• 대한의생명과학회지
• /
• 제23권4호
• /
• pp.310-320
• /
• 2017

Ginseng has been widely used for traditional medicine in eastern Asia and is known to have inhibitory effects on cardiovascular disease (CVD) such as thrombosis, atherosclerosis, and myocardial infarction. Because, platelet is a crucial mediator of CVD, many studies are focusing on inhibitory mechanism of platelet functions. Among platelet activating molecules, thromboxane $A_2$ ($TXA_2$) and P-selectin play a central role in CVD. $TXA_2$ leads to intracellular signaling cascades and P-selectin plays an important role in platelet-neutrophil and platelet-monocyte interactions leading to the inflammatory response. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory mechanisms of total saponin fraction from Korean red ginseng (KRG-TS) on $TXA_2$ production and P-selectin expression. Thrombin-elevated $TXA_2$ production and arachidonic acid release were decreased by KRG-TS dose (25 to $150{\mu}g/mL$)-dependently via down regulation of microsomal cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), $TXA_2$ synthase (TXAS) activity and dephosphorylation of cytosolic phospholipase $A_2$ ($cPLA_2$). In addition, KRG-TS suppressed thrombin-activated P-selectin expression, an indicator of granule release via dephosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). Taken together, we revealed that KRG-TS is a beneficial novel compound inhibiting $TXA_2$ production and P-selectin expression, which may prevent platelet aggregation-mediated thrombotic disease.