• 대한임상독성학회지
• /
• 제1권1호
• /
• pp.40-42
• /
• 2003

Korean people use a lot of herbal agents for medical purposes, such as curing diseases, improving health state, but some of the herbal agents have toxic side effects. In terms of toxicology, herbal agents classified into 3 categories generally nontoxic, potentially toxic and toxic. But, there are few studies about the mechanisms and clinical features of intoxication of herbal agents. So detoxification or initial treatment of these agents is very difficult to clinicians in hospital. Authors experienced an uncommon case of intoxication after Arisaematis Rhizoma Ingestion. We report this case with review of Arisaematis Rhizoma.

• 대한예방한의학회지
• /
• 제19권2호
• /
• pp.123-133
• /
• 2015

The new formular for herbal medicine-safety classification in terms of evidence-based medicine was developed and applied to evaluate various herbal medicines in the previous study. This study is aimed to evaluate the frequently-used herbal medicines inducing toxic metabolites or reactive intermediates(RI), such as Ligusticum wallichii Franch, Angelica sinensis, Glycyrrhizae Radix, Rehmanniae Radix, based on 6 safety grades calculated from human equivalent dose(HED)-based MOS(margin of safety). HED-based MOS can be explained as the ratio of theoretical ALD(approximate lethal dose) of human as $LD_1$(lethal dose of 1%)/ clinical maximum dose as $ED_{99}$(Effective dose of 99%). The herbal medicine showing the ratio less than 1 belongs to Class 1, but the herbal medicine showing the ratio more than 500 belongs to Class 6 with the lowest toxicity. As a result, they were evaluated as class 2 for Angelica sinensis and Glycyrrhizae Radix, class 3 for Ligusticum wallichii Franch and Rehmanniae Radix. These resultant grades for 4 herbal medicines were lower than the grade expected under consideration that these herbal medicines are used very frequently in oriental clinics. These low grades would be due to their ingredients which is biotransformed to toxic metabolites.

• 동의생리병리학회지
• /
• 제22권4호
• /
• pp.762-765
• /
• 2008

Ephedrae herba(Ma-huang) has been used to treat respiratory conditions for over 5,000 years. The early 1990s, the herbal ephedra and other products containing ephedrine began to be promoted as weight loss aids in United States. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity of hebal ephedra in rats. SPF Sprague-Dawley male and female rats were administered orally with herbal ephedra extract of 2,500 mg/kg(low dosage group), and 5,000 mg/kg(high dosage group). We daily examined number of deaths, clinical signs, body weights and gross findings for 14 days. No dead animal and no significant changes of body weights were found during the experimental period. In addition, no differences were found between control and treated groups in clinical signs, hematology, serum biochemistry, and other findings. In conclusion, herbal ephedra extract did not show any toxic effects and oral LD50 value was over 5,000 mg/kg in SD rats.

• 대한본초학회지
• /
• 제30권4호
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to research the whitening effects and developing by cosmetics of the extract fromDioscoreae Rhizoma, which is one of the most popular health-promoting herb in herbal medications.Methods : We performed tyrosinase inhibition assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot for whitening effects. Also we measured MTT assay for cell viability.Results : The results were obtained as follows : For whitening effect, tyrosinase inhibition rate of extract fromDioscoreae Rhizomashowed more than 42.28% at 1,000 ㎍/㎖ concentration. Cell toxicity effect on melanoma cells (B16F10) of extract fromDioscoreae Rhizomashowed 81.97% with toxicity at 50 ㎍/㎖ concentration. So we were measured at a concentrations of 5, 10 and 50 ㎍/㎖ in all experiments involving cell. In addition, whitening related mRNAs including microphthalmia associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase related protein-1 (TRP-1), tyrosinase related protein-2 (TRP-2), tyrosinase were reduced byDioscoreae Rhizoma. We also foundDioscoreae Rhizomatransiently decreased protein kinase A (PKA) which is known to be upstream to the down regulation of MITF and tyrosinase. But phosphorylation of extracellular signal related kinase (pERK) were increased byDioscoreae Rhizoma. These results imply thatDioscoreae Rhizomadecrease melanogenesis via ERK activation and subsequent down regulation of MITF and tyrosinase.Conclusions : Therefore, all these findings suggested the potent usage ofDioscoreae Rhizomaas materials of functional cosmetics by confirming whitening activity related with melanin content.

• 동의생리병리학회지
• /
• 제24권3호
• /
• pp.426-429
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the acute toxicity and safety of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) in Sprague-Dawley rat though the current regulatory guideline. The preliminary study showed that the single oral administration of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) did not induce any toxic effect at a dose level of 2000 mg/kg. Based on the results, 2000 mg/kg was selected as the limited dose. In this study, 10 rats of each sex were randomly assigned to two groups of 5 rats each and were administrated singly by gavage at dose levels of 0 and 2000 mg/kg. After single administration, Mortalities, clinical signs, body weight changes, gross findings were observed for the 15-day period. Throughout the study period, no treatment-related deaths were observed. There were no adverse effects on clinical signs, body weight, and gross findings at all treatment groups. These results showed that the single oral adminstration of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) did not cause any toxic effect at the dose levels of 2000 mg/kg in rats. In conclusion, the $LD_{50}$ of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) was considered to be over 2000 mg/kg body for both sexes.

