• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

Objectives : We aimed to study the effect of Smilax China L.(SCL), which has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects, on the growth of skin cancer cells. Methods : HaCaT cells, a normal human cell line, and skin cancer cells including A431, SK-MEL-5 and SK-MEL-28 cells were treated with Smilax China L. ethanol extract(SCL-EtOH) at concentrations of 5, 10, 20 and 40㎍/㎖. Meanwhile, JB6 Cl41, a normal mouse epithelial cell line, was treated with epidermal growth factor(EGF) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate(TPA), an inflammatory factor, to induce cell transformation and treated with SCL-EtOH. In addition, we treated SK-MEL-5 and SK-MEL-28 cells with SCL-EtOH at various concentrations and checked the effect on the cell cycle. Results : As a result, it showed no toxicity to HaCaT cells up to the highest concentration of 40㎍/㎖, and significant cell growth inhibition to A431, SK-MEL-5 and SK-MEL-28 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. In addition, as a result of checking the shape of skin cancer cells according to SCL-EtOH treatment, it was observed that as the concentration increased, the number of normally attached and growing cells decreased and the shape of the cells changed. Colony formation was significantly reduced in a concentration-dependent manner in JB6 Cl41 cells treated with EGF or TPA. Flow cytometry analysis with propidium iodide(PI) staining showed that SCL-EtOH induced the G2/M phase arrest. We further confirmed the decrease in Cyclin B1 expression and increase in p27 expression associated with the G2/M phase of the cell cycle through western blot analysis. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that SCL-EtOH induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, through Western blot analysis, it was observed that the expression of cleaved-caspase-7, which is related to apoptosis, increased. Finally, it was confirmed that the expression of COX-2, an inflammatory marker protein, decreased in a concentration-dependent manner with SCL-EtOH. Conclusions : Through the above results, we have established a basis for applying SCL to the treatment of skin cancer.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2024

Skin aging progresses due to external factors such as ultraviolet rays and infections. These factors cause skin fibroblasts to secrete proteolytic enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs induce the degradation of collagen located in the extracellular matrix, directly influencing aging. The stems of Akebia quinata Decaisne have been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the anti-aging effect of Akebia quinata Decaisne stem ethanol extract (AQSEE) is not known. Therefore, we studied the TNF-α-induced MMP-1 inhibitory effect in human fibroblasts. When the cell viability of AQSEE was confirmed through MTT asaay, it showed no toxicity up to 400 ㎍/mL. The inhibition of MMP-1 mRNA and protein secretion was confirmed through RT-qPCR and ELISA, and results showed a significant decrease at concentrations of 100, 200, 400 ㎍/mL. We also confirmed by Western blotting that phosphorylation of MAPKs signaling pathway and transcription factors was reduced. As a result, phosphorylation of p38, c-Jun, p65 was significantly decreased at all concentrations. DPPH and ABTS assays were performed to confirm the radical scavenging ability of AQSEE, and the results showed a significant decrease at all concentrations. The results of this study confirmed the MMP-1 inhibitory effect and radical scavenging ability, which suggests that it can be used as an anti-aging substance.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1454-1463
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• 2023

Evaluating the antioxidant efficacy using Potentillae Chinensis Herba extract, the anti-inflammatory efficacy was tested in respiratory mucosal epithelium, RAW264.7 cells, and zebrafish. As a result, antioxidant activity increased in a concentration-dependent manner in DPPH free radical scavenging and ABTS+ cation radical activities. As a result of MTT assay for cell experiments, the survival rate of NCI-H292 cells was reduced to less than 70% when treated at each concentration of 100 ㎍/ml, subsequent experiments were conducted at 50 ㎍/ml. Anti-inflammatory efficacy evaluation, NO production, TNF-𝛼, IL-1𝛽, and PGE₂ decreased, and COX-2 also decreased significantly at 50 ㎍/ml. The mucin protein expression of Potentillae Chinensis Herba extract and bioconverted extract, it was observed that MUC5AC expression was significantly reduced. In the zebrafish toxicity evaluation, concentrations below 50 ㎍/ml did not show embryotoxicity and showed anti-inflammatory efficacy by reducing NO production due to LPS. The above results are valid to be valuable for use as a functional material that suppresses inflammation by helping the expression of Potentillae Chinensis Herba's respiratory mucus proteins.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.258-269
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• 2022

