Acute and subchronic (13-week) toxicity of fermented Acanthopanax koreanum extracts in Sprague Dawley rats.

The biological fermentation of plants is usually used to improve their product properties, including their biological activity. Acanthopanax koreanum is a plant indigenous to Jeju, Korea; however, fermented A. koreanum (FAK) has not been guaranteed to be safe. Therefore, in this study, a safety evaluation of aqueous extracts of FAK was performed using Sprague Dawley rats. The acute toxicity of FAK did not influence animal mortality, body weight changes or the animals' clinical appearance at a concentration of 5000 mg/kg body weight. Using doses of 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/day in a subchronic (13-week) toxicity study, the administration of FAK in male rats increased their body weight, food consumption, absolute liver weight, liver-associated enzymes and total cholesterol content. However, these effects of FAK were not considered toxic because the changes were not accompanied by any evidence of clinical signs or any change in the histopathological examination. On the other hand, the FAK-treated female rats did not exhibit significant changes in their body weight, food consumption, absolute and relative organ weights or liver enzymes. These results suggest that the acute oral administration of FAK is non-toxic to rats, and 13 weeks of repeated dosing demonstrated no FAK-related toxicity at a concentration of 2000 mg/kg. Therefore, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of FAK was determined to be 2000 mg/kg/day for both male and female rats.

The antioxidant activity and their major antioxidant compounds from Acanthopanax senticosus and A. koreanum.

The antioxidant activity and chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid contents were investigated from different parts of Acanthopanax senticosus and A. koreanum. Antioxidant activity was assessed by various in vitro assays such as DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, reducing power assays and ORAC, and the chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid were validated by HPLC chromatography. Among the various extracts, the fruit extracts of A. senticosus and A. koreanum exhibited strongest antioxidant activities including ABTS, FRAP, reducing power and ORAC, however, strongest DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed from the leaf extract of A. senticosus. In addition, the antioxidant activities of various extracts were correlated with total phenolic and proanthocyanidin contents. The major phenolic contents from various parts of these plants observed that leaf extract of A. senticosus expressed higher levels of chlorogenic acid (14.86 mg/dry weigh g) and caffeic acid (3.09 mg/dry weigh g) than other parts. Therefore, these results suggest that the leaf of A. senticosus may be an excellent natural source for functional foods and pharmaceutical agents, and the validated method was useful for the quality control of A. senticosus.

A polysaccharide isolated from the liquid culture of Lentinus edodes (Shiitake) mushroom mycelia containing black rice bran protects mice against a Salmonella lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxemia.

Endotoxemia (sepsis, septic shock) is an inflammatory, virulent disease that results mainly from bacterial infection. The present study investigates the inhibitory effect of a bioprocessed polysaccharide (BPP) isolated from the edible Lentinus edodes liquid mycelial mushroom culture supplemented with black rice bran against murine endotoxemia induced by the Salmonella lipopolysaccharide and d-galactosamine (LPS/GalN). BPP was obtained after dialysis against water using a cellulose tube with a molecular weight cutoff of 10000. BPP eluted as a single peak on an HPLC chromatogram. Acid hydrolysis of BPP showed the presence of the following sugars: fucose, galactose, galactosamine, glucose, glucosamine, mannose, rhamnose, and xylose. Treatment of BPP with ß-glucanase reduced its immunostimulating activity, suggesting that the polysaccharide has a ß-glucan structure. Pretreatment of mice with BPP via oral or intraperitoneal (ip) administration for 2 weeks resulted in the suppression of LPS/GalN-induced catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and transaminase (GOT/GPT) liver enzymes, amelioration of necrotic liver lesions, and reduction of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and nitrite serum levels as well as myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, an index of necrotic injury. Immunostimulating macrophage activity was up to 5.4-fold greater than that observed with the culture without the rice bran. BPP also extended the lifespan of the toxemic mice. These positive results with inflammation biomarkers and lifespan studies suggest that the BPP can protect mice against LPS/GalN-induced liver, lung, and kidney injuries and inflammation by blocking oxidative stress and TNF-α production, thus increasing the survival of the toxic shock-induced mice. The polysaccharide has the potential to serve as a new functional food.

The modified Je-Ho-Tang, Korean herbal medicine, inhibits whole-blood aggregation and platelet adhesion to collagen under flow.

We investigated the in vitro effect of modified Je-Ho-Tang (MJHT) hot-water extract on platelet aggregation and activation induced by agonists in human whole blood, and on platelet adhesion to a collagen-coated surface under flow shear stress conditions. MJHT extract potently inhibited the collagen-induced platelet aggregation in human whole blood in a dose-dependent manner, with a half-maximal inhibitory dose (IC(50)) value of 526 microg/mL. We accessed several markers of platelet activation using receptor expression on platelet membranes, including GPIIb/IIIa-like expression (PAC-1) and P-selectin (CD62); we monitored the intracellular calcium mobilization response by flow cytometry in healthy subjects. A significant decrease in PAC-1 (P=0.002), CD62 (P=0.002), and intracellular calcium mobilization (P<0.001) were seen in the presence of MJHT extract. In addition, we have used image analysis to study human platelet adhesion to collagen under physiologic flow conditions in a perfusion chamber. MJHT extract markedly decreased platelet adhesion to the collagen-coated surface. These results show that MJHT has potent anti-platelet activity.