Recently, companion animal culture has grown rapidly and mature, raising interest in preventing and treating animal diseases. In particular, viral infection was a serious threat to companion animal health because there was no proper antiviral drugs. Synthetic antiviral drugs have limitations such as low efficiency, toxicity, and occurrence of resistant viruses. Therefore, attempts to find new anti-viral drugs from natural sources have continued. This review focused on the natural products and active substances that exhibit antiviral activity against three viruses: canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus (CPV), and feline calicivirus (FCV) that cause fatal diseases in dogs and cats. Natural plant extracts, flavonoids, polysaccharides, alkaloids and saponins showed antiviral activity with various mechanisms and differences in activity depending on the structure. Especially, quercetin and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) showed antiviral activity through a multi-mechanism that interferes with the attachment and penetration stages of the virus and inhibits the viral polymerase within the cell. Some natural plant extracts showed a virucidal activity and showed the potential effect as a preventative agent to prevent the viral infection. This review is expected to provide research trend on the development of antiviral natural products for companion animals.

Cassia tora L. have been used as a folk medicine in Korea. This study investigated anti-inflammatory effect of aurantio-obtusin isolated from C. tora. We isolated aurantio-obtusin from 50% ethanol extracts of C. tora L. We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of aurantio-obtusin on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammatory response in murine macrophage cell line (Raw 264.7). To investigate the cytotoxicity of aurantio-obtusin on RAW 264.7 cells, MTS assay was performed. RAW 264.7 cells were treated with aurantio-obtusin at different concentrations (12.5, 25, 50, $100{\mu}M$) for 30 h. The result showed that aurantio-obtusin had no cytotoxic effect in a concentration range of $12.5-100{\mu}M$. To determine the effect of aurantio-obtusin on LPS-induced NO production, the NO concentration measurement was performed. RAW 264.7 cells were treated with aurantio-obtusin at 12.5, 25, 50 and $100{\mu}M$ for 24 h, and the results showed that the NO production of aurantio-obtusin-treated cells compared to LPS alone treated group was significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Pretreatment of aurantio-obtusin inhibited LPS-induced NO production in a dose-dependent manner. To find out inhibitory mechanisms of aurantio-obtusin on inflammatory mediators, we examined the $PGE_2$ pathways. As a result, $PGE_2$ were decreased in a dose-dependent manner by aurantio-obtusin. The release of interleukin-$1{\beta}$ (IL-$1{\beta}$) and IL-6 were also reduced. Moreover, aurantio-obtusin suppressed LPL-induced $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$ degradation. These results suggest that the down regulation of NO, $PGE_2$, IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 expression by aurantio-obtusin are achieved by the downregulation of NF-${\kappa}B$ activity.

Andrographolide, the main compound of Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata), shows various biological properties including anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and hepatoprotective effects. Our previous study has shown that A. paniculata extract exerts antiaging effects by activation of stemness in epidermal stem cells (EpSCs). In this study, we investigated the effect of andrographolide as a main compound of A. paniculata on EpSCs and its mechnism of action using several in vitro assays. Andrographolide increased the proliferation of EpSCs and induced cell cycle progression. Additionally, andrographolide increased VEGF production and the expression of stem cell markers integrin ${\beta}1$ and p63. Furthermore, phosphorylation levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), S6 ribosomal protein (S6RP) and Akt were increased by andrographolide. Taken together, these results indicate that andrographolide-induced proliferation of EpSCs is mediated by the ERK1/2, Akt-dependent pathway with increased production of VEGF and upregulated stemness through integrin ${\beta}1$ and p63.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an established model organism for several pathophysiological conditions which are related to human diseases. In this study, we tested the preventive effect of eight herbal extracts, which show the inhibitory effect of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) or aldose reductase (AR) in our previous study, on high glucose (HG)-induced retinal vessel dilation in larval zebrafish and analyzed the change of hyaloid vasculature. HG-induced zebrafish hyaloid vasculatures were significantly increased in the thickness compared to untreated zebrafish (P<0.001, n=6~10). Eight herbal extracts were found to have significant retinal vessel dilation on the inhibitory activity. Particularly, Brandisia hancei (twigs and fruits), Castanopsis orthacantha (leaves and twigs), Litsea japonica (leaves and twigs), Spenceria ramalana (whole plant), and Synedrella nodiflora (leaves and stems) showed potent inhibitory activity against retinal vessel dilation in HG-induced larval zebrafish.

Dendropanax morbifera Leveille, an endemic species in Korea, is best known as a tree that produces a resinous sap. Although D. morbifera is used in folk medicine for various diseases, its active ingredients are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated antioxidative activities of ethanolic extracts of three parts of this plant including leaves, debarked stems, and roots. The root extracts exhibited strong 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity compared with leaf or stem extracts. The root extracts showed hepatoprotective activity against t-butyl hydroperoxide-induced HepG2 cells, and reduced the ROS level in the cells. The root fractions lowered the mRNA level of COX-2 on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated Raw246.7 cells. These results suggest that ethanolic root extracts of D. morbifera are a source of antioxidant and hepatoprotective compounds, which indicate a potential for a botanical drug.