Background and Objectives: Currently, safety pharmacological tests for the central nervous system depend on animal behavioral analysis. However, due to the subjectivity of behavioral analysis and differences between species, there is a limit to appropriate nervous system toxicity assessment, therefore a new neurotoxicity assessment that can simulate the human central nervous system is required. Methods and Results: In our study, we developed an in vitro neurotoxicity assessment focusing on neuronal function. To minimize the differences between species and fast screening, hiPSC-derived neurons and a microelectrode array (MEA) that could simultaneously measure the action potentials of the neuronal networks were used. After analyzing the molecular and electrophysiological characters of our neuronal network, we conducted a neurotoxicity assessment on neurotransmitters, neurotoxicants, illicit drugs, and new psychoactive substances (NPS). We found that most substances used in our experiments responded more sensitively to our MEA-based neurotoxicity assessment than to the conventional neurotoxicity assessment. Also, this is the first paper that evaluates various illicit drugs and NPS using MEA-based neurotoxicity assessment using hiPSC-derived neurons. Conclusions: Our study expanded the scope of application of neurotoxicity assessment using hiPSC-derived neurons to NPS, and accumulated evaluation data of various toxic substances for hiPSC-derived neurons.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2006

The use of underarm and body care cosmetics with oestrogenic chemical excipients (particularly the parabens) and the hypothesized association with breast cancer incidence, particularly in women. It is noted that the type of cosmetic product is irrelevant (e.g. antiperspirant/deodorant versus body lotion, moisturizers or sprays versus creams) and attention must focus on issues of actual exposure to chemicals through continued dermal application of body care products and the endocrine/hormonal activity and toxicity of the chemicals in the formulations. To evaluate the estrogenic activities of parabens such as ethylparaben, butylparaben, propylparaben, isobutylparaben and isopropylparaben, we used recombinant yeasts containing the human estrogen receptor [Saccharomyces cerevisiae ER+LYS 8127], human breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines and human estrogen receptor ${\alpha}\;and\;{\beta}$. In E-screen assays, isopropylparaben is the most estrogenic paraben, and in ER competition assay, isobutylparaben is the most estrogenic paraben. We evaluated isopropylparaben was most active in the recombinant yeast assay, followed by propylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben and butylparaben. Results from this study demonstrate that parabens are observed in human endocrine system. Therefore, we have shown that the parabens is induced the estrogenic activities similar to $17{\beta}$-estradiol and Bisphenol-A.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.219-225
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• 2014

Azadirachta indica extract (AIE) has been regarded as a promising source of environment-friendly organic materials owing to their low mammalian toxicity. However, quite a bit of research has been reported that AIE may cause clastogens in human lymphocytes. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the antimutagenic and genotoxicity of two samples of AIE. Antimutagenic test was experimented by using bacterial reverse mutation test. In the bacterial reverse mutation test, five strains Salmonella Typhimurim of two samples of AIE in order to evaluate its mutagenic potential. Bacterial reverse mutation test was also performed on positive control and negative control groups in the presence of the metabolic activation system (S-9 mix) and metabolic non-activation system. In the chromosome aberration test, Chinese hamster lung cells were exposed to AIE for 6 or 24 h with BPS, or for 6 h with S-9 mix. Negative and positive control groups were experimented for chromosome aberration test. As a result, the number of mutated colonies induced by 4-NQO were reduced by AIE treatment in all strains, indicating that AIE may have antimutagenic effects. Bacterial reverse mutation and chromosomal aberration were not shown at all concentration of AIE, regardless of activation of the metabolic system. we concluded that two AIE samples used in this study have no genotoxic effects to human, according to the genotoxicity battery system suggested by ICH (International Conference on Harmonization).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1642-1647
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• 2011

The free radical scavenging activities of extracts from Ligustrum ovalifolium H. leaves (LOH) as well as various antioxidant activities such as ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition were evaluated by electron spin resonance (ESR). The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of the water and ethanolic extracts from LOH were $105.5{\pm}1.31$ and $102.1{\pm}1.82$ mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract, respectively, and $84{\pm}1.72$ and $82.8{\pm}1.65$ mg catechin equivalent/g extract. In addition, $IC_{50}$ values for the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryldrazyl (DPPH), alkyl, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of the water and ethanolic extracts were $0.021{\pm}0.002$ and $0.010{\pm}0.003$ mg/mL, $0.011{\pm}0.003$ and $0.012{\pm}0.002$ mg/mL, and $0.395{\pm}0.002$ and $0.443{\pm}0.002$ mg/mL, respectively. The ABTS radical scavenging activities of the water and ethanolic extracts from LOH and BHT were $0.073{\pm}0.12$, $0.130{\pm}0.06$ and $1.461{\pm}0.02$ mM Trolox equivalent/mg extract, respectively. The FRAP values of the extracts from LOH were higher than those of BHT, which was used as a positive control. The LOH extracts showed strong inhibitory effects on lipid peroxidation as measured by ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay compared to that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. Using MTT assay on human liver cells (Chang), extracts from LOH showed no toxicity at a concentration of 0.5 mg/mL. These results indicate that the LOH extracts possessed antioxidant activity.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.342-349
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• 2018

