• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.308-315
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• 2012

Opuntia humifusa known as the Eastern prickly pear have been used as a treatment of burns, diarrhea, asthma, rheumatism, gonorrhea, and diabetes in alternative medicine. O. humifusa is widely cultivated in the middle and southern provinces of Korea and distributed in North America. The aim of this study is to investigate anti-diabetic effect of O. humifusa stem (OHS) water or 80% MeOH extract using 3T3-L1 adipocytes and db/db mice animal models. OHS 80% MeOH extract at a dose of $250{\mu}g/ml$ significantly increased the glucose uptake and lipid accumulation compared with the control in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Blood glucose, plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly reduced by oral treatment of OHS 80% MeOH extract (200 mg/kg BW) for 6 weeks in db/db mice. Also, the oral treatment of OHS 80% MeOH extract slightly changed the plasma insulin and insulin resistance levels in db/db mice, but were no significance in comparison to control. Glucose transporter(GLUT)4 expressions of adipose tissue and muscle were significantly increased more than that in the control. Therefore, these results suggest that OHS 80% MeOH extract inhibits the blood glucose level through regulation of lipid profile, insulin resistance, and GLUT4 expression in db/db mice and its diabetic effect is effective more than water extract.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.381-388
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• 2018

Various characteristics of Opuntia humifusa (O. humifusa) extract solution obtained under low temperature and reduced pressure were examined and cosmetic essences using the extract solution as a humectant were prepared. The O. humifusa extract solution represented very small surface tension (25 mN/m) and contact angle ($8^{\circ}$), compared with other humectants such as glycerine and 1% hyaluronic acid solution. Also, the viscosity and stickiness of the extract solution were very low. The O. humifusa extract solution made it possible for a small amount of oil to be dispersed stably in water without any surfactant. Unlike other humectants, the viscosity and stickiness of cosmetic essences were reduced as the extract solution content in formulation increased. These results show that the O. humifusa extract solution obtained under low temperature and reduced pressure can be used as a natural humectant that provides moisturizing property and less sticky feeling.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1680-1687
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• 2012

Postmenopausal women are at an increased risk of developing coronary artery disease, primarily due to dyslipidemia that accompanies the loss of estrogen secretion. This study was performed to investigate the effects of Opuntia humifusa seed extracts on blood flow and serum lipid level in ovariectomized rats. Twenty-eight 9-week old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups as sham-operated rats (SHAM), ovariectomized rats (OVX-CON), and ovariectomized rats that were treated with Opuntia humifusa seed extracts (OVX-OHS 2% and OVX-OHS 6%). The diets were fed to the rats for 7 weeks after operation. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride contents decreased in the SHAM group compared to the OVX-CON group. Seven weeks of feeding of Opuntia humifusa seed extracts resulted in significant (p<0.05) lowering of serum triglyceride and a decreasing tendency in total cholesterol levels. The level of HDL-cholesterol in serum increased significantly by feeding diets containing the 2% and 6% Opuntia humifusa seed hot-water extract (p<0.05). Blood passage times were shorter in the Opuntia humifusa seed extract-supplemented groups than in the untreated group (OVX-CON). The platelet aggregation ability was lower in groups treated with Opuntia humifusa seed extracts than in the OVX-CON group. These results suggest that Opuntia humifusa seed extracts may have benefits in improving metabolic syndrome in menopausal women.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.519-525
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• 2013

The Opuntia extract has been traditionally used to treat diabetes, inflammation, and rheumatoid arthritis in oriental medicine. The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristics of biological activity between Opuntia humifusa and Opuntia ficus-indica which is cultivating in korea using cell-free system or cell-based assay. O. humifusa extract effectively inhibited ${\alpha}$-glucosidase activity or improved the immune function, and its biological activity was more effective than O. ficus-indica extract. The scavenging activity of DPPH radical and the inhibitory effect of tyrosinase similarly showed by O. humifusa and O. ficus-indica extract, however neuroprotective effect only showed a tendency to increase compared with control in PC12 cells. Therefore the results suggest that O. humifusa can be a useful agent for treatment of diabetes and immunodeficiency.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.117-121
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• 2012

