This study was carried out to obtain new anti-gout agent from mushrooms. Various extracts from twelve kinds of mushrooms were prepared by water and ethanol extractions and its anti-gout xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity were investigated. Water extract of Flammulina velutipes and Agaricus bisporus fruiting bodies showed high xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of 70.8% and 60.0%, respectively. However, its inhibitory activity of these ethanol extracts were very low excepet 60.3% of Innotus obliquus. Finally, we selected Flammulina velutipes, showing the highest xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity as a producer of new anti-gout agent.

The methanolic (MeOH) extract of A. fruticosa bark, which showed immune-regulatory activities, was separated to purify an active compared by means of a multi-stage column chromatography. This resulted in the isolation and characterization of an isoflavone glycoside named 4', 6-Dimethoxyisoflavone-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. Immuno-regulatory activities of the crude extract of Amorpha fruticosa LINNE bark were compared with that of an isoflavone glycoside (4', 6-dimethoxyisoflavone-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside). The crude methanolic extract of A. fruticosa and purified single compound showed 16% of relatively low cytotoxicity at a maximum concentration of 1.0 g/L in cultivated normal human lung cell line (HEL299). Cell growth of human T cells was increased up to 15%, 0.5 g/L of the crude extract added group. This was higher than a single compound added one. On the other hand, specific production rates of IL-6 and TNF-α from T cell were higher in the purified compound treat group (0.82×10-4 pg/cell and 1.08×10-4 pg/cell, respectively), compared to 0.5 g/L of the crude extract added group (0.65×10-4 pg/cell and 0.84×10-4 pg/cell, respectively). In addition, the growth of NK-92MI cells incubated with the crude extract was higher up to 56% over the cells grown with a single compound (0.5 g/L). In overall, the crude extract showed relatively higher immuno-regulatory activities compared with a single compound, probably due to the synergic effect given by other substances existed in the crude extract. Even though the siolated compound stimulated higher secretion of cytokines from human T cells.

When we carried out an anti-stress study using the extracts of A. senticosus, R. coreanus, F .japonica root, and A. fruticosa fruit grown in Korea, the results showed that blood cell counts returned to normal levels fastest with R. coreanus after stress application. The total WBC count was decreased in mice due to stress, whereas the number of lymphocytes was increased. The serum glucose level was higher in the control group compared with the comparative stress group. The weight of each organ to returning to normal level was significantly faster in those mice treated with the extracts compared with those in control groups. Especially, it even return to that of normal level with R. coreanus extract, suggesting that the administration of the plant extracts in this study would affect hormonal activities in the body to increase immune activities. F. japonica root that showed the highest anti-stress activities maybe effective for lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. These results would provide basic data to examine anti-stress effects of natural plants. Further in-depth studies could contribute in the development of functional plant materials with anti-stress activities.

Two compounds from Gomisin N and Gomisin A were isolated from the fruits of Schizandra chinensis Baillon. The highest extraction yield as 21.36% was observed in the ethanol extract, compared to the yield obtained form the water extract. The extraction yields of the single compounds were measured to be 0.13 and 0.014 Gomisin A and Gomisin N, respectively. Approximately, 90% of the growth of human stomach adenocarcinoma cancer cells was inhibited after adding 1.0 g/l of the ethanol extract. The growth of the human normal lung cell was limited to 24% after adding the ethanol extract. The water extract lowered the specific secretion of TNF-á and IL-6 from T cells, 10.3×10-4 pg/cell and 12.1×10-4 pg/cell, respectively, compared to the ethanol extracts. On the other hand, a treatment with the ethanol extract increased the specific secretion of TNF-á and IL-6 from human T cells, to 11×10-4 pg/cell and 14.3×10-4 pg/cell, respectively. The crude ethanol extract had the highest effect on the differentiation of human promyelocytic leukemia cells compared to the other extracts and Gomisin A and N. In general, the biological activities of the extracts gradually decreased as the purification process proceeded, which suggests that higher immunostimulatory activities can be maintained by adding the crude extracts of the fruits rather than by adding a single compound.