• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.323-327
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• 2012

Acne, also known as Acne vulgaris, is a common disorder of human skin involving the sebaceous gland and Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes). The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether anti-acne herbal complex (AAHC), a functional extract from herbal complex can be used for acne treatment as a natural product. We first demonstrated anti-acne activity of AAHC in mouse acne model. Acne was induced by injecting P. acnes on the backside $2{\times}10^7$ CFUs in ICR mice and then the mice were treated with AAHC by dermal application once daily. ACFREE$^{(R)}$ (clindamicin phosphate) was used as a positive control. Treatment with AAHC decreased the P. acnes-induced skin swelling and inflammation. AAHC treatment significantly decreased serum DHT concentration in acne-induced mice. Especially, treatment of 20% AACH in mice was more effected than 40%. We next evaluated the antimicrobial property of AAHC against P. acnes, Staphylcococcus aureus (S.aureus), and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Incubation of P. acnes, S. aureus, and E. coli with AAHC showed minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against the bacterial growth lower. Alamar blue method was also carried for the antibacterial activity. It was effectively MIC level at 6.25% of P. acnes. AAHC effectively inhibited the growth of S. aureus and E. coli at 0.097% on MIC level, respectively. Our results showed the potential of using AAHC as an alternative treatment for antibiotic therapy of acne and the application of AAHC as a herbal medicine for acne treatment.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.65-69
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• 2009

The present study investigated the antiproliferative effect of Litsea japonica in HL-60/ADR, adriamycin resistant human promyelocytic leukemia cells. The 80% ethanol extract of L. japonica markedly inhibited the growth of HL-60/ADR cells. When HL-60/ADR cells were treated with the extract, several apoptosis events like as DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation and the increase of the population of sub-G1 hypodiploid cells were observed. In the mechanism of apoptosis induction by L. japonica, we examined the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression levels, and activation of caspases. After the HL-60/ADR cells were treated with the extract, the Bcl-2 expression was decreased, whereas the expression of Bax was increased in a time-dependent manner compared to the control. In addition, the active forms of caspase-9 and -3 were increased and the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, a vital substrate of effector caspase, was observed. The results suggest that the inhibitory effect of L. japonica on the growth of the HL-60/ADR appears to arise from the induction of apoptosis via the down-regulation of Bcl-2 and the activation of caspases.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2016

To identify a novel biopesticide controlling rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, 700 plant extracts were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on mycelial growth of M. oryzae. The L. foenum-graecum Herba extract showed the lowest inhibition concentration ($IC_{50}$) of $39.28{\mu}g/ml$, which is lower than the $IC_{50}$ of blasticidin S ($63.06{\mu}g/ml$), a conventional fungicide for rice blast disease. When treatments were combined, the $IC_{50}$ of blasticidin S was dramatically reduced to $10.67{\mu}g/ml$. Since ABC transporter genes are involved in fungicide resistance of many organisms, we performed RT-PCR to investigate the transcriptional changes of 40 ABC transporter family genes of M. oryzae treated with the plant extract, blasticidin S, and tetrandrine, a recognized ABC transporter inhibitor. Four ABC transporter genes were prominently activated by blasticidin S treatment, but were suppressed by combinational treatment of blasticidin S with the plant extract, or with tetrandrine that didn't show cellular toxicity by itself in this study. Mycelial death was detected via confocal microscopy at 24 h after plant extract treatment. Finally, subsequent rice field study revealed that the plant extract had high control efficacy of 63.3% and should be considered a biopesticide for rice blast disease. These results showed that extract of L. foenum graecum Herba suppresses M. oryzae ABC transporter genes inducing mycelial death and therefore may be a potent novel biopesticide.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.399-405
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• 2001

Urushiol, a natural pro-electrophilic quinone compound, has potential structural characteristics as antitumor chemotherapeutic agents. However, urushiol's use as an antitumor drug has some problems, because it is hardly miscible with an aqueous solution. Purified urushiol is highly viscous and soluble only in strong solvents. for this study, we prepared an urushiol-ethanol micro-emulsion with a unimodal size distribution by high-speed homogenization. This generated effective delivery of urushiol to its action wites, so that we could investigate its cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. Using a colony-forming assay, we were able to show that urushiol selectively inhibited the growth of the ovarian cancer cells PA-1 and 2774 at a concentration of $10^{-6}$, whereas it had only a negligible effect on normal CHO cells at the same concentration. The data suggest that urushiol may have potential as an effective antitumor agent in the treatment of ovarian cancer. In addition, we addressed the question of whether the specific cytotoxic effect of urushiol is linked to apoptosis, by DNA fragmentation and DAPI staining assays. The inhibitory effects of urushiol on the growth of ovarian cancer cells was found to be associated with DNA fragmentation and the fragmented nuclei formation, both of which represent markers for the induction of apoptosis. Therefore, the results suggested that urushiol affected its profound cytotoxicity by triggering apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.267-272
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• 2011

Human NK cells, identified 30 years ago based on their ability to spontaneously kill tumor cells, constitute a subset of lymphocytes, which play an important role in the first line of immune defense and the effective function of these cells are enhanced by cytokines. Lung carcinoma has been one of the most commonly diagonosed cancer as well as the leading cause of cancer death in male. Here we provide the evidence that human natural killer cells has inhibitory effects on tumor growth of human lung cancer cell NCI-H460 (non-small cell lung cancer). Enriched NK cell population was obtained by 2 weeks cultivation in interleukin-2(IL-2)-containing medium. The resulting population comprised 26% CD3$^+$ cells, 9% CD3$^+$CD4$^+$ cells, 16% CD3$^+$CD8$^+$ cells, 76% CD56$^+$ cells, 6% CD3$^+$CD56$^+$ cells and 70% CD3$^-$CD56$^+$ cells. Activated NK cells at doese of 2.5, 5, and 10 million cells per mouse inhibited 2%, 12% and 45% of NCI-H460-induced tumor growth in nude mouse xenograft assays, repectively. This result suggests that NK cell-based immunotherapy may be used as an adoptive immunotherapy for lung cancer patients.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2016

