• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2021

Objective : Yukgunja-tang is one of the herbal prescriptions widely used for functional indigestion. In this study, we evaluated the pharmacological effect through the Yukgunja-tang formulation development. Methods : The RAW 264.7 cells were pretreated with Yukgunja-tang tablet (YGJT-T : 50, 100 and 200 ㎍/㎖) and then stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS : 500 ng/㎖). Cell viability, inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) were measured. Also, ICR mice induced acute gastritis by oral administration of 150 mM HCl in 60% ethanol. The YGJT-T (30 mg/kg) was pretreated for 3 days, and 150 mM HCl in 60% ethanol was orally administered 1 hour after the last drug treatment. Mice were sacrificed 1 hour after oral administration of 150 mM HCl in 60% ethanol. The gastric mucosa was observed, and inflammatory cytokines in the gastric tissue were measured. Results : The marker components of YGJT-T were determined by simultaneous analysis using HPLC. In RAW 264.7 cells, pretreatment of YGJT-T was non-toxic and inhibited the production of inflammatory mediators such as NO and PGE2 and suppressed inflammatory cytokines. In addition, pretreatment of YGJT-T improved bleeding and edema due to gastric lesions caused by acute gastritis and suppressed inflammatory cytokines. Conclusion : In summary, our results confirmed that treatment with YGJT-T has anti-inflammatory and anti-gastritis effects in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, in this study, YGJT-T could support a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of gastritis.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1320-1331
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• 2009

Oxidative stress and inflammation are important events in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases including arthritis, atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension. Cynomorium songaricum (CS) has been used as a traditional Korean herbal medicine, and it is currently used in traditional clinics to treat frequent urination, spermatorrhea, weakness of the sinews and constipation in the folk medicine. The aim of this study was to determine whether fractionated extracts of CS inhibit free radical generation such as DPPH radical, superoxide radical, nitric oxide and peroxynitrite, production of nitrite an index of NO, $PGE_2$, iNOS, COX-2 and pro-inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Cytotoxic activity of extracts on RAW 264.7 cells was measured using 5-(3-caroboxymeth-oxyphenyl)-2H-tetra-zolium inner salt (MTS) assay. Our results indicated that the most superior extract which scavenged DPPH radical, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and RNS was CS ethyl acetate extract (CSEA). Moreover, CSEA significantly inhibited the LPS-induced NO, $PGE_2$ production and iNOS, COX-2 expression accompanied by an attenuation of TNF-$\alpha$, IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 formation in macrophages. Furthermore, CSEA treatment also blocked LPS-induced intracellular ROS production and the activation of NF-${\kappa}B$. These findings indicate that CSEA inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines via the suppression of ROS production and NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. Take together, these results indicate that CSEA has the potential for use as an natural anti-oxidant and an agent of anti-chronic inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.791-795
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• 2008

In the present study, Cordyceps sinensis extract (CSE) was evaluated to determine if it could protect pancreatic ${\beta}$ cells against cytokine-induced cytotoxicity of RINm5F cells. Treatment of cells with cytokines resulted in a decrease of viability, which was caused by increase of nitric oxide (NO) production. CSE protected cytokine-mediated viability reduction in a concentration-dependent manner. Incubation with CSE also induced a significant suppression of cytokine-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein and NO production. The molecular mechanism by which CSE inhibited iNOS protein expression appeared to involve the inhibition of $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. The cytokine-stimulated RIN cells showed increases in $NF-{\kappa}B$ binding activity compared to unstimulated cells. However, pretreatment with CSE inhibited cytokines-induced $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation in RINm5F cells.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.11-14
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• 2011

The present study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of dichloromethane extract of Auricularia auricula-judae. Dichloromethane extract of Auricularia auricula-judae inhibited Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production significantly in a dose-dependent manner in the concentration ${\geq}\;10\;{\mu}g/ml$ (p < 0.05). Furthermore, RT-PCR results of this study indicated that the extract markedly reduced the expressions of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-$1{\beta}$) mRNA in LPS-treated murine RAW 264.7 macrophages, which could possibly ameliorate the inflammation. Nevertheless, dichloromethane extract of Auricularia auricula-judae did not show complete inhibition of IL-6 mRNA expression. The inhibition of IL-$1{\beta}$ cytokine at protein level was also observed in a dose dependent manner. In conclusion, the current study revealed the previously unknown effect of dichloromethane ethyl extract of Auricularia auricula-judae inhibitions of the production of NO, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ in LPS-stimulated macrophages.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.456-461
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• 2011

The aim of the present study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of a Rice Bran Ethanol Extract (RBE). Inflammation, such as a bacterial infection in vivo metabolites, such as external stimuli or internal stimuli to the defense mechanisms of the biological tissue a variety of intracellular regulatory factors deulin inflammatory TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, IL-8, such as proinflammatory cytokines, prostagrandin, lysosomal enzyme, free radicals are involved in a variety of mediators. The present study was designed to determine the effect of the RBE on pro-inflammatory factors such as NO, iNOS expression and TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) - stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages cells. The cell toxicity was determined by MTS assay. To evaluate of anti-inflammatory effect of RBE, amount of NO was measured using the NO detection kit and the iNOS expression was measured by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). And proinflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA kit. As a result, the RBE reduced NO, iNOS expression and TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6 production without cytotoxicity. Our results suggest that the RBE may have an anti-inflammatory property through suppressing inflammatory mediator productions and appears to be useful as an anti-inflammatory material.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.644-653
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• 2024