Biological activities of the hot water and ethanol extracts from Opuntia humifusa cladodes were investigated. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hadrazyl (DPPH) electron donating ability of hot water and ethanol extracts was 79.07 and 82.54%, respectively. Hot water extract generally showed better cytotoxic activity than ethanol extract against each cell line. HeLa and AGS cell lines treated with hot water extract had more than 50% cytotoxic activities. Based on the antimicrobial activities against four microbial strains, both extracts inhibited growth of Staphylococcus aureus KCCM 11593, whereas affected cell growth of three other microorganisms, Escherichia coli (KCCM 11234), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC 11862), in proportion to the concentration of extracts. The inflammatory activities against hot water extract (34.31%) showed higher than that of ethanol extract (25.59%). The effect of extracts on 3T3-L1 preadipocytes differentiation showed that differentiation of treated group with 80 and 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ of hot and ethanol extracts were increased more than treated group with isobutyl methyl xanthine (IBMX) + dexamethasone. These results indicate that the O. humifusa cladodes extracts can be used as a functional material due to their effective biological activities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.485-490
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to investigate the hypocholesterol effects of Opuntia humifusa extract in hypercholesterolemic rats. Rats (8-week-old, male) were randomly divided into four groups (n=4) as follows: N-control, normal diet; H-control, hypercholesterolemic diet; OH-1, 2% O. humifusa extract-supplemented hypercholesterolemic diet; OH-2, 4% O. humifusa extract-supplemented hypercholesterolemic diet. After 4 weeks, we observed that hypercholesterolemia induced significant increases in serum lipids (total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol), hepatic lipids (total cholesterol and triglyceride), and hepatic function parameters (ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase) (P<0.05). Treatment with O. humifusa extract for 2 weeks normalized these indexes up to the levels of normal rats. O. humifusa extract tended to increase fecal lipid (H-control: 142.74 mg/day vs. OH-1: 214.05 mg/day; OH-2: 200.95 mg/day, P<0.05) and bile acid (H-control: 37.07 ${\mu}M/day$ vs. OH-1: 47.23 ${\mu}M/day$, OH-2: 47.93 ${\mu}M/day$, P<0.05) contents of hypercholesterolemic rats. We concluded that oral administration of O. humifusa extract effectively improved cholesterol metabolism in a hypercholesterolemic animal model induced by hypercholesterol diet.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.12
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• pp.1827-1834
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• 2014

Colon cancer is the third highest cause of death in Korea. Known dietary causes of colon cancer include a diet rich in fat and red meat as well as inadequate intake of dietary fiber, fruits, and vegetables. Therefore, recent research has focused on the anticancer effects of natural products. Opuntia humifusa is a type of prickly pear that is known to contain biologically active compounds that can be used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, arteriosclerosis, and hyperglycemia. The aim of this study was to determine whether or not O. humifusa extract affects proliferation, cell death, and DNA fragmentation in human carcinoma HT-29 cells. O. humifusa is rich in carbohydrates, minerals (Mg, K, and Ca), and total phenolics. HT-29 cells were treated with extracts of O. humifusa at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/mL for 24 or 48 hours. O. humifusa extracts inhibited HT-29 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. Hoechst 33342/PI double staining and Comet assay were performed to observe changes in nuclei of cancer cells undergoing cell death. The results of both tests showed that O. humifusa extract induced cell shrinkage, DNA fragmentation, and chromatin condensation dose-dependently in HT-29 cells. The results of this study suggest that O. humifusa extract inhibits the growth of HT-29 via induction of DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.107-114
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• 2017

To increase the bioavailability of Opuntia humifusa, O. humifusa was fermented using L. plantarum, and the characteristics of the fermented extract were confirmed. The characteristics of fermented extracts were investigated through viscosity, total polyphenol content, amino acid, antibacterial activity, cytokine analysis and zymography. The viscosity decreased by half and vitamin C remained almost unchanged during fermentation. Total polyphenols, most amino acids, total amino acids and major minerals were increased by fermentation. There was no cytotoxicity, and the activity of cytokines and MMP-9 in inflammation was inhibited. The inhibitory effect on inflammation and tissue destruction was found to be inhibited in L. plantarum fermentation extracts compared to hot water extracts. These results are expected to be the basis for the development of materials that enhance the functionality of L. plantarum-fermented O. humifusa extract.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1268-1272
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• 2004

The 70% ethanol extract from cactus Chounnyouncho (Opuntia humifusa) was fractionated subsequently by hexan, chloroform, ethyl acetate, buthanol and water. The ethyl acetate fraction exhibited strong antimicrobial activities by paper disk diffusion method on the five strains of food born bacteria Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Pseudomonas fluorescens. It has a heat resistance to show inhibitory effect after heat treatment at 11$0^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr. The ethyl acetate fraction showed almost perfect growth inhibition at over 700 ppm on the tested strains.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.661-667
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• 2014

To investigate the anti-diabetic and antioxidant effects of Opuntia humifusa cladodes, O. humifusa cladodes powder was extracted with 75% ethanol and fractionated with various solvents. Among the extracts fractionated with various solvents, ${\alpha}$-amylase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities of O. humifusa cladodes were highest ($89.94{\pm}1.15%$ and $29.01{\pm}3.03%$, respectively) in the ethyl acetate fraction. Further, total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the ethyl acetate fraction were the highest ($196.02{\pm}5.26$ and $114.00{\pm}10.03{\mu}g/mg$, respectively). DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities increased according to the concentration of O. humifusa cladodes extract, and those of the ethyl acetate fraction were the highest. Ferric reducing antioxidant powers of chloroform and the ethyl acetate fraction were higher than those of other fractions. Overall, the ethyl acetate fraction of O. humifusa cladodes showed the highest anti-diabetic and antioxidant effects. Results indicate that O. humifusa cladodes powder has potential as a useful ingredient with anti-diabetic and antioxidant effects.