A{\beta}_{25-35}$) in C6 glial cells. The treatment of $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ to C6 glial cells generated high levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS) and declined cell viability. However, production of ROS was decreased by the treatment of ECE. In addition, the cell viability was significantly increased at each concentration(10, 25, $50{\mu}g/ml$) as dose-dependent manner. The Alzheimer's disease-related protein expressions in $A{\beta}_{25-35}$-treated C6 glial cells were analyzed. The ECE treatment inhibited expression of amyloid precursor protein(APP), C-terminal fragment-${\beta}(CTF-{\beta})$, ${\beta}$-site APP cleaving enzyme(BACE), phosphorylated tau(p-tau) proteins in C6 glial cells induced by $A{\beta}_{25-35}$. The present study indicated that ECE has strong radical scavenging activity and neuroprotective effect through attenuating oxidative stress.

In this study, we tested anti-fatigue effect of Kyung-Ok-Ko (KOK). We examined the exercise performance effects of KOK (600 mg/kg) at 2nd, 3rd and 4th week. The exercise performance of KOK treated group was significantly improved than that of vehicle control (VC) group on grip strength (2nd week), exhausted time of treadmill (3rd week) and exhausted time of weight loaded swimming (4th week). We also investigated the effects of KOK on the change of fatigue parameters in blood, skeletal muscle and liver after swimming exercise. KOK significantly reduced lactate level and enhanced glucose level in blood. Equally KOK significantly increased glycogen in skeletal muscle. However, the glycogen level of KOK in the liver was not significantly increased compared to VC group. These results show that supplementation of KOK may improve the anti-fatigue activity and exercise capacity.

This study was carried out to evaluate the preventive effect of the Corni Fructus (SSU) 50 % EtOH extract (SSU-E50) against bisphenol A (BPA) toxicity in Leydig cells and improving testosterone deficiency syndrome in orchidectomized Sprague-Dawly (SD) rats. Antioxidant properties were measured by radical scavenging activity of SSU-E50 in ABTS assay and DPPH assay. Also, real-time polymerase chain reaction(real-time PCR) was performed to quantify the mRNA expression levels of antioxidant enzyme. SD rats were divided into eight group: normal, sham operation (Sham), orchidectomized (ORX), ORX treated with testosterone 1 mg/kg (Tes. 1), ORX treated with SSU water extract 100 mg/kg (SSU-A 100) and 300 mg/kg (SSU-A 300), ORX treated with SSU 50 % EtOH extract 100 mg/kg (SSU-E 100) and 300 mg/kg (SSU-E 300). On a comparative basis, the SSU showed better activity quenching ABTS with an IC50 value of 0.29 mg/ml and DPPH with an IC50 value of 0.33 mg/ml. Cell viability was evaluated by MTS assay as described not cytotoxic at the highest concentration of $500{\mu}g/ml$. Cytotoxicity of BPA showed in $200{\mu}M$, but definitely survived by treatment with SSU in Leydig cells. In addition, SSU increased the mRNA expression levels of antioxidant enzyme in BPA induced Leydig cells. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) level was slightly increased and malondialdehyde (MDA) level was decreased with SSU-A 100 in in-vivo. These results suggest that Corni Fructus extracts have the greatest property as a natural anti-oxidative and improves testosterone deficiency syndrome source.

This study evaluates the tyrosinase, elastase inhibitory and antioxidant activities of isolated Lactobacillus rhamnosus fermented extracts of Phragmites communis Trinius. After culture for 4 days at $30^{\circ}C$ using 1% P. communis extract, the cell mass of L. rhamnosus reached $1.4{\times}10^{10}CFU/mL$. The number of cells on P. communis extract and MRS medium was similar. This results indicated that P. communis extract can be used as an economical medium for industrial lactic acid bacteria production. The fermented P. communis extract exhibited 4 fold higher tyrosinase inhibitory effect than non fermented P. communis extract. The non fermented P. communis extract has no inhibitory effect on elastase. However the fermented P. communis extract show high inhibitory effect on elastase ($IC_{50}$; $249{\mu}g/mL$). These results indicated that the fermented P. communis extract can potentially be used for developing new cosmetic or health food ingredients.

Helianthus tuberosus Linne (Compositae) has been widely used as a folk remedy to treat various ailments including fever, bleeding, fracture and contusion. This study was designed to elucidate the lifespan extending activities MeOH extract of the tubers of Helianthus tuberosus Linne (MHT) using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model system. In the current study, we found that the lifespan of worms was significantly extended by MHT supplement, dose-dependently. MHT also provided robust protection against various stress environments such as osmotic, thermal and oxidative condition. In addition, elevated antioxidant enzyme activities by MHT resulted in attenuation of intracellular reactive oxygen spices (ROS) levels, suggesting antioxidant capacity of MHT might be associated with longevity properties. Herein, we showed that altered food intake and growth of worms were also involved in the MHT activity. Furthermore, MHT increased body movement in aged worms, indicating possible role for MHT in healthspan.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activation and amyloid-${\beta}$ ($A{\beta}$) aggregation are major biological markers of Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, we evaluated the inhibitory effects of 50 kinds of herbal formulas on AChE activity and $A{\beta}$ aggregation. Among them, Hwanglyeonhaedok-tang, Cheonwangbosim-dan, Makmundong-tang, and Gamisoyo-san had a potent effects on the inhbition of AChE activity. Sosiho-tang, Samsoeum, Cheonsimyeunjaeum, and Bunsimgieum exerted to have the inhibitory activity on $A{\beta}$ aggregation. In addition, these 8 herbal formulas showed the 3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, indicating their antioxidant activities.