• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.655-663
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• 2014

Woosul (Achyranthis radix), a widely used material in food and oriental medicinal industry, has different origins of plant species in Korea, Japan and China. In Korea, woosul is designated as the radix of Achyranthes japonica Nakai (AJN) and Achyranthes bidentata Blume (ABB) in the regulation of The Korean Pharmacopoeia. However, the comparative study of hot water (HW) extracts between AJN and ABB is still rudimentary. In this study, HW extracts and its subsequent organic solvent fractions of AJB and ABB were prepared, and their in-vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-diabetes activities were evaluated. The HW extract of ABB has higher sugars and polyphenol compounds, and higher lightness and lower yellowness compared than those of AJN. Analysis of biological activities showed that the ethylacetate (EA) fraction of AJN and n-hexane fraction of ABB have antibacterial activities, and the EA fractions of AJN and ABB has strong antioxidation activities determined by radical scavenging activity and reducing power. In anti-diabetes activity assay, the EA fractions of AJN and ABB showed ${\alpha}$-amylase inhibitory activities, while the butanol fractions of AJN and ABB showed ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Our results suggest that the HW extracts of AJB and ABB have different components and extraction yields, and their subsequent fractions have different biological activity. Therefore it was concluded that the EA fraction of AJN is appropriate to develop as natural medicine, and the HW extract of AJN is suitable to woosul-tea or woosul-sikhye production.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2012

The purpose of this contribution is to develop the framework of a methodology for identifying potential errors in georeferencing and in an application of it using specimens of Ox-Knee, Achyranthes bidentata Blume in Korea. At infraspecific level, uncertainty of identification showed that 41% of A. bidentata var. japonica and 28% of var. bidentata were misidentified, suggesting that the uncertainty level was independent of the reliability of experts' identification. For georeference specimen records, 71 specimens out of total 303 were selected and utilized as occurrence data: Uncertainty was 32.4 km at maximum and was 0.1297 km at minimum (mean = 4,055 m, s.d. = 5,772 m). Var. japonica is common throughout most of the southeastern Korea and west coastal areas, while var. bidentata has been found as far north as Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces. We modelled the potential distribution of two varieties using Bioclim approach in Korea based on several environmental factors. Our results indicated the most important region for var. japonica lies the west coast ranges and southern area, while for Chungcheongnam-do of potential high diversity occurs for var. bidentata. This study shows that the major factors to determine the distribution patterns of two varieties were thermal factors, rather than precipitation. The Bioclim model using geocode and georeferencing data makes the information increasingly useful and reliable. To improve data quality, it requires full management from data collection to final databases including data cleaning.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.750-756
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• 2010

Two trials were conducted to study the effects of two Chinese herbal polysaccharides, Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides (ABPS), and one Chinese herbal saponin, Acantbepanax senticosus saponin (ASS), on the immunity and growth performance of weaned pigs. Experiment 1 was a 14-day growth assay, in which 32 weaned pigs were randomly allocated to one of four dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; ii) 0.05% APS; iii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight; and iv) 0.05% mixture of APS, ASS, and ABPS in a ratio of 1:1:1 by weight. Blood samples were collected on day 14 to determine plasma parameters. Feed intake, body weight gain, and feed efficiency were also determined. Experiment 2 was a 21-day immunity assay, in which 16 weaned pigs were randomly allotted to one of two dietary treatments: i) 0.05% talcum powder control; and ii) 0.05% mixture of APS and ASS in a 1:1 ratio by weight. On day 21, pigs were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 3 h later blood samples were collected and analyzed for lymphocyte proliferation as well as interleukin 6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), growth hormone (GH), and cortisol levels. In Experiment 1, feeding Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin increased growth performance of the pigs. The effects of the mixture of APS and ASS were especially notable, as there was a significant improvement in growth performance compared with the control (p<0.05). The plasma concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG), nitric oxide (NO), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were increased in all treatments groups, with the mixture of APS and ASS increasing the level of IgG and NOS significantly (p<0.05), compared with the control. There was no difference in the NO level between the control and treatment groups (p>0.05). In Experiment 2, Chinese herbal polysaccharides and saponin showed immunostimulating effects. The level of cortisol, GH, and IGF-I were significantly increased (p>0.05), and the level of IL-6 showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the APS and ASS treatment after the LPS challenge. The mixture of APS and ASS could stimulate the blood lymphocyte proliferation significantly whether the LPS was injected or not (p<0.05). These results show that Chinese herbal extracts can improve growth performance and stimulate immunity of weaned pigs. A mixture of APS and ASS, compared with APS alone, could be a new kind of immunostimulant for weaned pigs, which could result in greater positive effects on their growth performance and immunity.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 1974

