Jung-Hyo Cho

Antioxidant effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer in healthy subjects: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

We investigated the antioxidant effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer on healthy volunteers. In a double-blind randomized controlled design, 82 participants (21 men and 61 women) who were considered healthy by both objective and subjective health standard were divided into three groups, the control group and the groups received P. ginseng extract (1 or 2g/day) for 4 weeks. Serum level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GSH-Rd), and peroxidase (GSH-Px), and total glutathione content were determined before and after the trial. Administration of P. ginseng led to significant decreases in the levels of serum ROS and MDA. Notably, the total glutathione content and GSH-Rd activity considerably improved in the groups that received 2g of P. ginseng. No significant alterations were observed in TAC, catalase, SOD, and GSH-Px activities. In conclusion, our findings indicate that P. ginseng was shown to have antioxidant property. It enhanced the antioxidant defense mechanism in healthy populations and the results may reinforce the use of P. ginseng as a potential antioxidant supplement.

Soluble components of hericium erinaceum induce NK cell activation via production of interleukin-12 in mice splenocytes

AbstractAim:To investigate the immunoregulatory functions of water extracts of Hericium erinaceum (WEHE) focusing on natural killer (NK) cell-based anticancer activities.Methods:Mouse splenocytes or purely isolated NK cells were stimulated with 1-100 mg/L WEHE for 24 h followed by co-culture with 51Cr-labled Yac-1 cells for 4 h, then NK cell-derived cytolytic activity was measured using a radio-release assay. Neutralizing antibodies against mouse interleukin-12 (IL-12) were added into the WEHE-stimulated splenocytes, thereafter, cytotoxicity was measured to examine the involvement of IL-12. RT-PCR and ELISA analyses were performed to confirm the induction of transcription and the translation of IL-12 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in the WEHE-treated splenocytes.Results:WEHE enhanced the cytolytic activity of total splenocytes towards Yac-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. However, this activation was not observed when the NK cells isolated from the splenocytes were treated with WEHE. Furthermore, the treatment with antibodies against IL-12 abolished the effect of WEHE on splenocyte-derived cytolytic activity. RT-PCR and ELISA analyses showed the induction of IL-12 and IFN-gamma in the WEHE-treated splenocytes.Conclusion:WEHE indirectly activates the cytolytic ability of NK cells via the induction of IL-12 in total splenocytes, and possibly via other immuno-mediators or cellular components.

Myelophil, an extract mix of Astragali Radix and Salviae Radix, ameliorates chronic fatigue: A randomised, double-blind, controlled pilot study

OBJECTIVES To investigate the anti-fatigue effects of Myelophil, an extract of a mix of Astragali Radix and Salviae Radix, which has been used to treat patients with chronic fatigue. SUBJECTS AND DESIGN A randomised, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was performed with 36 adults who complained of chronic fatigue. The subjects were divided among a control group and low- and high-dose groups (3 or 6g of oral Myelophil per day, respectively) and were monitored for 4 weeks. Fatigue severity was subjectively characterised, and the expression of 42 cytokines was evaluated using an antibody array. RESULTS Myelophil administration (3g per day) significantly decreased the fatigue severity score compared with the control (p<0.05). No changes were noted in cytokine expression. CONCLUSIONS Myelophil appears to have a pharmacological effect against fatigue, suggesting the clinical relevance of the traditional medicinal plants, Astragalus membranaceus and Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Antifatigue effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

The present study investigated the antifatigue effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer in 90 subjects (21 men and 69 women) with idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel designed trial. A bespoke 20% ethanol extract of P. ginseng (1 g or 2 g day–1) or a placebo was administered to each group for 4 weeks, and then fatigue severity was monitored using a self-rating numeric scale (NRS) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) as a primary endpoint. Serum levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), total glutathione (GSH) contents and glutathione reductase (GSH-Rd) activity were determined. After 4-week, P. ginseng administration decreased the total NRS score, but they were not statistically significant compared with placebo (P>0.05). Mental NRS score was significantly improved by P. ginseng administrations as 20.4±5.0 to 15.1±6.5 [95% CI 2.3∼8.2] for 1 g and 20.7±6.3 to 13.8±6.2 [95% CI −0.1∼4.2] for 2 g compared with placebo 20.9±4.5 to 18.8±2.9 [95% CI 4.1∼9.9, P<0.01]. Only 2 g P. ginseng significantly reduced the VAS score from 7.3±1.3 to 4.4±1.8 [95% CI 0.7∼1.8] compared with the placebo 7.1±1.0 to 5.8±1.3 [95% CI 2.2 ∼3.7, P<0.01]. ROS and MDA levels were lowered by P. ginseng compared to placebo. P. ginseng 1 g increased GSH concentration and GSH-Rd activity. Our results provide the first evidence of the antifatigue effects of P. ginseng in patients with ICF, and we submit that these changes in antioxidant properties contribute in part to its mechanism. Trial Registration Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) KCT0000048

