Hyunae Kim

Effects of red ginseng extract on UVB irradiation-induced skin aging in hairless mice.

UNLABELLED Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Korean herb medicine, has been widely used in China and Japan for fatigue and enhancement of resistance to many diseases. AIM OF THE STUDY This study is aimed to assess the effects of Korean red ginseng extract on UVB irradiation induced skin aging in hairless mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS Red ginseng extracts prepared with ethanol were used in this study. To standardize Korean red ginseng, it was analyzed by HPLC. And inhibitory effects of red ginseng extract on UVB irradiation-induced skin aging in hairless mice were determined by the measurement of wrinkle, expression of type I procollagen and MMP-1 and immunohistology. RESULTS Based on the HPLC quantitative analysis, ginsenoside Rb1 content in Korean red ginseng was 43.5mg/g of extract. In the result of body weight gain and food efficiency rate, body weights of all groups were increased during experimental periods. In the wrinkle measurement and image analysis of skin replicas, the results showed that the dietary supply containing red ginseng extract significantly inhibited wrinkle formation caused by chronic UVB irradiation. In the changes of expression of procollagen type I and MMP-1 in the skin of UV irradiated hairless mice fed dietary supplement containing 2.5% red ginseng extract, level of mRNA of procollagen type I was decreased. But protein level of that was increased. And in terms of MMP-1, either mRNA or protein levels of MMP-1 were significantly decreased. These results showed anti-wrinkle effect of Korean red ginseng involved the inhibition of collagen degradation rather than increased collagen synthesis. CONCLUSION It is shown that Korean red ginseng may be functional food candidate for skin photoaging.

Dietary silk protein, sericin, improves epidermal hydration with increased levels of filaggrins and free amino acids in NC/Nga mice

Epidermal hydration is maintained primarily by natural moisturising factors (NMF), of which free amino acids (AA) are major constituents that are generated by filaggrin degradation. To identify dietary sources that may improve skin dryness of atopic dermatitis (AD), we investigated dietary effects of silk proteins, sericin and fibroin, on epidermal levels of hydration, filaggrins and free AA, as well as PPARγ, peptidylarginine deiminase-3 (PAD3) and caspase-14 proteins involved in filaggrin expression and degradation processes. NC/Nga mice, an animal model of AD, were fed a control diet (group CA: atopic control) or diets with 1 % sericin (group S) or fibroin (group F) for 10 weeks. In group S, epidermal levels of hydration, total filaggrins and total free AA, as well as PPARγ, PAD3 and caspase-14, which were reduced in group CA, were increased to higher or similar levels of a normal control group of BALB/c mice (group C). Furthermore, profilaggrin, a precursor with multiple filaggrin repeats, and three repeat intermediates were increased, while two repeat intermediates and filaggrin were decreased in parallel with increased levels of glutamate and serine, major AA of NMF in group S. Despite increased levels of total filaggrins, total free AA, PPARγ and PAD3, epidermal levels of hydration, glutamate, serine and caspase-14 were not increased, but other minor AA of NMF were highly detected in group F. Dietary sericin improves epidermal hydration in parallel with enhancing profilaggrin expression and degradation into free AA that is coupled with elevated levels of PPARγ, PAD3 and caspase-14 proteins.

Stimulatory effect of dietary red ginseng on epidermal hydration and ceramide levels in ultraviolet-irradiated hairless mice.

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation induces skin dryness, largely by disruption of the epidermal barrier. In a search for dietary and plant compounds that would protect against skin dryness, we investigated the dietary effect of red ginseng (the steamed root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) on epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides, the most important lipids for maintaining the epidermal barrier, in UV-irradiated mice. Albino hairless mice were fed either control diets (group UV [UV-irradiated control]) or diets with 0.5% (group H0.5) or 1% (group H1.0) red ginseng extract for 5 weeks in parallel with UV irradiation. A normal control group (group C) was fed a control diet without UV irradiation for 5 weeks. Skin dryness in group UV, as assessed by epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides, was significantly lower than those in group C. With no differences in food intake and weight gains among groups, epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides in group H0.5 were similar to those in group C. In addition, protein expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a key enzyme involved in de novo ceramide synthesis, was increased in group H0.5. However, epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides in group H1.0 did not differ from those in group UV, in which ceramidase, an enzyme involved in ceramide degradation, was highly expressed. In conclusion, we demonstrate that dietary supplementation of 0.5% red ginseng protects skin from UV-induced dryness with an accumulation of ceramides due to elevated expression of SPT protein.

