• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.95-100
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• 2006

This study is to isolate bio-active compounds from Alnus firma and evaluate their antioxidant activity. Dried wood powder of A. firma was extracted by organic solvents and fractionated in the sequential extraction steps. The isolated compounds were characterized by EI-MS, $^{13}C-$ and $^1H-NMR$ including COSY, DEFT, HMQC, and HMBC. Antioxidant activities of the isolated compounds were evaluated by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging effect. From the wood of A. firma, three kinds of diarylheptanoids, alnusodiol (1), alnusonol (2) and alnusone (3), and gallic acid (4) were isolated. Among these four compounds, compound 1, 2, and 3 are isolated from A. firma for the first time. The antioxidant activity of gallic acid was 93.5% at the concentration of 100 ppm. This compound showed stronger antioxidant activity than those of other isolated compounds and the reference BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene).

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.211-216
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• 2007

The bark of Alnus japonica has been used for the treatment of fever, hemorrhage and diarrehea in oriental traditional medicine. Recently, it was revealed that the diarylheptanoids from the bark of Alnus japonica possess anti-inflammatory activity and are expected to be applicable for atopic dermatitis. In this study, oregonin, one of major active components in the bark of Alnus japonica, was developed in the form of semisolid formulations for topical delivery. Oregonin was incorporated into four ointment bases: O/W cream, W/O cream, hydrophilic ointment and lipophilic ointment. Oregonin release from all formulation prepared was evaluated. Franz cell method and immersion method were employed to characterize the release patterns of drug from each formulation based on solvent availability. O/W cream showed a better release profile than the other formulations when evaluated with Franz cell method with an order of O/W cream, hydrophilic ointment, W/O cream and lipophilic ointment. In the immersion method, hydrophilic ointment showed the greatest release rate at times 1 hour exceeding compared to other bases with an order of hydrophilic ointment, O/W cream, W/O cream and lipophilic ointment. Hydrophilicity and solvent availability of formulation seems to significantly influence the release rate of oregonin from ointment bases. In this study, we successfully characterized the oregon in ointment and found that o/w cream is a promising formulation for the topical delivery of oregonin.

• 한국독성학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국독성학회 2002년도 국제심포지움
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• pp.88.2-98
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• 2002

A wide arry of naturally occurring substances particularly those present in dietary and medicinal plants, have been reported to possess substantial cancer chemopreventive properties. Certain phytochemicals retain strong antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties which appear to contribute to their chemopreventive or chemoprotective activities. Inducible cyclooxygenase(COX-2) and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) are important enzymes that mediate inflammatory processes. There is some evidence that expression of both COX-2 and iNOS is co-regulated by the eukaryotic transcription factor NF-$textsc{k}$B. Increased expression of COX-2 and/or iNOS has been associated with pathophysiology of certain types of human cancers as well as inflammatory diseases. Since inflammation is closely linked to tumor promotion, substances with potent anti-inflammatory activies are anticipated to exert chemopreventive effects on carcinogenesis, particularly in the promotion stage. An example is curcumin, a yellow pigment of turmeric (Curcuma longa L., Zingiberaceae), that strongly occurring diaryl heptanoids structurally related to curcumin have substantial anti-tumor promotional activities in two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis. Thus, yakuchinone A [1-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)-7-phenyl-3heptanone] and yakuchinone B [1-(4'-hydroxy-3'methoxyphenyl)-7-phenylhept-1-en-3-one] present in Alpinia oxyphylla Miquel (Zingiberacease) attenuate phorbol ester-induced inflammation and papilloma formation in female ICR mice. These diarylheptanoids also suppressed phorbol ester-induced activation of epdermal ornithine decarboxylase and its mRNA expression when applied onto shaven backs of mice. Yakuchinone A and B as well as curcumin inhibited phorbol ester-induced expression of COX-2 and iNOS and their mRNA in mouse skin via inactivation of NF-$textsc{k}$B. Capsaicin, a major pungent ingredient of red pepper also attenuated phorbol ester-induced NF-$textsc{k}$B activation. Similar suppression of COX-2 and iNOS and down-regulation of NF-$textsc{k}$B activation for its DNA binding were observed with the ginsenosied Rg3 and the ethanol extract of Artemisia asiatica. We have also found that certain anti-inflammatory phytochemicals exert inhibitory effects on phorbol ester-induced COX-2 expression and NF-$textsc{k}$B activation in immortalized human breast epithelial (MCF-10A) cells in culture. One of the plausible mechanisms undelying inhibition by aforementioned phytochemicals of phorbol ester-induced NF-$textsc{k}$B activation involves interference with degragation of the inhibitory unit, I$textsc{k}$Ba, which blocks subsequent nuclear translocation of the functionally active p65 subunit of NF-$textsc{k}$B. the activation of epidermal NF-$textsc{k}$B by phorbol ester and subsequent induction of COX-2 hence appear to play an important role in intracellular signaling pathwasy leading to tumor promotion and targeted inhibition of NF-$textsc{k}$B may provide a new promising cancer chemopreventive strategy.