A prospective study on the safety of herbal medicines, used alone or with conventional medicines

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Along with increase of herbal medicine use worldwide, the safety of traditional herbal medicines frequently becomes a medical issue. AIM OF THE STUDY This study aimed to investigate the incidence of herbal medicine-induced adverse effects on liver functions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A prospective study was performed with 313 inpatients (87 male and 226 female) receiving herbal prescriptions during hospitalization. The patients were classified into two groups based on their treatments: one group received herbal medicines only (57 patients), and another received herbal and conventional medicines concurrently (256 patients). All patients were given liver and renal function tests at the start of hospitalization (baseline) and at approximately 2-week intervals thereafter, until discharge. RESULTS Six of the 313 patients showed abnormal liver function without related clinical symptoms (1.9%, 95% CI 0.38-3.41); none of the patients in the herbal group had abnormal result in liver function tests (0% of 57 patients) while all six had received a combination of herbal and conventional medicines (2.3% of 256 patients, 95% CI 0.46-4.14). CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that herbal drugs used alone are relatively safe, but the risk for adverse reactions may increase when herbal and conventional drugs are taken concurrently.

Systematic review of the incidence of herbal drug-induced liver injury in Korea

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Herbal drugs have been generally believed to be safe, based on the natural sources and long clinical experience. With the increasing use of herbal medicine worldwide, the potential toxicity of herbal drugs, especially drug-induced liver injury (DILI), frequently becomes a medical issue. This study was aimed to estimate the incidence of DILI following herbal drug consumption in Korea METHODS AND MATERIALS A literature search for herbal DILI in eight databases, including PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and four Korean electronic databases. RESULTS Six studies (three prospective and three retrospective) met the necessary criteria for assessment of the risk of DILI following herbal medicine exposure. The total number of participants in the six studies was 1699 (756 males and 943 females), and the incidence of herbal DILI varied from 0 to 1.92 among them. Total incidence of herbal DILI was 0.71% (12 patients with herbal DILI), and it was significantly higher in male (1.32%) than female (0.21%) respectively (p<0.01). All of the patients that experienced DILI concomitantly ingested herbal medicine and conventional drugs. CONCLUSIONS This result showed the comprehensive data indicating the incident risk of hepatotoxicity in patients using herbal drugs in Korea, and presented the possibility of increased risk for the DILI by concurrent administration of herbal and conventional medicines.

Safety and Tolerability of Panax ginseng Root Extract: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Clinical Trial in Healthy Korean Volunteers

OBJECTIVES Panax ginseng has been extensively used as an adaptogen and is among the top 10 selling herbal supplements in the United States over the past decade. However, there have been few reports about the toxicity of P. ginseng in human studies. Given the lack of toxicological studies in human, this study investigated whether P. ginseng administration causes any noticeable toxic effects in healthy volunteers. METHODS This study was designed as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and parallel group trial in healthy volunteers. The subjects were required to be healthy, free from any significant disease, as assessed at screening by physical examination, medical history, and laboratory (hematological and biochemical) tests. Eligible subjects received P. ginseng extract (1 g/day or 2 g/day) or placebo over a 4-week period. RESULTS Although mild adverse events, such as dyspepsia, hot flash, insomnia, and constipation, were reported in both P. ginseng and placebo group, no serious untoward reactions were reported following P. ginseng administration. Nonsignificant changes were observed in hematological and biochemical tests. CONCLUSIONS P. ginseng administration for 4 weeks was shown to be safe, tolerable, and free of any untoward toxic effect in healthy male and female volunteers. Future results from ongoing multicenter collaborative efforts to evaluate short- and long-term effects of P. ginseng may contribute to our current understanding of safety and tolerability of this herbal product.

