• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.29 no.2 s.43
• /
• pp.205-232
• /
• 2003

Ursolic acid (UA) and Oleanolic acid (ONA), known as urson, micromerol and malol, are pentacyclic triterpenoid compounds which naturally occur in a large number of vegetarian foods, medicinal herbs, and plants. They may occur in their free acid form or as aglycones for triterpenoid saponins, which are comprised of a triterpenoid aglycone, linked to one or more sugar moieties. Therefore UA and ONA are similar in pharmacological activity. Lately scientific research, which led to the identification of UA and ONA, revealed that several pharmacological effects, such as antitumor, hepato-protective, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, and anti-hyperlipidemic could be attributed to UA and ONA. Here, we introduced the effect of UA and ONA on acutely barrier disrupted and normal hairless mouse skin. To evaluate the effects of UA and ONA on epidermal permeability barrier recovery, both flanks of 8-12 week-old hairless mice were topically treated with either 0.01-0.1 mg/ml UA or 0.1-1 mg/ml ONA after tape stripping, and TEWL (Transepidermal water loss) was measured . The recovery rate increased in those UA or ONA treated groups (0.1 mg/ml UA and 0.5 mg/ml ONA) at 6 h more than $20\%$ compared to vehicle treated group (p<0.05). Here, we introduced the effects of UA and ONA on acute barrier disruption and normal epidermal permeability barrier function. For verifying the effects of UA and ONA on normal epidermal barrier, hydration and TEWL were measured for 1 and 3 weeks after UA and ONA applications (2mg/ml per day). We also investigated the features of epidermis and dermis using electron microscopy (EM) and light microscopy (LM). Both samples increased hydration compared to vehicle group from f week without TEWL alteration (p<0.005). EM examination using RuO4 and OsO4 fixation revealed that secretion and numbers of lamellar bodies and complete formation of lipid bilayers were most prominent $(ONA{\geq}UA>Vehicle)$. LM finding showed that thickness of stratum corneum (SC) was slightly increased and especially epidermal thickening and flattening was observed (UA>ONA>Veh). We also observed that UA and ONA stimulate epidermal keratinocyte differentiation via $PPAR\;\alpha$. Protein expression of involucrin, loricrin, and filaggrin increased at least 2 and 3 fold in HaCaT cells treated with either $ONA\;(10{\mu}M)$ or UA $(10{\mu}M)$ for 24h respectively. This result suggested that the UA and ONA can improve epidermal permeability barrier function and induce the epidermal keratinocyte differentiation via $PPAR\;{\alpha}$. Using Masson-trichrome and elastic fiber staining, we observed collagen thickening and elastic fiber elongation by UA and ONA treatments. In vitro results of collagen and elastin synthesis and elastase inhibitory activity measurements were also confirmed in vivo findings. These data suggested that the effects of UA and ONA related to not only epidermal permeability barrier functions but also dermal collagen and elastic fiber synthesis. Taken together, UA and ONA can be relevant candidates to improve epidermal and dermal functions and pertinent agents for cosmeseutical applications.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.247-272
• /
• 2005

The Philadelphus schrenkii complex including P. schrenkii var. schrenkii, P. schrenkii var. jackii, P. schrenkii var. mandshuricus, P. tenuifolius, P. pekinensis, P. seoulensis, P. lasiogynus, and P. scaber, is distributed in China, Korea, japan, and far eastern Russia. Their taxonomic delimitations are obscure because quantitative characters, such as presence/absence and density of hair on leaf, petiole, style, disc, calyx-tube, and pedicel, are highly variable with no apparent characteristics that consistently distinguish from each other within the group. Thus, these morphological characters are reexamined using univariate analyses. P. pekinenesis is distinct from other taxa in having glabrous disk, calyx, pedicel, and leaf blade. In addition, the number of flowers in an inflorescence [(5)7-9(11) vs 5-7 in other taxa], smaller calyx tube [2.5-3 mm vs. (2.5)3-4(5.9) in other taxa], and slightly divided styles help distinguish P. pekinenesis from other related taxa in Korea. However, P. schrenkii var. schrenkii, P. schrenkii var. jackii, P. schrenkii var. mandshuricus, and P. lasiogynus show continuous variation in the pubescence of disk, calyx, pedicel, and leaf blade, and this may reflect a lack of divergence among them. Particular emphases are placed on P. tenuifolius and P. seoulensis, because of the high degree of morphological intergradation with respect to the degree of pubescence in disk, calyx, pedicel, and leaf blade and their inconsistent circumscription across various systematic treatments. P. scaber, distributed in the southern Korea, has often been treated as an independent species having exfoliated branchlets, distinct serrated leaf margin, and recurved styles. However, this current study suggests that P. scaber should be recognized as a form of P. tenuifolius because these distinguishing characters are continuous between P. tenuifolius and P. scaber. In geographical distribution, P. pekinensis is mainly distributed in the southern part of Korea, while P. tenuifoilus and P. schrenkii are commonly found all over the country.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.24 no.8
• /
• pp.1149-1157
• /
• 2017

Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation in our body. The use of medicinal plants has been widely applied as an alternative source for drug development. One of marine natural resources, the anti-inflammatory effect of Ishige sinicola ethanol extract (ISEE), was evaluated by using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cell and mice model. As a result, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$) were inhibited with increasing concentration of ISEE without any cytotoxicity. Furthermore, ISEE suppressed the expression of not only inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) p65, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a dose-dependent manner. In mice ear edema test, the formation of edema was reduced at the highest dosage of ISEE and the reduction of the number of infiltrated mast cells was observed in histological analysis. These results indicate that ISEE has a potent anti-inflammatory activity and can be used as a pharmaceutical material for many kinds of inflammatory disease.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.1026-1038
• /
• 1995

Although aloe lost a lot of its previous popularity in modern clinical uses as medicine numerous scientific researches still have claimed the beneficial properties(curing and general tonic effect) of aloe gel. Whereas considerable contradictory reports have helped to confuse the aloe gel issue and continually aroused controversy about aloe gel efficacy. However health food, cosmetic and medicinal products made from aloe gel are widely available in the world market especially in U.S.A. so the growing of Aloe plant and the processing of A. vera gel have become big industries in some countries. In some previous papers the salicylic acid, one of the common trace gel components, was thought to have an analgetic and antinflammatory effect. Large amount of Mg ion in the gel was suggested to act as anesthetic, Mg-lactate as antihistamic, and Aloctin A(a glycoprotein) as wound healer by promoting the cell growth. The carboxypeptidase and bradykinase activity in the gel were proposed to have the pain relieving and antiinflammatory effect. But any of thes etheories concerining the physiological action of the trace gel components has not been demonstrated by modern pharmacology, and failed to be supported by clinical research. It was suggested by some research workers that trace amount of anthraquinone compounds in the gel play an important role to act as false substrate inhibitors for PG and TX production(antiprostanoid effect), by which, they believed, inflammation, burn and frostbite, and infected wound could be healed. This hypothesis has not been substantiated. Butthe suggested antimicrobial action, antidiabetic, and antidotic effect of aloe gel are likely to be attributed to the trace anthraquinone compounds. In a lot of recent experimental reports it has been claimed that aloe gel polysaccharides(acetylglucomannan, acetylmannan, and glycoprotein) have the antimicrobial, antinflammatory, antitumour, and infected wound healing effect by immunoenhancement. It is hoped that these effects will be soon documented in clinical studies, then the controversy on aloe gel beneficial effect will cease. In the 30 days subchronic toxicity test the lowest observed adverse effect level of acemannan(acetylmannan) on dog was 5.0 mg/kg, IP. But the aloe gel is generally agreed to be harmless and non toxic even for the internal use such as health food. In the case of idiosynrasy one must keep the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction of aloe gel in mind. In conclusion it seem to be impossible to simply refuse a lot of evidences made by research workers who have claimed aloe gel's beneficial effects and to deny the fact that there had been long therapeutic histories of Aloe plants.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.19-27
• /
• 1996