• 한국식품저장유통학회지
• /
• 제19권3호
• /
• pp.451-454
• /
• 2012

Endosulfan is an organochlorine pesticide that is widely used throughout the world for higher agricultural production. Its extreme toxicity, however, has caused health and environment concerns that have led to an interest in detoxification. In this study, the radiolytic degradation of endosulfan was investigated. Endosulfan in methanol solution (100 ppm) was irradiated at 0, 10, 30, and 50 kGy, and subsequent changes in immune toxicity and degradation of endosulfan were observed. The concentration of endosulfan that was used in this experiment did not affect the cell proliferation. The irradiation of endosulfan decreased the production of NO, indicating a decrease in the immune toxicity of endosulfan by irradiation. The concentration of endosulfan was significantly reduced by irradiation in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggest that gamma irradiation can degrade endosulfan and can reduce its immune toxicity.

• 대한약침학회지
• /
• 제17권1호
• /
• pp.27-34
• /
• 2014

Objectives: This experiment was conducted to examine the toxicity of Water soluble Carthmi-Flos herbal acupuncture (WCF) by administering a single intramuscular dose of WCF in 6-week-old, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats and to find the lethality dose for WCF. Methods: The experiment was conducted at Biotoxtech according to Good Laboratory Practices under a request by the Korean Pharmacopuncture Institute. This experiment was performed based on the testing standards of "Toxicity Test Standards for Drugs" by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Subjects were divided into 4 groups: 1 control group in which normal saline was administered and 3 test groups in which 0.1, 0.5 or 1.0 mL of WCF was administered; a single intramuscular dose was injected into 5 males and 5 females in each group. General symptoms and body weights were observed/measured for 14 days after injection. At the end of the observation period, hematological and clinical chemistry tests were performed, followed by necropsy and histopathological examinations of the injected sections. Results: No mortalities were observed in any group. Also, symptoms, body weight, hematology, clinical chemistry and necropsy were not affected. However, histopathological examination of the injected part in one female in the 1.0-mL group showed infiltration of mononuclear cells and a multi-nucleated giant cell around eosinophilic material. Conclusion: Administration of single intramuscular doses of WCF in 3 groups of rats showed that the approximate lethal dose of WCF for all rats was in excess of 1.0 mL, as no mortalities were observed for injections up to and including 1.0 mL.

• 대한한의학회지
• /
• 제33권3호
• /
• pp.95-104
• /
• 2012

Objectives: There are some controversies over the safety of herbal medication in relation to liver function. This report, therefore, aimed to analyze the safety issue of herbal medications by scrutinizing the liver function tests (LFT) results of 82 psoriasis patients on herbal medications for 3 months at an oriental medical clinic. Methods: We tested psoriasis patients' liver function periodically with Reflotron Plus of Roche during the herbal medication. Then we statistically analyzed the LFT results to see if there was any negative change. Results: Statistical analysis on the LFT results of 82 psoriasis patients showed no meaningful change caused by herbal medication over 3 months. Conclusions: From this result we conclude that herbal medication for 3 months does no harm to patients' liver function.

• 한국환경과학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국환경과학회 2017년도 정기학술대회 발표논문집
• /
• pp.162-162
• /
• 2017

• 한국자원식물학회지
• /
• 제30권2호
• /
• pp.125-132
• /
• 2017

BPA는 내분비교란물질로 널리 알려져 있다. BPA를 세포와 실험동물에 처리하여 독성을 유도하고 이를 인삼 추출물들이 BPA로 유도된 독성에 어떠한 영향을 미칠 것인지 살펴보았다. WGE, DGE, RGE에 대한 항산화능을 DPPH 분석법으로 측정하였다. DGE 및 RGE는 DPPH 소거 항산화 활성을 증가시켰다. 간암세포주 HepG2에 BPA 처리하여 세포독성을 유도하고, 이를 인삼추출물에 의해 세포생존이 증가되는지 MTT법으로 측정하였다. BPA $200{\mu}M$ 처리하여 유도된 세포독성에 DGE 및 RGE는 세포 생존 능력을 증가시켰다. 실험동물에 BPA를 처리하여 독성을 유도하고 이를 인삼추출물들이 방어하는지 살펴보았다. 혈청에서 간 손상 생화학적 마커인 AST와 ALT가 RGE 투여군에서 증가했다. 또한, 손상된 간세포 재생및 증식이 RGE 투여군에서 현저하게 증가하였다. 또한, RGE 주변 영역 및 간 미세 구조의 중심 정맥의 문맥에서 간 섬유화를 억제하였다. 이상의 결과를 종합하면 RGE가 간 세포주에서 BPA로 유도된 세포독성을 유의적으로 저해하였으며, 동물실험을 통하여 BPA에 의해 손상된 간에서 RGE가 간의 보호와 간 조직 재생이 발생하는 것을 확인하였다. 이 결과는 RGE가 외부에서 유입된 화학물질에 대한 간 손상 개선제로 사용될 수 있음을 보여준다. 그러므로, RGE는환경독성 물질로 인한 질환치료약물에 대한 잠재적인 후보가 될 수 있을 것이라 사료된다.