• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.161-164
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• 2009

'NuRo (漏蘆)' is one of the crude drugs which has been used for removal of fever and skin disease. With regard to the botanical origin of 'NuRo', it has been considered to be Echinops species of Compositae, but there has no pharmacognostical confirmation on it. To clarify the botanical origin of 'NuRo', the anatomical characteristics of the root of Echinops latifolius and E. setifer were studied. As a result, it was clarified that 'NuRo' from Korea was the root of Echinops setifer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.578-583
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• 2010

It has been reported that extracts of globe thistle (Echinops spp.) and thistle (Circium spp., Carduus spp. and Onopordum spp.) have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities. Methanol extracts of Echinops setifer and Carduus spp. were used to test and see if the extracts of these plants could suppress growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium fortuitum. Although extract of Echinops setifer showed no anti-mycobacterial activities, extract of Carduus spp. showed inhibition zones when tested with filter discs. Genomic DNA was isolated from Carduus spp. and PCR was performed to clone a DNA fragment containing ITS1, 5.8S rRNA gene and ITS2. A 733-bp PCR product was obtained and its DNA sequence was reported to the GenBank (accession number GU188570). BLAST search of the obtained DNA sequence did not show a match with any DNA sequences in the Genbank. Carduus crispus and Carduus defloratus had the closest phylogenetic relationships to this plant.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.253-262
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• 2013

In this study, we analyzed the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of seven medicinal herbs. All extracts of the tested herbs, Euryale ferox Salisbury, Echinops setifer Iljin, Amomum cardamomum Linne, Tetrapanax papyriferus, Illicium verum Hook. f., Typha orientalis Presl, and Piper longum Linne, exhibited potent anti-oxidative activity as confirmed by DPPH radical scavenging capacity. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced nitric oxide (NO) production, in the RAW 264.7 cell line, was also ameliorated by all extracts' treatments in a dose dependent manner. NO suppressive activity originated from the inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein expression by the extracts. Three extracts, E. ferox S., I. verum Hook. f., and P. longum L., possessed suppressive activity against, not only iNOS, but also cycloxygenase 2 (COX-2) protein expression. These three extracts may then serve as potential candidates for non steroidal analgesic inflammation drugs (NSAIDs). Furthermore, all extracts induced anti-oxidative enzyme, heme oxygenase 1, protein expression. Taken together, these results provide an important new insight into the fact that various medicinal herbs possess potent anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities and might be utilized as promising agents in the field of health products. Further studies for the identification of the active compounds from medicinal herbs are clearly needed.