Although several kinds of repellents or attractants have been used for mounting accelerators in the silkworm. Bembyx mori, more effective reagents still have not been developed. The authors developed a mounting accelerator with medical herb (Achyranthes bidentata Blume) and glutamic acid, an indispensable amino acid of silkworm, and experimented it's effects in both periods of spring and fall in 1972-1973. It was obtained that the mounting accelerator newly developed by authors shortened the economic periods by a half day, and did not have an bad effect on cocoon quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1189-1195
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• 2008

A study was conducted with 48 weaned barrows ($28{\pm}3d$, $8.45{\pm}0.14kg$) to determine the effect of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharide (ABPS) supplementation on pig performance, immunological, adrenal and somatotropic responses following Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. The experiment was a $2{\times}2$ factorial design; the main factors included diet (supplementation with 0 or 500 mg/kg ABPS) and immunological challenge (LPS or saline). On d 14 and 21 of the trial, pigs were given an intraperitoneal injection with either $100{\mu}g/kg$ BW of LPS or an equivalent amount of sterile saline. Blood samples were obtained 3 h after injection for analysis of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$), cortisol, growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and immunoglobulin G (IgG). On d 2 after LPS challenge, peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation (PBLP) was measured. LPS administration decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05), had a tendency to decrease average daily gain (ADG) (p<0.10) during both the first and second challenge periods and increased (p<0.05) feed:gain ratio only during the first challenge period. ABPS tended to improve ADG (p<0.10) during the first challenge period, and improved ADG (p<0.05) and tended to improve ADFI (p<0.10) during the second challenge period. ABPS did not affect feed:gain ratio. An interaction (p<0.05) between LPS challenge and diet was observed for the plasma concentrations of TNF-${\alpha}$, $PGE_2$ and cortisol after both LPS challenges such that, among LPS-treated pigs, pigs fed the ABPS diet were lower for these indices than those receiving the control diet. In contrast, pigs fed the ABPS diet had higher IGF-I (p<0.05) compared with those fed the control diet. No effect of diet, LPS challenge or both on GH and IgG was observed after both LPS administrations. LPS challenge increased PBLP when these cells were incubated with $8{\mu}g/ml$ of LPS during both the challenge periods, and did likewise when incubated with $8{\mu}g/ml$ of concanavalin A only after the first challenge. ABPS had no effect on PBLP. These data demonstrate that ABPS alters the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines following an immunological challenge, which might enable pigs to achieve better performance.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.109-116
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• 2008

