Hyun-kyung Jo

Growth-promoting activity of Hominis Placenta extract on regenerating sciatic nerve

AbstractAim:Extract of Hominis Placenta (HP) has been used in oriental medicine as an agent for improving physiological function. The present study was conducted to investigate whether HP treatment in an experimental sciatic nerve injury animal model produces growth-promoting effects on regenerating peripheral nerve fibers after injury.Methods:After HP was injected into a sciatic nerve injury site, changes in protein levels were analyzed in the regenerating nerve area by Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining analyses. For quantitative assessment of axonal regeneration, a retrograde tracing technique was used to identify the neuronal cell bodies corresponding to regenerating axons, and the extent of neurite outgrowth in cultured dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons prepared from animals that had experienced a sciatic nerve crush injury 7 d before neuron collection was analyzed.Results:Induction levels of axonal growth-associated protein (GAP-43) in the injured sciatic nerves were elevated by HP treatment. HP treatment also upregulated cell division cycle 2 (Cdc2) protein levels in the distal stump of the injured sciatic nerve. Induced Cdc2 protein was detected in Schwann cells, suggesting that Cdc2 kinase activity maybe involved in the growth-promoting activity of regenerating axons via Schwann cell proliferation. Cell body measurement by retrograde tracing indicated that HP treatment produced significant increases in regenerating motor axons. Finally, HP treatment of cultured DRG sensory neurons significantly increased neurite arborization and elongation.Conclusion:HP promotes the regeneration of injured sciatic axons by upregulating the synthesis of regeneration-related protein factors such as GAP-43 and Cdc2.

Anti-atherosclerosis and hyperlipidemia effects of herbal mixture, Artemisia iwayomogi Kitamura and Curcuma longa Linne, in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLGICAL RELEVANCE Artemisiaiwayomogi Kitamura and Curcuma longa Linne. (ACE) has been popularly used to treat atherosclerosis as well as hyperlipidemia in the Asian countries. OBJECTIVE Antiatherosclerotic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects of ACE were evaluated at protein and gene expression level by using apoE(-/-) mice. METHOD Apoprotein E deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice were randomly divided into five groups and fed freely Western diet (WD) which contained ACE (50, 100 and 200mg/kg) or curcumin (50mg/kg). The C57/BLJ mice were used as normal and which were fed the WD. After 10 weeks of being fed the WD, the atherosclerosis related mediators and hyperlipidemia induced hepatic steatosis were analyzed in serum, aorta tissue or hepatic tissues. RESULTS Ten-week feeding of WD considerably increased the serum lipid profiles including total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride, TC/HDL ratio and glucose, and also elevated the total reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, TNF-α; and interlukin-6, IL-6) in the serum levels. ACE treatment significantly resolved these alterations. The aortic lesion formation was significantly decreased as were lipid formations by ACE treatment. Moreover, ACE not only caused significant decreases of the lipid drops on the hepatic tissues, but also restored the antioxidant components. The gene expression levels including SREBP-1c, FAS, SCD-1, PPAR-α, CPT-1, IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α in hepatic tissue were altered by Western diet fed in apoE(-/-) mice, while ACE treatment significantly normalized those alterations. CONCLUSIONS The ACE treatment is beneficial for atherosclerosis in arterial area and hyperlipidemia induced hepatic tissue steatosis.

ACE Reduces Metabolic Abnormalities in a High-Fat Diet Mouse Model

The medicinal plants Artemisia iwayomogi (A. iwayomogi) and Curcuma longa (C. longa) radix have been used to treat metabolic abnormalities in traditional Korean medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TKM and TCM). In this study we evaluated the effect of the water extract of a mixture of A. iwayomogi and C. longa (ACE) on high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome in a mouse model. Four groups of C57BL/6N male mice (except for the naive group) were fed a high-fat diet freely for 10 weeks. Among these, three groups (except the control group) were administered a high-fat diet supplemented with ACE (100 or 200 mg/kg) or curcumin (50 mg/kg). Body weight, accumulation of adipose tissues in abdomen and size of adipocytes, serum lipid profiles, hepatic steatosis, and oxidative stress markers were analyzed. ACE significantly reduced the body and peritoneal adipose tissue weights, serum lipid profiles (total cholesterol and triglycerides), glucose levels, hepatic lipid accumulation, and oxidative stress markers. ACE normalized lipid synthesis-associated gene expressions (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, PPARγ; fatty acid synthase, FAS; sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor-1c, SREBP-1c; and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, PPARα). The results from this study suggest that ACE has the pharmaceutical potential reducing the metabolic abnormalities in an animal model.