Induction of murine interleukin-1 beta expression by water-soluble components from Hericium erinaceum

AbstractAim:To investigate the inductive effect of water extract from Hericium erinaceum (WEHE) on interleukin-1 β (IL-1β) expression.Methods:A murine macrophage cell-line, RAW 264.7 was stimulated with 1 to 10 mg/L WEHE and inductions of IL-1β protein and its steady state mRNA were examined using a bioassay, Western blotting, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. The inductive effect of WEHE on IL-1β gene expression was further investigated by a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene assay using a transient transfection with pIL-1(870 bp)-CAT where the expression of the CAT gene was regulated by a IL-1β promoter. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was also performed to examine transcription factors, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), activator protein 1 (AP-1), nuclear factor interleukin-6 (NF-IL6), and cAMP response element (CRE)/activating transcription factor (ATF).Results:WEHE induced IL-1β production in both its mRNA and protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. The inductive effect of WEHE on IL-1β gene expression was due to the augmentation of the IL-1β transcription. Furthermore, EMSA showed that WEHE markedly increased the binding activities of NF-κB, and to a lesser extent, those of AP-1 and NF-IL6 to their cognate DNA recognition sites, whereas CRE/ATF binding remained constant, all of which are known to be involved in the regulation of IL-1β gene expression.Conclusion:WEHE induces IL-1β expression in macrophages at a transcriptional level by enhancing the activation of transcription factors, NF-κB, NF-IL6, and AP-1.

Panax ginseng modulates cytokines in bone marrow toxicity and myelopoiesis: ginsenoside Rg1 partially supports myelopoiesis.

In this study, we have demonstrated that Korean Panax ginseng (KG) significantly enhances myelopoiesis in vitro and reconstitutes bone marrow after 5-flurouracil-induced (5FU) myelosuppression in mice. KG promoted total white blood cell, lymphocyte, neutrophil and platelet counts and improved body weight, spleen weight, and thymus weight. The number of CFU-GM in bone marrow cells of mice and serum levels of IL-3 and GM-CSF were significantly improved after KG treatment. KG induced significant c-Kit, SCF and IL-1 mRNA expression in spleen. Moreover, treatment with KG led to marked improvements in 5FU-induced histopathological changes in bone marrow and spleen, and partial suppression of thymus damage. The levels of IL-3 and GM-CSF in cultured bone marrow cells after 24 h stimulation with KG were considerably increased. The mechanism underlying promotion of myelopoiesis by KG was assessed by monitoring gene expression at two time-points of 4 and 8 h. Treatment with Rg1 (0.5, 1 and 1.5 µmol) specifically enhanced c-Kit, IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA expression in cultured bone marrow cells. Our results collectively suggest that the anti-myelotoxicity activity and promotion of myelopoiesis by KG are mediated through cytokines. Moreover, the ginsenoside, Rg1, supports the role of KG in myelopoiesis to some extent.

Effects of Korean ginseng root extract on cisplatin-induced emesis in a rat-pica model.

In the present study, we investigate the effect of Korean ginseng root extract (KG) on cisplatin-induced pica in a rat model. Rats were treated with KG before (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) or after (12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg) a single intraperitoneal injection of cisplatin (7 and 6 mg/kg, respectively). We examined intake of kaolin and normal food as an indicator of the emetic stimulus every 24 h for 120 h. Changes in body weight, haematology and histopathology were additionally assessed. Pre-treatment with KG (25 and 50 mg/kg) significantly attenuated cisplatin-induced kaolin intake (24, 48, and 72 h) and markedly improved intake of normal food by rats at 48, 72, 96, and 120 h. Cisplatin-induced kaolin intake was markedly decreased upon post-treatment of rats with KG (12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg) at 24 h. Notably, post-treatment with the lowest KG dose resulted in a significant anti-pica effect and improved food intake until 72 h. The magnitude of body weight reduction was significantly diminished in rats pre-treated/post-treated with 25, 50, and 12.5 mg/kg KG. The anti-pica effects of KG were further confirmed with haematological and histopathological findings. Our findings collectively indicate that KG improves the resistance of rats against emesis.