In this study, the physicochemical properties, emulsifying capacity, moisture content and cytotoxicity of the composite material produced by transesterification reactions of the olive oil (olive oil esters) were investigated for cosmetic applications. Olive oil esters with short (S) and long (L) reaction times were studied. From the TLC-image analysis, composition ratios of the olive oil esters S were found to be 5.2, 24.1, 46.4, and 21.9% for mono-, di-, tri-glyceride, and fatty acid ethyl ester, respectively. Those of the olive oil esters L were 4.1, 24.7, 40.6, and 28.8% for mono-, di-, tri-glyceride, and fatty acid ethyl ester, respectively. The iodine value, acid value, saponification value, unsaponified matter, refractive index, and specific gravity were determined and purity tests were also carried out and normalized to establish standards and testing methods for using olive oil esters in cosmetics. To evaluate their emulsifying capacities, the O/W emulsion was prepared without surfactants and the formation of the emulsified particles were confirmed. After 5 days of applying the olive oil esters to human skin, the skin moisture retention was improved by 13.1% from the initial state. For the evaluation of toxicity on human skin cells, the olive oil esters showed 90% or more of the cell viability at $0.2-200{\mu}g/mL$. These results suggested that olive oil esters can be applied as natural/non-toxic ingredients to cosmetics industries.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.961-969
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• 2015

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the main catechin in green tea, has been shown to have some beneficial effects against various human diseases, including diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. To investigate the mechanism of the suppressive effects of EGCG on inflammatory response in macrophages, alterations on the levels of nitric oxide (NO) regulatory factors and inflammatory cytokines were measured in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW264.7 cells. No significant toxicity was detected in RAW264.7 cells treated with 100–400 μM EGCG. Moreover, the optimal concentration of LPS was determined to be 1 μg/ml based on the results of cell viability assay, NO assay and IL-6 enzyme-linked immunsorbent assay (ELISA). Furthermore, NO levels decreased significantly by 68.2% in the 400 μM EGCG/LPS treated group, while the level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression decreased by 12-17% in the 200 and 400 μM EGCG/LPS treated group. A significant decrease in transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF- α and IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) was also detected in the EGCG/LPS treated group. However, IL-6 transcript and protein was maintained at a constant level when in the LPS treated group relative to the EGCG/LPS treated group. Overall, these results suggest that the differential regulation of inflammatory cytokines is an important factor influencing the suppressive effects of EGCG against LPS-activated inflammatory response in RAW264.7 cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.78-83
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• 2011

The flower of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. with antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory functions has been a widely used traditional herb as a healthy beverage and medicine. The aim of the present study was to investigate a herb tea consisting of C. morifolium Ramat., Corni fructus and Schizandra chinensis Baillon for its hepatoprotective activity against $CCl_4$-induced toxicity in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes and antigenotoxic effect against oxidative stress induced DNA damage in human leukocytes. Three different compositions of the herb tea (Mix I, II, and III) were prepared by extracting with water at $90^{\circ}C$. Freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were exposed to $CCl_4$ along with/without various concentrations of each tea. Protection of rat primary cells against $CCl_4$-induced damage was determined by the MTT assay. The significant antihepatotoxic effect of the tea was shown in Mix I and II. The increased transaminase (AST and/or ALT) release in media of $CCl_4$ treated hepatocytes was significantly lowered by all the teas tested. The effect of the tea on DNA damage in human leukocytes was evaluated by Comet assay. All teas showed a protective effect against $H_2O_2$-induced DNA damage. From these results, it is assumed that herb tea based on C. morifolium Ramat., Corni fructus and Schizandra chinensis Baillon exerted antihepatotoxic and antigenotoxic effects.