Inhibitory Effects of Korean Red Ginseng and Its Genuine Constituents Ginsenosides Rg3, Rf, and Rh2 in Mouse Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis Reaction and Contact Dermatitis Models

Abstract

Korean red ginseng (KRG, the steamed root of Panax ginseng C.A. MEYER, family Araliaceae) is frequently used as a crude substance taken orally in Asian countries as a traditional medicine. The major components of raw ginseng are ginsenosides, which contain an aglycone with a dammarane skeleton.1,2) Many types of saponins, such as ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rf, have been isolated. The ginsenosides Rg3, Rf, and Rh2 are genuine saponins in KRG and heatprocessed ginseng.3,4) Ginsenosides Rg3 and Rh2 were produced from protopanaxadiol ginsenosides by steaming to prepare KRG. 5)Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder. Psoriasis patients have been shown to have interferon (IFN)-g producing Th1 bias in lesion skin and peripheral blood and are thought to develop cytokine networks of Th1 cells, resulting in keratinocyte hyperplasia and angiogenesis.6,7) Cylcooxygenase (COX)-2 is also induced in angiogenesis-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. 8) Fujii et al. developed an oxazolone-induced animal model of experimental psoriasis.9) This psoriatic animal model is a chronic inflammation model and significantly induces the expression levels of COX-2 and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in monocytes and macrophages and IFN-g and interleukin (IL)-4 in Th cells. The ginsenosides have been reported to show various biological activities including antiinflammatory activity, antiallergic, endothelium-independent aorta relaxation, and antitumor effects.10-13) Tachikawa et al. reported that ginsenoside Rg3 suppressed histamine release from mast cells due to stimulation with compoumd 48/80 in vitro, 14) and Ro et al. reported that ginsenosides Rb1 and Rc also partly inhibited the release of histamine and leukotrienes during the activation of guinea pig lung mast cells in vitro. 15) We also reported the antiallergic and antiinflammatory effects of ginsenoside Rh1, antiallergic and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reaction-inhibitory effects of compound K, and antiallergic effects of ginsenoside Rh2. [16][17][18] However, the antiallergic and antipsoriatic effects of KRG and genuine ginsenoside Rf have not been thoroughly studied. We therefore investigated the PCA reaction-inhibitory and antiallergic and antipsoriatic effects of the KRG saponin fraction (KRGS) and its constituents ginsenosides Rg3, Rf, and Rh2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials p-Nitrophenyl-N-acetyl-b -D-glucosaminide,Freund's complete adjuvant, anti-dinitrophenol (DNP)-IgE, DNP-human serum albumin (HSA), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Evans blue, disodium cromoglycate (DSCG), trichloroacetic acid, betamethasone, and azelastine were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.). KRG water extract, ginsenoside Rf, and ginsenoside Rh2 were donated by KT&G (Seoul, Korea). KRGS and ginsenoside Rg3 were prepared according to our previous method. 6)KRGS, which is the BuOH fraction of KRG, contains ginsenosides Rb1 (16.3%), Rf (7.4%), Rg3 (4.6%), and Rh2 (0.1%) as the main constituents.Assay of Antiallergic Activity in the RBL 2H3 Cell...

Ginsenoside Rg₃ Attenuates Microglia Activation Following Systemic Lipopolysaccharide Treatment in Mice

“…21) In previous studies, ginsenoside Rg 3 effectively suppressed proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells, 13) in Aβ-treated BV-2 microglial cells, 14) and in oxazolone applied anaphylactic mice. 22) These suppressive effects against pro-inflammatory cytokines suggested that ginsenoside Rg 3 might be associated with intracellular NF-κB which is a major transcription factor that regulates genes responsible for both the innate and adaptive immune response. 23) This study shows that ginsenoside Rg 3 significantly reduced TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 mRNA in the brain tissue following systemic LPS treatment.…”

Nonlinear ion-acoustic (IA) waves driven in a cylindrically symmetric flow

“…The magnetosphere was highly compressed due to an intense injection of electrons ∼14 min earlier (Baker et al 2002), which could enhance the local magnetic field from a few mG of the background strength to tens even hundreds of mG (Alfaro et al 2004;Tjulin et al 2004;Hall et al 2009). Although the Cluster has no single probe measurements to give nonlinear wave speeds, all four panels reveal that they excellently recorded all the bursts by double probes of high resolutions Cattell et al 2003).…”

20(<i>S</i>)-Ginsenoside Rh2 Induces Apoptosis in Human Leukaemia Reh Cells through Mitochondrial Signaling Pathways

“…[8][9][10] 20(S)-Ginsenoside Rh2 (GRh2), with a dammarane skeleton, belongs to the protopanaxadiol family and has drawn attention in chemopreventive research. [11][12][13] Recently, researchers have found that 20(S)-GRh2 exhibits anticancer effects and could inhibit growth of several cancer cell lines and induce apoptosis in mammalian tumor cells. [14][15][16] However, the details of the signal transduction cascade involved in 20(S)-GRh2-induced death in Reh cells remaine unclear.…”