• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2405-2425
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• 2014

Radiation exposure leads to several pathophysiological conditions, including oxidative damage, inflammation and fibrosis, thereby affecting the survival of organisms. This review explores the radiation countermeasure properties of fourteen (14) plant extracts or plant-derived compounds against these cellular manifestations. It was aimed at evaluating the possible role of plants or its constituents in radiation countermeasure strategy. All the 14 plant extracts or compounds derived from it and considered in this review have shown some radioprotection in different in vivo, ex-vivo and or in vitro models of radiological injury. However, few have demonstrated advantages over the others. C. majus possessing antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects appears to be promising in radioprotection. Its crude extracts as well as various alkaloids and flavonoids derived from it, have shown to enhance survival rate in irradiated mice. Similarly, curcumin with its antioxidant and the ability to ameliorate late effect of radiation exposure, combined with improvement in survival in experimental animal following irradiation, makes it another probable candidate against radiological injury. Furthermore, the extracts of P. hexandrum and P. kurroa in combine treatment regime, M. piperita, E. officinalis, A. sinensis, nutmeg, genistein and ginsan warrants further studies on their radioprotective potentials. However, one that has received a lot of attention is the dietary flaxseed. The scavenging ability against radiation-induced free radicals, prevention of radiation-induced lipid peroxidation, reduction in radiation cachexia, level of inflammatory cytokines and fibrosis, are some of the remarkable characteristics of flaxseed in animal models of radiation injury. While countering the harmful effects of radiation exposure, it has shown its ability to enhance survival rate in experimental animals. Further, flaxseed has been tested and found to be equally effective when administered before or after irradiation, and against low doses (${\leq}5Gy$) to the whole body or high doses (12-13.5 Gy) to the whole thorax. This is particularly relevant since apart from the possibility of using it in pre-conditioning regime in radiotherapy, it could also be used during nuclear plant leakage/accidents and radiological terrorism, which are not pre-determined scenarios. However, considering the infancy of the field of plant-based radioprotectors, all the above-mentioned plant extracts/plant-derived compounds deserves further stringent study in different models of radiation injury.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.17-24
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• 1983

Buxus leaves(Buxus microphylla var. koreana Nakai) have been used as a folk medicine in treating woman's disease. The chemical constituents, which have teen identified from Buxus sempervirens L. in Europe, are so far known in isolation of buxus alkaloids, cyclobuxine, buxamine, norbuxamine and buxaminol. But But any study on the pharmacological action of Buxus microphylla var. koreana Nakai has not yet teen rallied out, however, active substances have not been identified. As an attempt to isolate the biologically active substances from this plant, the examination of chemical constituents was undertaken. In the experiment, the crystalline component$(C_{10}H_8O_4)$ obtained from Buxus microphylla var. koreana Nakai was identified as a 6-methoxy, 7-hydroxy coumarin by chemical and physical methods. We named this crystal buxuletin. Therefore, we intended to screen the pharmacological action of buxuletin, especially, its diuretic effects in rabbits. Buxuletin was intraveneously injected to the rabbit in the dose of 20 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg. The variations of urine volume and minerals $(Na^+,\;K^+\;and\;Cl^-)$ in urine were measured at an interval of 15 minutes for 4 hours after the treatment of buxuletin. The observed results are as follows: 1) With the administration of buxuletin (20 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg), the remarkable increment of the excreted urine volume was observed during the relatively long period. Excretion rates of urinary minerals $(Na^+,\;K^+\;and\;Cl^-)$ were also increased. 2) In a dose of 5 mg/kg, the slight increment on the diuretic actions of rabbits was observed. From the above results, authors name this crystal buxuletin and buxuletin shows the diuretic action.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.48-49
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• 2003

This project was conducted to development several camellia tea mixed herb teas having any physiological effects. Leaves of tea tree contain many compounds, such as polysaccharides, volatile oils, vitamins, minerals, purines, alkaloids(eg. caffeine) and polyphenols(catechins and flavonoids). Although all three tea types(green, oolonr and black) have antibacterial and free radical capturing(antioxidizing) activities, the efficacy decreases substantially the darker the variety of tea is. This is due to lower contents of anti-oxidizing polyphenols remaining in the leaves. Unlike tea tree(Camellia sinensis), the biochemical features and effects of camellia(Camellia japonica) are not well known. Fresh mature leaf of sasanqua camellia(C. sasanqua), roasted young leaf tea(C. japonica) and fresh mature leaf and bark of camellia had high antibacterial activity against P. vulgaris and B. subtilis. In antifungal activity bioassay, young leaf roasted teas of camellia and sasanqua camellia had high activity against C. albicans and T. beigelil. Plant extracts from Camelia japonica had higher inhibitory activity against fungi than against bacteria. In cytotoxic effect against human acute myelogenous leukaemia cell extracts including fresh leaf(200$\mu\textrm{g}$/m1), bark(230$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) and flower tea (320$\mu\textrm{g}$/m1)inhibited growth of AML cells.(중략)