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the discriminative criteria of 6 kinds of Achyranthis Radix by HPLC/DAD. Methods : 20-hydroxyecdysone is isolated by silica gel column chromatography ($CHCl_3$:MeOH, 7:1-1:1 v/v) and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance, A high-performance liquid chromatographic method with diode array detection was used to identify 20-hydroxyecdysone in A. japonica. The analysis was performed using $C_{18}$ column with isocratic elution consisted of 18% acetonitrile and 82% water and the detection was carried out by DAD at 254 nm. 6 kinds of Achyranthis Radix from different locations were extracted in MeOH. Each extracts was analyzed by HPLC in same condition as used in analysis of 20-hydroxyecdysone. The identities of each extracts were determined by comparing the retention time and UV spectrum with that of reference compound. Results : 1. A. japonica and A. bidentata showed the similar patterns of HPLC chromatogram and 20-hydroxycedysone was present in both of them because the peaks having the same retention time and UV spectrum as 20-hydroxyecdysone were shown in the HPLC chromatograms of A. japonica and A. bidentata 2. Cyathula officinalis and C. capitata showed the similar patterns of HPLC chromatogram. The peak having the same retention time and UV spectrum as 20-hydroxyecdysone was shown in the HPLC chromatogram of C. capitata but not shown in the HPLC chromatogram of C. officinalis. 3. Two species of medicinal drugs from Sacheon province showed similar patterns of HPLC chromatogram. Achyranthis Radix from Sacheon(wild) did not have 20-hydroxycedysone but Achyranthis Radix from Sacheon(cultivated) showed the peak having the same retention time as 20-hydroxyecdysone but UV spectrum of the peak was different from that of 20-hydroxyecdysone. Conclusions : These results suggested that 20-hydroxyecdysone could be the discriminative criteria for Achyranthis Radix contain 20-hydroxyecdysone though they belong to different genus and species. And the patterns of HPLC chromatogram also could be the discriminative criteria as the different species of Achyranthis Radix belonging to the same genus showed similar patterns of HPLC chromatogram.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.1 s.128
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• pp.35-41
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• 2002

The MeOH ext., $CH_2Cl_2$ Frac., EtOAc Frac., n-BuOH Frac., and $H_2O$ Frac. of 23 Korean medicinal herbs were prepared and were tested the inhibitory effects on Cytochrome P450 (Cyp) 1A1/2, 2B1/2, 2E1. Among the tested samples, the extracts of Selaginella tamariscina, Euonymus alatus, Salvia miltiorhiza, Angelica acutiloba, Rheum palmatum, Paeonia moutan, Scutellaria barbata, Tribulus terrestris, Hedyotis diffusa, Curcuma zedoaria, Rehmania glutinosa, Trogopterus xanthipes, Melandryum firmum, Achyranthes bidentata, Leonurus sibricus, Panax ginseng, Paeonia lactiflora, Poncirus trifoliata, Cnidium officinale, Cyperus rotundus, Corydalis ternata showed significant inhibitory effects on Cyp 1A1/2, 2B1/2, 2E1. The $IC_{50}$ values of those extracts were found to be below $50\;{\mu}g/ml$.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.697-704
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• 2000

According to herbalogical bibligraphy and literature, therapeutic effects of Achyranthis Radix on arthritis was as follows, 1. Achyranthis Radix of Amaranthaceae is divided into five species-Achyranthes japonica, A. bidentata, A. longifolia, A. fauriei, Cyathula capitata, C. officialis and the characteristic, taste, channel entry, effects and main treatments were alike. 2. Winefrying stood for repairing treatement method for Achyranthis Radix Before repairing treatment method, Achyranthis Radix had three tastes(bitter, sour, and sweet) and calm and not poisoning characteristic. After repairing treatment method, the bitter taste was disappeared, and calm and not poisoning characteristic was changed into warm characteristic. 3. Effects of Achyranthis Radix were quicking the blood and dispelling stasis, liver-kidney supplement and strengthening musculo-skeletal system. Main treatments were relief of lumbar and knee joint pain, static menstrural block and wind-cold- damp impediment. 4. Contraindication of Achyranthis Radix was sympthom caused by spleen-kidney yang vacuity, upper burner disease and lower burner hemorrhage etc. Being used in pregnant woman, it could incur abortion. 5. Contraindication of Achyranthis Radix was beef, milk and mutton. It's fear was Radix Cynanchi Stauntonii and Semen Plantaginis. It's aversion was the firefly. Herba Taraxaci, Carapax Amydae, Carapax Testudinis and Radix Cynanchi Stauntonii. From above results, I suppose Achyranthis Radix has enough herbalogical foundation and could be used to treat arthritis and it is necessary to make a profound study of it.