Comparative Effect of Gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon) Extract and Borage Oil on Reversing Epidermal Hyperproliferation in Guinea Pigs

To compare the systemic efficacy of borage oil (Borago officinalis: BO) and gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon), two plant species of the Boraginaceae family, epidermal hyperproliferation was induced in guinea pigs by a hydrogenated coconut oil diet for 8 weeks. Subsequently, guinea pigs were fed diets of BO (group HBO), organic extract (group HGO), or water extract (group HGW) of gromwell for 2 weeks. In groups HGO and HGW, proliferation scores and the level of ceramides, the major lipid maintaining epidermal barrier, were similar with those in normal control group BO fed BO diet for 10 weeks. Despite accumulation of 15-hydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (15-HETrE), the potent anti-proliferative metabolite of γ-linolenic acid (GLA: major polyunsaturated fatty acid in BO), the reversal of epidermal hyperproliferation and the ceramide level of group HBO were less than those of groups HGO and HGW. Taken together, our data demonstrate that gromwell is more effective in reversing epidermal hyperproliferation with a marked increase in ceramides.

High Temperature- and High Pressure-Processed Garlic Improves Lipid Profiles in Rats Fed High Cholesterol Diets

Garlic protects against degenerative diseases such as hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases. However, raw garlic has a strong pungency, which is unpleasant. In this study, we examined the effect of high temperature/high pressure-processed garlic on plasma lipid profiles in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a normal control diet, a high cholesterol (0.5% cholesterol) diet (HCD) only, or a high cholesterol diet supplemented with 0.5% high temperature/high pressure-processed garlic (HCP) or raw garlic (HCR) for 10 weeks. The body weights of the rats fed the garlic-supplemented diets decreased, mostly because of reduced fat pad weights. Plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride (TG) in the HCP and HCR groups decreased significantly compared with those in the HCD group. Additionally, fecal TC and TG increased significantly in the HCP and HCR groups. It is notable that no significant differences in plasma or fecal lipid profiles were observed between the HCP and HCR groups. High temperature/high pressure-processed garlic contained a higher amount of S-allyl cysteine than raw garlic (P<.05). The results suggest that high temperature/high pressure-processed garlic may be useful as a functional food to improve lipid profiles.

Dietary sericin enhances epidermal levels of glucosylceramides and ceramides with up-regulating protein expressions of glucosylceramide synthase, β-glucocerebrosidase and acidic sphingomyelinase in NC/Nga mice

We have previously reported that dietary sericin improves epidermal dryness with the increased total Ceramide (Cer) in NC/Nga mice, an animal model of atopic dermatitis (AD). In this study, we hypothesized that the increased level of total Cer induced by dietary sericin would be related to the altered metabolism of glucosylceramide (GlcCer) and sphingomyelin (SM), major precursors of Cer generation. NC/Nga mice were fed a control diet (group CA: atopic control) or diets with 1% silk protein, either sericin (group S) or fibroin (group F) for 10 weeks. In the epidermis of group CA, total Cer (including Cer1, 2, 3/4 and 6) and all GlcCer species were reduced; these levels in group S were increased to levels similar to or higher than in the normal control group of BALB/c mice (group C). In addition, the protein expressions, but not mRNA expressions, of GlcCer synthase, β-glucocerebrosidase, and acidic sphingomyelinase, enzymes for GlcCer synthesis, GlcCer and SM hydrolysis, respectively, were highly increased in group S. The epidermal levels of total Cer (including Cer2, 3/4, and 6) and all GlcCer species and of these enzyme proteins in group F were lower than in group S. Notably, alterations in total SM, SM1, SM3, and SM synthase 1, which were increased in group CA, were not significant between groups S and F. Cer5 and SM2 were not altered among groups. Dietary sericin enhanced the epidermal levels of all GlcCer and most Cer species with up-regulating protein expressions of GlcCer synthase, β-glucocerebrosidase, and acidic sphingomyelinase.

Effect of Ascorbic Acid, Silicon, Fe, Proline and Lysine on Proliferation and Collagen Synthesis in the Human Dermal Fibroblast Cell (HS27)

Dept. of Medical Nutrition, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi 446-701, KoreaAbstractIn the dermis, fibroblast plays an important role in the turnover of the dermal extracellular matrix. Collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ, which are the most important dermal proteins of the extracellular matrix, function as a stabilizing scaffold of dermal connective tissues, as well as a regulator of differentiation and migration of dermal cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of various nutrients, such as ascorbic acid, silicon, Fe, lysine and proline which function as cofactors or building blocks on collagen synthesis. When the physiological concentrations of ascorbic acid (0~100 μM), silicon (0~50 μM), Fe (0~50 μM), lysine (0~150 μM) and proline (0~300 μM) were treated at HS27 for either 3 or 5 days, 5 day treatment of ascorbic acid at the low concentration (5~10 μM) increased the expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ protein by 115~1300% without increasing cell proliferation. 3 or 5 days treatment of Fe increased the expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ proteins up to 323% in parallel with cell proliferation by 164%. However, cell proliferation and expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ protein in silicon treated HS27 did not differ. Proline and lysine only increased cell proliferation up to 247.9%. Taken together, we demonstrate that the physiological concentrations of ascorbic acid and Fe enhance the expression of collagen Ⅰ and Ⅲ protein for treatment of 3 or 5 days.Key words: human dermal fibroblast, collagen, ascorbic acid, silicon, Fe