• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.101-108
• /
• 2020

Infections by herpes simplex viruses have an immense impact on humans, ranging from self-limiting, benign illness to serious, life-threatening diseases. While nucleoside analog drugs are available, resistance has been increasing and currently no vaccine exists. Ginsenosides derived from Panax ginseng have been documented to inhibit several viruses and bolster immune defenses. This study evaluated 12 of the most relevant ginsenosides from P. ginseng for toxicities and inhibition of herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 in Vero cells. The effects of test compounds and virus infection were determined using a PrestoBlue cell viability assay. Time course studies were also conducted to better understand at what points the virus life cycle was affected. Non-toxic concentrations of the ginsenosides were determined and ranged from 12.5 μM to greater than 100 μM. Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 demonstrated the greatest inhibitory effect and was active against both HSV-1 and HSV-2 with an IC₅₀ of approximately 35 μM. The most dramatic inhibition-over 100% compared to controls-occurred when the virus was exposed to 20(S)-Rg3 for 4 h prior to being added to cells. 20(S)-Rg3 holds promise as a potential chemotherapeutic agent against herpes simplex viruses and, when used together with valacyclovir, may prevent increased resistance to drugs.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.334-342
• /
• 2018

Background: Panax notoginseng is a highly valued medicine and functional food, whose quality is considered to be influenced by the size, botanical parts, and growth environments. Methods: In this study, a HPLC method integrating fingerprinting and determination of multiconstituents by single reference standard was established and adopted to investigate the chemical profiles and active constituent contents of 215 notoginseng samples with different sizes, from different botanical parts and geographical regions. Results: Chemical differences among main root, branch root, and rotten root were not distinct, while rhizome and fibrous root could be discriminated from other parts. The notoginseng samples from Wenshan Autonomous Prefecture and cities nearby were similar, whereas samples from cities far away were not. The contents of major active constituents in main root did not correlate with the market price. Conclusion: This study provided comprehensive chemical evidence for the rational usage of different parts, sizes, and growth regions of notoginseng in practice.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.93-99
• /
• 2017

Objectives: Selaginella bryopteris L. (family: Selaginaceae), is often used in traditional Indian systems of medicine for the prevention and cure of several disorders and for the treatment of patient with spermatorrhoea, venereal disease, constipation, colitis, urinary tract infections, fever, epilepsy, leucorrhoea, beri-beri and cancer. It is also used as a strength tonic. This study aimed to evaluate the mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory effects of topically administered aqueous, polar and non-polar methanolic fractions ($10mg/20{\mu}L$) of Selaginella bryopteris. Methods: An acute oral toxicity study of Selaginella bryopteris at doses from 250 to 2,000 mg/kg body weight (bw) was performed. Aqueous, polar and non-polar methanolic extracts ($10mg/20{\mu}L$) applied topically for 5 days were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory effects against 12-tetra-O-decanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA)- induced inflammation by using the redness in the ear, the ear's weight (edema), oxidative stress parameters, such as lipid-peroxide (LPO) and nitric oxide (NO), and the pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in inflammation, such as tumour necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$, interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$ and IL-6. Indomethacine ($0.5mg/20{\mu}L$) was used for the positive control. Results: Selaginella bryopteris produced no mortalities when administered orally at doses from 250 to 2,000 mg/kg bw. Topical treatment with the non-polar methanolic fraction ($10mg/20{\mu}L$) significantly suppressed redness ($2.4{\pm}0.5$) and edema ($30.4{\pm}1$) and effectively reduced the LPO level ($32.3{\pm}3.3$). The NO level was ($8.07{\pm}0.55$), and the $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IL-1{\beta}$, and IL-6 levels were decreased to $69.6{\pm}15.5$, $7.7{\pm}4.8$ and $82.6{\pm}5.9$, respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrated for the first time the mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory effect of medicinal plants like Selaginella bryopteris and quantified the pharmacological interactions between them. The present study showed this herbal product to be a promising anti-inflammatory phytomedicine for the treatment of patients with inflammatory skin diseases.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.1678-1727
• /
• 2006