Background: Ginseng, which is widely used in functional foods and as an herbal medicine, has been reported to reduce the proliferation of prostate cancer cells by mechanisms that are not yet fully understood. Methods: This study was designed to investigate the changes in ginsenoside content in ginseng after treatment with a microwave-irradiation thermal process and to verify the anticancer effects of the extracts. To confirm the anticancer effect of microwave-irradiated processed ginseng (MG), it was tested in three human prostate cancer cell lines (DU145, LNCaP, and PC-3 cells). Involvements of apoptosis and autophagy were assessed using Western blotting. Results: After microwave treatment, the content of ginsenosides Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rc, Rb2, and Rd in the extracts decreased, whereas the content of ginsenosides 20(S)-Rg3, 20(R)-Rg3, Rk1, and Rg5 increased. Antiproliferation results for the human cancer cell lines treated with ginseng extracts indicate that PC-3 cells treated with MG showed the highest activity with an half maximal inhibitory concentration of $48{\mu}g/mL$. We also showed that MG suppresses the growth of human prostate cancer cell xenografts in athymic nude mice as an in vivo model. This growth suppression by MG is associated with the inductions of cell death and autophagy. Conclusion: Therefore, heat processing by microwave irradiation is a useful method to enhance the anticancer effect of ginseng by increasing the content of ginsenosides Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.338-343
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• 2000

The effects of methanol extract of Rubus crategifolius roots and its solvent fractions were investigated on the proliferation of MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells. The methanol extract inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a concentration dependent manner. Moreover, their methanol soluble (W-M) fraction had the greatest inhibitory effect on the growth of MCF-7 cells. To evaluate whether the W-M fraction affects on the cell cycle of MCF-7 cells, cells treated with this fraction were analyzed with flow cytometry. The W-M fraction increased $G_0$/$G_1$phase after 24 h-treatment and induced apoptosis after 48 h-treatment. The hallmark of apoptosis, DNA fragmentation, also appeared by W-M fraction after 48 h-treatment. Furthermore, the methanol extract and its W-M fraction inhibited the activity of the topoisomerase 1 enzyme in the relaxation assay, From these results, their W-M fraction as well as methanol extract of R. crategifolius roots are necessary for further studies as a potent inhibitor of the growth of cancer cells.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.184-190
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• 2006

Young radishes (YR, yeolmu in Korean) were cultivated in soil with and without sulfur. Control YR-kimchi and sulfur YR-kimchi were prepared using the young radishes cultivated in the soil without and with 1,818 $g/m^3$ sulfur, respectively. Fermentation of the YR-kimchis were conducted at $5^{\circ}C$ for 6 weeks. The control and sulfur YR-kimchis were reached pH 4.39 and pH 4.31 with 0.98% and 1.04% acidity at 5 weeks, respectively. At a higher concentration of 20 ${\mu}L/assay$, the sulfur YR-kimchi juice exhibited higher inhibitory effects (84%) on the growth of HT-29 human colon cancer cells than the control YR-kimchi (57%). Methanol extract from the YR-kimchis also led to similar results to those of the juices. In the inhibition study by hematocytometer, YR-kimchis inhibited the growth of cells in a time-dependent manner. Sulfur YR-kimchi induced apoptosis as determined by 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and decreased Bcl-2 expression of active anticancer compounds, when compared to the control YR-kimchi. These results suggested that preparing kimchi using YR cultivated in the presence of sulfur, which can help to synthesize active compounds, could increase the anti-cancer activity of sulfur YR-kimchi.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2017

Dental caries is the most common chronic disease in the dental field. Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is the most important bacteria in the formation of dental plaque and dental caries. In a previous study, we confirmed that the essential oil of Chrysanthemum boreale has antibacterial activity against S. mutans. Alpha-pinene is one of the major chemical components of Chrysanthemum boreale essential oil. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of ${\alpha}-pinene$ on cariogenic properties such as growth, acid production, biofilm formation, and bactericidal activity on S. mutans. Alpha-pinene at a concentration range of 0.25-0.5 mg/mL significantly inhibited the growth of S. mutans and acid production of S. mutans. Biofilm formation was significantly inhibited at > 0.0625 mg/mL ${\alpha}-pinene$, similar to the data from scanning electronic microscopy. Under confocal laser scanning microscopy, the bacterial viability was decreased by ${\alpha}-pinene$ in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggested that ${\alpha}-pinene$ may be a useful agent for inhibiting the cariogenic properties of S. mutans.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.4 s.71
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• pp.595-599
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• 2005

The efforts of Korean and Japanese radishes on the viability and interleukin (JL)-8 production by Helicobacter pylori were investigated in human gastric epithelial cell. Cell viability was significantly decreased when they were incubated with H. pylori toxin (p <0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.005). Co-incubation with Korean or Japanese radish increased H. pylori toxin-inhibited cell growth in a concentration-dependent manner. The production of IL-8 was greatly increased in H. pylori-infected gastric epithelial cell in concentration- and time-dependent manners. The increased production of IL-8 was significantly inhibited by Korean (p<0.05 and p<0.01) or Japanese (p<0.05) radishes $(5\~10mg/ml)$. These results indicate that Korean and Japanese radishes have protective effects on H. pylori-inhibited cell growth and H. pylori-induced gastric mucosal cell inflammation by suppressing the production of inflammatory cytokine (IL-8) from gastric epithelial cell.