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8411-8418
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• 2016

The effect of Eruca sativa seed extract (SE) on nuclear factor kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) gene expression levels was investigated in rat mammary gland carcinogenesis induced by 7,12 dimethylbenz(${\alpha}$)anthracene (DMBA). DMBA increased NF-${\kappa}B$, COX-2 and Bcl-2 gene expression levels and lipid peroxidation (LP), while, decreased glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and total antioxidant concentration (TAC) compared to the control group. After DMBA administration, SE treatment reduced NF-${\kappa}B$, COX-2 and Bcl-2 gene expression levels and LP. Hence, SE treatment reduced inflammation and cell proliferation, while increasing apoptosis, GST and SOD activities and TAC. Analysis revealed that SE has high concentrations of total flavonoids, triterpenoids, alkaloids and polyphenolic compounds such as gallic, chlorogenic, caffeic, 3,4-dicaffeoyl quinic, 3,5-dicaffeoyl quinic, tannic, cinnamic acids, catechin and phloridzin. These findings indicate that SE may be considered a promising natural product from cruciferous vegetables against breast cancer, especially given its high antioxidant properties.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2004

A number of plants from different geographical origins have been shown to possess antioxidant activity. Some of them have been developed as natural antioxidant formulations for food, cosmetic and other applications. Bangladeshi flora is a rich source of a range of plant species, many of which are medicinal plants, and have been used in the preparations of the Unani and Ayurvedic traditional medicines. There are no, or just a few, reports on any systematic screening of the extracts of Bangladeshi plants for free radical scavenging activity using DPPH assay available to date. As part of our on-going search for biological activity in Bangladeshi plants, Kadam (Anthocephalus chinensis), Goran (Ceriaps decandra), Swarnalata (Cuscuta reflexa), Gab (Diospyros peregrina), Sundari (Heritiera fomes), Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Possur (Xylocarpus mekongensis) have been selected for the assessment of their free radical scavenging activity, and studies on the contents of alkaloids, anthraqunones, flavonoids and tannins in these extracts. Most of these species have been used in traditional medicine in Bangladesh and other countries for the treatment of various illnesses ranging from common cold to cancer. All extracts, except the methanol extract of Cuscuta reflexa, displayed significant free radical scavenging activity in the DPPH assay $(RC_{50}$ values within the range of $2.75\;{\times}\;10^{-2}\;to\;4.7\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mg/mL)$. Among these extracts, the methanol extract of Xylocarpus granatum exhibited the most potent activity $(4.7\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mg/mL)$ and that of Cuscuta reflexa had the least activity $(1.64\;{\times}\;10^{-1}\;mg/mL)$. While none of these plants showed positive tests with Dragendorff's reagent, presence of low to moderate amounts of phenolic compounds, e.g. anthraquinones, flavonoids and tannins was evident in all of these plants, except for the methanolic extracts of C. reflexa and the barks of D. peregrina, which did not display any evidence for the presence of flavonoids and anthraquinones, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.415-420
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• 2016

Chemical study of an Arctic bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pseudomonadaceae) led to the isolation of two diketopiperazines 1 and 2, two phenazine alkaloids 3 and 4, and an indole carbaldehyde 5, along with a benzoic acid derivative 6. The structures of the compounds were confirmed by 1D and 2D NMR, and MS experiments, as well as by comparison of their data with published values. Among the isolates, compounds 5 and 6 were isolated for the first time from P. aeruginosa of the seawater of Arctic Chuckchi Sea. Antimicrobial activities of compounds 1‒6 against a Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans were evaluated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.136-144
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• 1997