This study was perfromed to develop the assessment guideline and endpoints for clinical trial with anticancer herbal medicine. The botanical products used to humans for long time may be applied to phase 3 clinical trial after submitting the evidences for safety and efficacy of them or completion of basic requirement of phase 1 and phase 2 for safety confirmation and dose determination. Syndrome improvement was chiefly evaluated by Zubrod and karnofsky(%) methods. We suggest the general clinical trial assessment with botanical products, by following assessment points, that is, tumor size for 50 points, survival fate for 10 points, major syndromes for 40 points. It is recommendable that the each symptom of Qi deficiency syndrome, blood deficiency syndrome and Qi stagnation syndrome was allocated by assessment points, Similarly, the each symptom was given the assessment points according to the severity of symptom, for example, slight for 3 points, moderate for 2 points and severe for 1 point in hepatocelluar carcinoma and lung cancer. Then, the efficacy of botanical products was evaluated by the difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment. Asking the neoplastic patients of questionnaire on physical, emotional, cognitive, social and role subjects availability, three more syndromes (Fatigue, Pain and Nausea/Vomit), quality of life(QOL) will be evaluated by GLM statistics. In addition, in case of lung cancer, 13 questions will be asked by the EORTC QLQ-C13 forms. As the assessment of endpoints for efficacy to reduce side effects induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the data of image scanning and hemato-urinalysis can be usefully applied on immune response, weight loss, indigestion, hemopoietic damage and injury of liver and kidney, while the changes of syndromes of side effect can be evaluated by differentiation methods of Qi and blood and five viscera. However, it is still necessary to determine the ratio between scientific analytical method and Oriental differentiation method as well as confirm the Oriental assessment endpoints by clinical trial. In addition, we suggest the continuous development of assessment endpoints on other carcinomas except of hepatocelluar carcinoma and lung cancer in future.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.304-310
• /
• 2007

Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipchitz syn S. lappa C. B. Clarke (commonly known as 'Kuth') belonging to the family Asteraceae is a well known medicinal plant which finds wide usage in different indigenous systems of medicine of India, China, Korea & Tibet. In different folk medicines the roots of S. costus are used to treat various disorders like ulcer, stomachache, malaria, leprosy, dysentery and toothache. However due to over exploitation, it has become endangered and has become the concern of different governmental bodies in India. The increasing demand of this endangered Himalayan species has resulted in a situation where it is often substituted, knowingly or unknowingly, by other morphologically similar species. Arctium lappa, belonging to the same family, is one such plant that has often been found to be present in the market samples of 'Kuth'. The present study was thus carried out and morphoanatomical characters, physicochemical as well as chemical parameters were developed for proper identification of roots of S. costus and its differenciation from A. lappa as well as authentication of the commercial market samples. The detailed morphoanatomical studies revealed that roots of S. costus can be distinguished from A. lappa on the basis of some important microscopial characters eg. the schizogenous resin ducts observed in roots of S. costus, were absent in A. lappa.. Besides, the HPTLC fingerprint profile showed a distinct band at Rf. 0.72 in S. costus, which was totally absent in A. lappa and a band at $R_f$ 0.64 in A. lappa which was absent in S. costus Chlorogenic acid, used as a chemical marker for HPTLC analysis, was estimated to be 0.077% in S. costus as compared to 0.107% in A. lappa. Thus these detailed pharmacognostical parameters can be successfully used to distinguish between roots of S. costus and A. lappa.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2003.04a
• /
• pp.177.2-178
• /
• 2003

Pomegranate, a small tree originating in Orient, belongs to Punicaceae family. The seeds contain an oil of which about 80％ is rare trans 18 carbon fatty acid (punicic acid), and have highest botanical concentration of a sex steroid, estrone. Pharmacological properties of pomegranate extract have been studied, with anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-viral. and anti-cancer effects. (omitted)