Portulaca oleracea L. (PL) has been used in traditional medicine herb for treatment of various diseases, such as diarrhea, dysentery, and skin inflammation. Previous studies have shown that the PL regulates the inflammation by inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Although PL might have improvement effects of intestinal function and bioactive effects, there are not enough studies to demonstrate. This study investigated the effects of KDC16-2 on the improvement of intestinal function and anti-inflammatory effects in vivo and in vitro. The improvement effect of intestinal function was measured fecal amount, water content and intestinal transit rate in KDC16-2 treated ICR mice. As results, compared with the control group, the KDC16-2 group showed a significant increase in wet fecal weight, dry fecal weight and fecal water content. The intestinal transit rate of KDC16-2 group was significantly increased. Based on the results, KDC16-2 is considered to have effects on improving intestinal function. The effect of anti-inflammatory demonstrated by using dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice. The mice were administered 3% DSS along with KDC16-2 (100, 300 mg/kg) for 14 days. DSS-induced colitis mice were significantly ameliorated in KDC16-2 treated group, including body weight loss, colon length shortening, tight junction protein of colon and histological colon injury. The levels of inflammatory mediators (IgG2a, IgA, C-reactive protein and Myeloperoxidase) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, Interleukin (IL)-6) which are involved in inflammatory responses were increased in the DSS-treated group as compared to those in the control group, and the levels were significantly decreased in the KDC16-2 groups. In addition, we investigated the impact of KDC16-2 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in J774A.1 cells. KDC16-2 inhibited production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results suggested that the KDC16-2 could effectively alleviate the dysfunction of intestinal and inflammatory mediators. Thus, these KDC16-2 can be potentially used as health functional food of intestinal.

This study was conducted to investigate the cholesterol and Triglyceride (TG) lowering and anti-obesity effects of water extract of vegetable formula (onion 25%, carrot 20%, Cabbage 20%, Sweet Pumpkins 20%, Chinese plum 5%, turmeric 5%, morus leaves 5%, SLS) in mice fed high fat-diet. ICR mice were divided into 3 groups; a normal diet group (ND), a high-fat diet group (HFD), a high-fat diet and SLS with 300 mg/kg treated group (HFD+SLS). Body fat gain was increased by high-fat diet and HFD+SLS group showed a definite weight loss. The total cholesterol level in the HFD+SLS group was 328.4 mg/dl which was 27.4% lower than that in the HFD group and the cholesterol-lowering effect of SLS was confirmed. The HFD + SLS group showed 118.1 mg/dl and the triglyceride level in the serum was decreased by 88.7% compared to the HFD group and SLS significantly decreased blood triglyceride levels. RT-PCR showed that the expression of PPAR-${\gamma}$ and the target gene SCD-1 was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner in the SLS-treated group. These results suggest that the SLS water extract may have a cholesterol and triglyceride-lowering effect and inhibit the expression of PPAR-${\gamma}$ and SCD-1 to have an anti-obesity effect.

Morus alba fruit contains several anthocyanins and flavonoids like cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside. Extractions from Morus alba fruit were performed with five different compositions of ethanol/water [v/v]. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used for the validation and content determination of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside. The contents of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside in ethanol extracts (100%, 70%, 40%, 20% and 0%, ethanol/water [v/v]) were 1.150%, 0.822%, 0.749%, 0.663% and 0.597%, respectively. Quercetin-3-O-rutinoside contents of ethanol extracts (100%, 70%, 40%, 20% and 0%, ethanol/water [v/v]) were 0.167%, 0.161%, 0.159%, 0.155% and 0.096%, respectively. The highest contents of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside were in the ethanol extract with 100% ethanol/water [v/v]. These HPLC analysis method could be used as basic data for standardization of functional food from Morus alba fruit.

Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau (Moraceae) has been used for physical weakness, impotence and insomnia in traditional Korean medicine. In this study, cudratricusxanthone A and cudraxanthone D were isolated from roots of C. tricuspidata and quantification were achieved by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with diode array detector. The isolated compound was identified by NMR analysis and HPLC method was validated by linearity, precision and specificity test. The results showed that calibration curves of two compounds indicated great linearity with a correlation coefficient ($R^2$) of 0.9976 and 0.9995. The limits of detection (LOD) for cudratricusxanthone A and cudraxanthone D were 1.15, $0.11{\mu}g/ml$. Intra-day precision of cudratricusxanthone A and cudraxanthone D were 0.32~1.99%, 0.09~3.32% and inter-day precision were 0.59~2.40%, 0.28~1.55% RSD (%) values, respectively. The specificity was confirmed by chromatograph and quantitative contents of cudratricusxanthone A and cudraxanthone D were $0.46{\pm}0.02%$ and $1.53{\pm}0.06%$. Therefore, this study can be used as a basic research data for the quantitative analysis of derived compounds from roots of C. tricuspidata.

One of the oriental medicine prescriptions, Sagunja-tang consists of four herbal medicines (Ginseng Radix, Poria Sclerotium, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, and Glycyrrhiziae Radix et Rhizoma) and has been used as a medicine to enhance tonify the function of spleen and stomach in Korea. In this study, we conducted simultaneous analysis of the 9 marker components, liquiritin apioside, liquiritin, ginsenoside Rg1, liquiritigenin, ginsenoside Rb1, glycyrrhizin, atractylenolide III, atractylenolide II, and atractylenolide I in Sagunja-tang using a liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Marker compounds were separated on a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH $C_{18}$ analytical column ($2.1{\times}100mm$, 1.7 mm) and the column was maintained at $45^{\circ}C$. The mobile phase consists of 0.1% (v/v) aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile with gradient condition. The LC-MS analysis was performed using a Waters ACQUITY TQD LC-MS/MS system with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method in the positive and negative modes. The calibration curves of the nine marker components showed good linearity with coefficient of determination ${\geq}0.9984$ within tested range. The limits of detection and limits of quantification values were 0.27-2.42 ng/mL and 0.81-7.27 ng/mL, respectively. The concentrations of tested 9 analytes in the lyophilized Sagunja-tang sample using the established LC-ESI-MS/MS MRM method were detected up to 16.593 mg/g. These results can be useful as a basic data for the quality control of an oriental medicine prescriptions.