Cigarette smoking is known to suppress both 1-methy14-phenyl-155,Ltetrahydropy-ridine (MPTP)-induced parkinsonism and idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the precise mechanism underlying its protective action against PD is not clearly elucidated yet. In order to find possible clue on the mechanism of protective action of smoking, we investigated the inhibitory effect of cigarette smoke components on rat brain mitochondria1 monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), responsible enzyme for the activation of MPTP to its toxic metabolitesr and identified the components having an inhibitory potency on this enzyme from cigarette smoke. Total 31 eligible constituents including nicotine were selected from cigarette smoke condensates via solvents partitioning and silica gel chromatographic separation, and inhibitory potencies of 19 components on MAO-B were determined. Hydroquinone and methylcatechol, the phenolic components, showed the strongest inhibitory potencies on MAO-B activity in the components tested. 3,4-Dihydroxybenzylamino, myosmine and indole in basic fracton, eugenol in phenolic fraction, and farnesol in neutral fraction also inhibited the enzyme activity dose-dependently. Among tobacco alkaloids tested only myosmine was effective for the inhibition of this enzyme. These results suggest that the decrease in MAO-B activity by such components derived from cigarette smoke seems to be related to the suppression of MPTP-induced neurotoxicity and to the less incidence of Parkinson's disease in smokers than in nonsmokers.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.149-152
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• 2012

The larvicidal activities of Piper nigrum fruit methanol extracts and its constituents against larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, were investigated using the leaf dipping method. Administering the P. nigrum methanol extract resulted in 100 and 97% mortality against diamondback moth larvae at 5.0 and 2.5 mg/mL concentrations, respectively. Larvicidal activities of the P. nigrum fruit-derived piperidine alkaloids, piperine, and N-isobutylamide, as well as pellitorine, guineensine, pipercide, and retrofractamide A against P. xylostella varied according to test compound. Based on the 48 h $LC_{50}$ values, the most toxic compound to diamondback moth larvae was guineensine (0.013 mg/mL) followed by retrofractamide A (0.020mg/mL), pipercide (0.033mg/mL), and pellitorine (0.046 mg/mL). The $LC_{50}$ value of piperine was >0.5 mg/mL.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.104-115
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• 1992

The present study was conducted to compare the relative efficiency of four different breeding methods in tobacco varietal development. A single Fl hybrid plant from cross of two flue-cured cultivars of Nicotiana tabacum L Bright Yellow 4(BY4) and NC95, was selfed. F2population above cross was screened for resistance against bacterial wilt caused by Pseudommonas solanacearum E.F.Smith under the naturally infested field conditions, and the 30 lines were developed from F2 individual plant by anther culture (ADH), maternal method utilizing Nicotiana afpicana (MDH), single- seed descent(SSD) and Bulk breeding method, respectively. All characters except content of total alkaloids of ADH and MDH which wore bred by haploid methods reduced more than that of lines bred by conventional methods(SSD & Bulk) : however, the yields were 8% lower than other lines. The total alkaloid content of ADH was higher than that of MDH, and yield was reduced about 4n even though the number of leaf was identical with the MDH. All other characters of ADH were also reduced significantly. In the lines bred by conventional methods, population developed by SSD showed significantly wider leaf width, shorter plant height, later days to flower, and lower in percent reducing sugar than those by Bulk. The populations derived from haploid method showed greater phenotypic variance and wider range of variation than conventionally developed ones. The results obtained indicate that selection will provide a significantly greater genetic gain for leaf number and leaf length in the ADU and MDH populations, and for plant height and days to flower in the SSD and Bulk populations.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.74-80
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• 2001

Objectives : Ma-huang is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, derived from Ephedra sinica Stapf and other Ephedra species, used to treat asthma, nose and lung congestion, and fever with anhidrosis. It contains 0.5-2.5% by weight of total alkaloids, of which ephedrine accounts for 30 to 90%. Recently, Ma-huang has been used as a source of ephedrine in many dietary supplements formulated for the treatment of obesity, since ephedrine has been found to be effective in inducing weight loss in the obese. In this study the effects of the methanol extract of Ma-huang on the adipocyte of epididymal and brown fat pads in rats fed a high fat diet for six weeks were studied. Methods : Male Sprague Dawley rats weighing an average 94g (4 weeks old) were fed either a regular diet (RE) or a high fat diet (HF), and the HF group was subdivided into a Ma-huang methanol extract (30mg/100g body weight) group (HF+MH). The weight of epididymal fat pad and brown adipose tissue were measured. The cell size and cell number per unit area of epididymal fat pad were investigated. Results : The yield weight of methanol extract of Ma-huang was 3.63mg per l00g of Ma-huang. The body weight gain of the HF group was similar with that of the HF+ MH but higher than that of the RE. The weights of the epididymal fat pads and brown adipose tissue of the RE group were lower than those of HF and HF+MH groups. The cell sizes and numbers per unit area of epididymal fat pads of the RE and HF+MH groups were larger than those of HF group. The cell numbers per unit area size of epididymal fat pads were the smallest in the RE group. Conclusions : It could be concluded that the Ma-huang extract has no effect on the epididymal fat pads in rats fed a high fat diet and the clinical application of Ma-huang for the treatment of obesity should be re-considered.