Zanthoxylum piperitum and Z. schinifolium have been utilized not only as food stuffs, but also as medicinal plants in Korea. In this study, lipids, sugar, amino acids and other components of Zanthoxylum piperitum and Z. schinifolium peels and seeds were analyzed by HPLC and GLC. Four samples contained common fatty acids such as linoleic, linolenic, palmitic, oleic and stearic acid. The contents of unsaturated fatty acids were 87.1% and 64.8% in Z. schinifolium peels and seeds, 73.6% and 62.9% in Z. piperitum peels and seeds, respectively. Z. schinifolium peels contained only beta-sitosterol, whereas other three samples contained campesterol, stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol. In case of free amino acids, peels of both species showed higher contents of acids than seeds of both species. Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine, valine, and leucine were found in all four samples. Essential oils consisted of limonene (30.1-66.8%), beta-phellandrene (4.8-13.3%), citronellal (1.5-22%) and cineol (1.6-3.9%). It is worthwhile to note that the content of citronellal in Z. schinifolium seeds was higher than that of the others.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.652-660
• /
• 2002

To develop natural food preservatives for extending the shelf-life of jeotkal (salted and fermented seafood), antimicrobial substances were extracted from 32 types of medicinal herbs and edible plants using 95% ethanol. Among the extracts, Glycyrrhizae radix, Curcumae domestica, Galla rhois, and Resina pini showed relatively high inhibitory effects on the growth of the microorganisms isolated from the deteriorated jeotkal. We selected and tested the extract from Recina pini as a natural jeotkal preservative. This ethanol extract was purified partially by adding equal quantity of water, through which 77% of insoluble materials were removed as impurities. In manufacturing modified jeotkal using squid, sucrose and starch syrup were substituted with sorbitol, $glucono-{\delta}-lactone$ was added instead of vitamin C and lactic acid, and sterilized hot pepper was used instead of natural one. The shelf-life of modified jeotkal was prolonged by 4 days compared with the control jeotkal when stored at $20^{\circ}C$, while that of modified jeotkal containing 1.0% partially purified Recina pini extract was prolonged by 6 days compared to the control. The same tests were conducted for the changran (stomach and intestine of Alaska pollack) jeotkal preservation. The shelf-life of the control jeotkal was 24 days, whereas the modified jeotkal and the Resina pini extract-containing modified jeotkal maintained their qualities without changes in microbial and chemical characteristics for 90 days at $20^{\circ}C$ storage.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.31 no.4 s.54
• /
• pp.349-357
• /
• 2005

New antioxidative substances for cosmeceuticals were screened from natural resources such as microbial metabolites, mushrooms, and medicinal plants. Four antioxidants were isolated from the fungal metabolite of Eupenicillium shearii and their structures were determined to be new phenolic compounds. The compounds were designated as melanocins A, B, C, and D. Melanocins $A{\sim}D$ exhibited free radical scavenging activity on DPPH and superoxide with $EC_{50}$ values of $21{\sim}94\;and\;7{\sim}84{\mu}M$, respectively, which were stronger activity than those of ${\alpha}-tocopherol$ and BHA. Melanocin A showed anti-wrinkle effects on the UV-irrated hairless mouse skin. A novel hispidin antioxidative compound designated as inoscavin A was isolated from the fruiting body of the mushroom, Inonotus xeranticus. Inoscavin A scavenged superoxide radical with $EC_{50}$ values of $0.03{\mu}g/mL$, and inhibited rat liver microsomal lipid peroxidation with $EC_{50}$ values of $0.3{\mu}g/mL$. Benzastatins $A{\sim}G$, the novel antioxidants isolated from the culture of Streptomyces nitrosporeus showed potent lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity with $EC_{50}$ values of $3{\sim}30{\mu}M$. A cyclopentene compound with strong hypopigmentary effect was isolated from the fungal metabolite of Penicillium sp. and identifed as terrein. Terrein significantly reduced melanin levels in a melanomacyte cell line, Mel-Ab. It showed 10 times stronger activity than kojic acid, but exhibited no cytotoxic effect even in $100{\mu}M$. It was suggested that terrein reduced melanin synthesis by reducing tyrosinase production by MITF down-regulation.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.163-186
• /
• 2000