Considering the emergence of various infectious diseases, including the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people's attention has shifted towards immune health. Consequently, immune-enhancing functional foods have been increasingly consumed. Hence, developing new immune-enhancing functional food products is needed. Pinus densiflora pollen can be collected from the male red pine tree, which is commonly found in Korea. P. densiflora pollen extract (PDE), obtained by water extraction, contained polyphenols (216.29 ± 0.22 mg GAE/100 g) and flavonoids (35.14 ± 0.04 mg CE/100 g). PDE significantly increased the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) but, did not exhibit cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 cells. Western blot results indicated that PDE induced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. PDE also significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of cytokines and the phosphorylation of IKKα/β and p65, as well as the activation and degradation of IκBα. Additionally, western blot analysis of cytosolic and nuclear fractions and immunofluorescence assay confirmed that the translocation of p65 to the nucleus after PDE treatment. These results confirmed that PDE increases the production of cytokines, NO, and ROS by activating NF-κB. Therefore, PDE is a promising nutraceutical candidate for immune-enhancing functional foods.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.635-643
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• 2012

As an appraisal for the application of a new starter culture, more than 200 lactic acid bacteria strains were isolated from raw milk and healthy human feces. The strains showing excellent growth and acid production ability in 10% skim milk media were selected and identified as Lactobacillus casei based on the results of their API carbohydrate fermentation patterns, as well as 16S rDNA sequence analysis. To assess the effect of L. casei strains on irritable bowel disease (IBD), the inhibitory effect of the selected strains against the nitric oxide (NO) production of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells was measured. Among the tested L. casei strains, L. casei MCL was observed to have the greatest NO inhibitory activity. Additionally, L. casei MCL was found to inhibit mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, TNF-${\alpha}$), as well as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) involved in pathophysiologic processes such as inflammation. The mRNA expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-10 and transforming growth factor-$1{\beta}$ (TGF-${\beta}$) of L. casei MCL, was confirmed using quantitative real-time PCR. In conclusion, L. casei MCL showed decreases in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and up-regulated expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.118-134
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• 2010

Objective: Yang Geouk San Hwa - Tang (YGSHT) has been widely used in Sasang Constitutional Medicine of Korea for treatment of acute inflammatory symptom, such as palatine tonsillitis, polydipsia, headache, papule, pimple however, the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory activity has not been clarified. In this study, therefore, we investigated the mechanism of the inhibitory effect of YGSHT on LPS-induced inflammation. Materials and methods: The effect of YGSHT was analyzed by ELISA, RT-PCR and Western blotting in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Results: We found that YGSHT suppressed not only the production of pre-inflammatory cytokines (IL-$1{\beta}$ and TNF-$\alpha$), the generation of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E (PGE)2, but also the mRNA expression of pre-inflammatory cytokines, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. Furthermore, YGSHT was shown to inhibit the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 and the activation and translocation of NF-kB from cytosol to nuclear in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Conclusions: These results suggest that YGSHT exerts an anti-inflammatory effect through the regulation of the ERK1/2 and JNK1/2 pathway and NF-kB pathway, thereby decreasing production of pre-inflammatory cytokines, NO, and PGE2.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.223-236
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• 2019

Dengropanax morfiferus (D), Broussonitia kazinoki (B), and Cudriania tricuspidata (E), a widely cultivated species in South Korea, has been used as traditional medicine to treat numerous diseases. In this study, we evaluated the antidiabetic effects in a various signaling mechanisms using mixed extract and major component contents were analyzed by HPLC in the combined extracts from Dengropanax morfiferus, Broussonitia kazinoki, and Cudriania tricuspidata (DBCE). DBCE inhibited ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase activation and showed potent antioxidant effects, which are evaluated using DPPH, ABTS, and SOD assay. Cytokines, which are released by inflammatory cells in pancreatic islets, are involved in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus. DBCE showed the protective effects in RINm5F cells against cytokines-induced damage by suppressing inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase and COX-2 expression and NO production. Insulin resistance is the primary characteristic of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the regulatory effect of DBCE on glucose uptake and production are investigated in insulin-responsive human HepG2 cells. DBCE stimulated glucose uptake, prevented Glut2 and phosphor-IRS1 downregulation induced by high glucose (HG, 30 mM). Moreover, DBCE pretreatment diminished glucose levels, PEPCK and G6Pase overexpression provoked by HG. These findings suggest that DBCE might be used for diabetes treatment through alpha-glucosidase or alpha-amylase activity regulation, pancreatic beta cell protection, hepatic glucose sensitivity improvement. Cytokines, which are released by inflammatory cells' infiltrations around the pancreatic islets, are involved in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.875-883
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• 2022

This study was to investigate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of leaf and stem of Artemisia annua L. extract by hot water and 70% ethanol. The total polyphenol content was significantly higher in the 70% ethanol extract of Artemisia annua L. than in the hot water extract, but there was no significant difference in the total flavonoid content between the hot water extract and the 70% ethanol extract. The DPPH radical and ABTS radical scavenging ability was the highest in the vitamin C treatment group at the concentration of 62.5~500 ㎍/mL, followed by the 70% ethanol extract and the hot water extract. As a result of measuring the NO production inhibitory effect at 125 ~ 500 ㎍/mL, the hot water extract showed strong NO production inhibition at the concentration of 500 ㎍/mL, and showed the inhibition of NO production with concentration-dependent pattern. In addition to inhibitory activity of NP production, the 70% ethanol extract also showed an inhibitory effect on inflammatory cytokines production. It is thought that it can be widely used in the treatment and improvement of inflammatory diseases because it shows antioxidant effects and significantly reduces the expression of inflammatory cytokines.