Hee Yeon Kim

Isolation of Anti-inflammatory Active Substance β-Sitosterol from Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) Stem

The objective of this study was to isolate and identify anti-inflammatory chemicals in Hippophae rhamnoides L. which was grown in Chuncheon, Korea. Treatment of ethanol extracts from stems, leaves, roots, and fruits to RAW 264.7 cells reduced amounts of nitrite by 56.0, 31.9, 49.1, and 18.9% respectively, compared to only lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment which is well-known as a inflammation-inducing agent. The stems were extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water and their nitrite contents in RAW 264.7 cells were measured. The dichloromethane extracts showed the highest inflammatory activity, exhibiting 80% reduction of the nitrite content at 1 mg/mL treatment. Activity-directed fractionation of dichloromethane extracts led to the identification of -sitosterol as the anti-inflammatory chemical. 0.1 mg/mL treatment of -sitosterol inhibited strongly the production of nitrite by 65%, compared to only LPS treatment. These results suggest that stem of H. rhamnoides L. may be useful for inflammation treatment.

Biological Activities of Extracts from Flowers of Angelica gigas Nakai

We investigated the biological activities of extracts from the flowers of Angelica gigas Nakai. The of the DPPH radical scavenging activity was 3,535 and 105.0 in the water and ethanol extracts, respectively, whereas it was 12.7 for ascorbic acid. The results showed that the total polyphenol content of the ethanol extracts (48.430.18 mg/g) was higher than that of the water extracts (39.030.69 mg/g). The flavonoid content of the ethanol extracts (67.024.38 mg/g) was higher than that of the water extracts (50.321.24 mg/g). The ethanol extract showed a 34.45% lower -glucosidase inhibition activity than that for acarbose. The ethanol extract showed a 23.62% lower -amylase inhibition activity compared with that for acarbose. The water extract showed 16.76% lower pancreatic lipase inhibition activity. Anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activity was also lower. These results suggest that the flower of Angelica gigas Nakai may be useful as an anti-oxidative agent.

Effect of Lythrum salicaria L. Ethanol Extract on Lipid Metabolism and Anti-Obesity in Rat Fed High Fat Diet

*Agriproduct Processing Experiment Station Gangwon-do Agricultural Research & Experiment Services, Chuncheon 200-822, Korea.**Functional Food & Nutrition Division, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-707, Korea.***Department of Biological Environment, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.****Department of Herbal Crop Research, NIHHIS, RDA, Eumseong 369-873, Korea.ABSTRACT : This study was carried out to investigate the effect of Lythrum salicaria L. ethanol extract on anti-obesityeffects in rat fed a high fat diet for 8 weeks to induce obese rat model. Male SD rats were divided into normal group, control(high fat diet) group, positive control (Garcinia Cambogia extracts) group, high fat group supplemented with ethanolextracts of Lythrum salicaria L. (EELS). The body weight gain and control (high fat diet) were increased by a high fat diet,but decreased in the EELS. At the end of the experiment, the body weight in high fat diet groups was higher than that of nor-mal diet group, while the body weights of EELS and positive control group were significantly reduced by 16.62%, as com-pared with that of high fat diet group (p < 0.05). The levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol in EELS group weresignificantly decreased as compared with high fat diet group (p < 0.05). The liver and mesenteric adipose tissue weights ofcontrol (high fat diet) increase than that for normal group, whereas EELS and positive control group were significantlydecreased (p < 0.05). Levels of triglyceride in liver were significantly lower in EELS group than those in high fat diet group(p < 0.05). These results indicate that Lythrum salicaria L. extract may improve lipid metabolism and reduce fat accumula-tion and body weight. Key Words : Lythrum salicaria L., Anti-Obesity Effect, High-Fat Diet