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.85-94
• /
• 2011

Objectives: This pilot study was carried out with the purpose of suggesting a methodology on mapping and registering Korean medicinal material concepts at 2011AB of the UMLS. Methods: 411 medicinal material concepts were mapped to biomedical terminology within the metathesaurus of the UMLS. Based on the forms of listing on the UMLS and thesauri information, the medicinal material concepts were classified into three groups and mapped. Results: 76 concepts in Group 1 which English CUIs have Chinese AUIs were mapped considering scientific names and Chinese strings. 259 concepts in Group 2 that have CUIs in the form of 'botanical name/Chinese pinyin' were mapped with the information of Korean and Chinese Pharmacopoeias. Groups 3, 76 concepts of English names in the Korean Pharmacopoeia are matched considering their botanic names and used parts. Conclusion: This study suggested a methodology to map Korean medicinal material concepts to international standard terminology, which will help ensure interoperability and compatibility between traditional medicine terminology and the UMLS.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.194-200
• /
• 2020

Objectives: In this study, the content of the honey produced by the flora of Turkey', physical, chemical and biological research aimed at active properties. Methods: Searched the database EMBASE/Pubmed and Turkish Medicine Index research article about Turkiye honeys' specialities. Results: Different botanical sources were caused, different kinds of chemical compositions of the honeys. The amount of HMF, pH, moisture, and acidity are the chemical qulity criteria of the honey. Carbohydrates are seem the most important components of honey. The glycemic index of the consumed honey is important. Turkiye's honey quality seems apropiate for using apitherapy. Conclusion: Honey is the most important product of beekeeping all over the world in terms of economy and health. Manufacturers of honey should be careful while producing honey. They should be avoided unhealty situations and they should be obey the rules. These rules are the basis for protecting our health by consuming bee products.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.91-107
• /
• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate which herbs and herbal formulae are frequently used for the treatment of osteoporosis since 2000. Methods : We searched the CENTRAL, MEDLINE, AMED, CINAHL, Scopus, KISS, Korea MED, KERIS, Kmbase, Dbpia, J-STAGE, CNKI, J Oriental Rehab Med., J Korean Oriental Med., J Oriental Gynecol. using search key words osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone density and bone loss combined with herbal, botanical plant and phytomedicine. Results : 73 studies were reconfirmed and 83 herbs have been found. For single herb, most of them were categorized into Boyik-yak(補益藥, Buyi-yao). For herbal formulae, various herbal formulae are used. Calculating each herb in consisted in each herbal formula, Angelica Gigas Radix(當歸) and Rehmanniae Radix Preparat(熟地黃) turned out to be the most frequently used herb. Conclusions : Further studies regarding herbal medicines on osteoporosis are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.22-30
• /
• 2005

Objectives: Recently, angiogenesis has gained an increasing interest as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. In this study we aimed to assess the anti angiogenic effects of HAD, a botanical anticancer remedy which has been prescribed in Daejeon University Oriental Hospital in Korea, on patients with breast carcinoma by measuring the serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) and platelets levels. Methods: The study included 26 consecutive breast cancer patients (mean age$\pm$standard deviation: 47.5$\pm$8.7 years) with stage II to IV disease who were treated with HAD (mean duration $\pm$ standard deviation: 264.5$\pm$121.6 days). In addition to routine laboratory and staging procedures, serum VEGF, b-FGF levels and platelet counts were determined as antiangiogenic markers. The antiangiogenic effects of HAD were evaluated by analyzing the differences between the values of the antiangiogenic markers before and after the treatment with HAD. Results: Serum b-FGF concentrations were significantly reduced after the treatment with HAD (P=0.042). Serum VEGF concentrations were found to have a somewhat decreasing change, though the change was not statistically significant (P=0.229). Platelet counts had little changes (P=O.80). Conclusions: It is supposed that HAD has effects on decreasing the serum b-FGF levels related with the clinical outcome of breast cancer patients.