We have previously screened 150 medicinal plants on the inhibition of elastase and found a significant inhibitory effects of the extracts of Areca catechu L. on the aging and inflammation against the skin tissues. To isolate and identify the compounds having biological activity, we was further purified by each of the solvent fractions, silica gel column chromatography, preparative TLC and reversed-Phase HPLC. Peak in HPLC, which coincided with the inhibitory activity against elastase, was identified as Phenolic substance using various colorimetric methods, UV, and IR. $IC_{50}$/ values of phenolic substance purified from Areca catechu were 26.9 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ for porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) and 60.8 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ for human neutrophil elastase (HNE). This Phenolic substance showed more potent activity than those of reference compounds, oleanolic acid (76.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ for PPE, 219.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ for HNE) and ursolic acid (31.0 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ for PPE, 118.6 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ for HNE). According to the Lineweaver-Burk Plots, the inhibition against both PPE and HNE by this phenolic substance was competitive with substrate. Phenolic substance from Areca catechu exhibited high free radical scavenging effect ($SC_{50}$/ : 6 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) and inhibited effectively hyaluronidase activity ($IC_{50}$/: 210 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$). These results suggest that the Phenolic substance Purified from Areca catechu showed anti-aging effect by protecting connective tissue proteins.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.543-549
• /
• 2021

Approximately 10% of all angiosperms belong to the Asteraceae family. Plant species belonging to this family have traditionally been used as medicinal plants in the Korean Peninsula. We investigated the antioxidant activity of seed extracts from 14 species belonging to the Asteraceae family. Seeds with ≥ 90% percentage of filled seed and ≥ 50% final germination were used. The total phenolic content was the highest in Dendranthema zawadskii var. tenuisectum (13.5 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAEs)/g seeds), followed by Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum (11.8 mg of GAEs/g seeds), and Callistephus chinensis (11.0 mg of GAEs/g seeds). The total flavonoid content was highest in C. chinensis (9.8 mg of quercetin equivalents (QEs)/g seeds), followed by D. zawadskii var. tenuisectum (7.2 mg of QEs/g seeds) and Taraxacum officinale (6.3 mg of QEs/g seeds). Our results showed that 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity was highest in D. zawadskii var. tenuisectum (57.4 ㎍/ml), followed by T. officinale (59.1 ㎍/ml) and D. zawadskii var. latilobum (65.0 ㎍/ml), with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of DPPH scavenging activity. Furthermore, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity was highest in C. chinensis (26.2 ㎍/ml), followed by D. zawadskii var. tenuisectum (38.4 ㎍/ml), T. officinale (40.2 ㎍/ml), with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of ABTS scavenging activity. Based on a cluster analysis according to the antioxidant activity, the 14 species were classified into five groups, with group 4 having the highest antioxidant activity and group 0 having the lowest antioxidant activity. D. zawadskii var. latilobum, D. zawadskii var. tenuisectum, T. officinale, and C. chinensis belonging to groups 3 and 4, exhibited high phenolic content and antioxidant activity and can be considered potent plant-derived natural antioxidants.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.157-164
• /
• 2023

Codonopsis lanceolata (S. et Z.) Trautv. is mainly cultivated in Korea and China as a medicinal crop. C. lanceolata is difficult to produce plug seedlings in the summer, because C. lanceolata has a low germination rate and is vulnerable to high temperatures. Cold treatment is effective in breaking dormancy of seeds and increasing the germination rate. Shading cultivation can control the solar irradiance received by plants and reduce the damage by high temperatures and strong light. This study was conducted to examine the appropriate cold treatment period for the improving germination of C. lanceolata, and shading level during the summer seedling period. Cold treatment experiments were conducted for 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks at 4℃ before sowing. In the shading experiment, C. lanceolata was grown for 45 days with 0 (non-treatment), 45, 75% shading levels. Cold treatment for one week significantly improved the germination energy. The plant height, leaf area, and fresh and dry weights of C. lanceolata seedlings were significantly increased under the 45% shading level. Total root length, root surface area, and the number of root tips were significantly higher in shading treatment (45 and 75%) than in non-treatment. The C. lanceolata seedling's compactness and Dickson's quality index were the highest at 45% shading level. Therefore, these results recommended sowing C. lanceolata after cold treatment for one week at 4℃, and 45% shading level could stably culture C. lanceolata plug seedlings during the high temperature period.