Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by recurring symptoms, airflow obstruction, and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. The onset of asthma for most patients begins early in life, and current asthma treatment with anti-inflammatory agents can have adverse effects, eventually leading to impaired quality of life. In the pathogenesis of asthma, macrophages and basophils play a vital role during progression. Macrophages not only induce inflammation by secreting inflammatory cytokines but also promote DNA damage and mucus production through nitric oxide (NO) production. Basophils enhance eosinophil recruitment and aggravate asthma through the FcεRIα receptor with high affinity for histamine and IgE. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether the activation of macrophages and basophils is suppressed by the individual extracts of 28 natural products. RAW 264.7 cells (mouse macrophages) were treated with the natural products in LPS, and 4 natural product extracts resulted in decreased NO production. In β-hexosaminidase assay using RBL-2H3 cells (rat basophils), 19 natural product extracts decreased β-hexosaminidase production. In NO production and β-hexosaminidase assay using macrophages and basophils, 3 natural product extracts (Plantago asiatica, Centella asiatica, and Perilla frutescens var. japonica) significantly inhibited NO production and β-hexosaminidase release. Overall, we examined the inhibitory effects of 28 natural product extracts on macrophage and basophil activity, and the findings demonstrated the potential of natural product extracts for treating asthma and macrophage- and basophil-related diseases.

본 연구는 천연물 황련, 관중, 치자의 추출물이 절화수명연 장제로서의 기능을 알아보기 위해 수행 되었다. 선행연구로 선발된 추출물의 용액은 황련, 관중, 치자의 농도가 각각 75mg·L-1, 75mg·L-1, 25mg·L-1로 처리구별로 총 용량은 300mL으로 설정하였으며 대조구는 시판되고 있는 절화수명연 장제 Chrysal과 Floralife를 사용했다. 절화수명이 가장 길었던 처리구는 관중, 치자 단용 처리구로 각각 20.5, 20.5일이었으 며 대조구 중에서 절화수명이 길었던 Floralife 보다 1.7일 긴 효과를 보였다. 가장 높은 생체중 변화율은 Floralife에서 13.8% 까지 증가하였다. 절화수명이 가장 길었던 처리구인 관중, 치자 단용처리구는 생체중 변화율은 크게 증가하지 않았으나 흡수율 변화에서 16일 이후 2mL 이상을 유지하였다. 화경의 경우는 관중 단용처리구가 Floralife보다 6.3% 더 증가하는 결과를 보여줬다. 특히 Floralife는 절화수명과 생체중 변화량이 높은 것에 반하여 꽃잎의 황화현상이 나타났는데, 천연물에서는 이런 현상을 보이는 처리구는 없었다. 종합적으로 황련, 관중, 치자 추출물은 시판되는 절화수명연장제 Chrysal과 Floralife 와 비견되는 효과를 나타냈다. 이로써 황련, 관중, 치자 추출 물은 절화수명연장로서 가능성을 보여줬음을 알 수 있었다.

HAE-06 extract is a mixture of four medicinal plants, namely Lonicerae Folium et Caulis (Lonicera japonica), Scutellariae Radix (Scutellaria baicalensis), Adenophorae Radix (Adenophora triphylla var. japonica), and Polygonati Oddorati Rhizoma (Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum). The HAE-06 extract demonstrated a concentration-dependent relaxing effect and enhanced cAMP production in bronchial smooth muscle that had been stimulated to contract with acetylcholine. Using a blocker, it was confirmed that the effect was through the β2-adrenergic receptor/cAMP/PKA pathway. In addition, it is thought that the HAE-06 extract has a bronchial smooth muscle relaxation effect by reducing the inflow of Ca2+ through the K+ and Ca2+ channels present in the sarcoplasmic membrane. If research continues in the future, it is believed that it will be possible to use it as a material for pharmaceuticals and functional foods.

만성 위염, 위암, 위궤양 등을 유발하는 Helicobacter pylori는 항생제의 부작용, 내성, 다제 내성균의 등장으로 항생제만으로 안전하게 치료하기는 어려운 실정이다. 안전하게 제균을 하기 위해 항생제를 대체할 수 있는 천연물 소재 치료제를 개발하기 위해 많은 연구들을 하고 있다. 선행 연구를 통해 in vitro 실험 H. pylori 항균 효과 평가를 통해 항균 효과가 우수한 추출물을 알아보고자 한다.

Citrus essential oil were extracted from citron peel of cultivated in Gohong (CCP) using environmentally friendly supercritical carbon dioxide method. Antioxidant activity and aroma composition of the essential oils extracted by the SC-CO2 method were evaluated by comparing with those extracted by organic solvent method. Fatty acid composition, DPPH scavenging, and antioxidant activity of the oils obtained by different extraction condition of SC-CO2 method were investigated and their antioxidant activities were compared with commercially available lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree oils. As the results, linoleic acid was most abundantly found from CCP oil extracted by the SC-CO2 method and cis-11,144-eicosadienoic acids was second abundantly found. Radical scavenging ability of DPPH was 98% when the concentration of CCP oil was 50 mg/mL. This scavenging ability increased with the increase of oil concentration. On the other hand, flavonoids content (84 mg/100g) of the CCP oil extracted by the SC-CO2 method was slightly higher than that (75 mg/100g) by hexane extraction. The results, obtained from CCP oil by GC-MS, indicated that, among 66 components, the content of terpenes was 55.8% and limonene was 27.3%.

In this study, to develop hair growth agents using natural products which has excellent ability to promote hair growth effect and fewer side effect, animal experiment and clinical trials was performed to evaluate hair growth promotion effect of herbal product containing Rosa mutiflora roots extracts as a main component (RMHP). 4-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were removed the dorsal hair using thioglycolate, and applied 15% EtOH solution as a negative control, 5% minoxidil as a positive control and RMHP to dorsal skin. In the results of macroscopy and photo-interpretation, RMHP group recorded 100% (+++++) of hair growth was proved to significantly stimulate hair growth against 80% (++++) negative control group. 37 patients were treated with RMHP and evaluated the therapeutic effect at 16 weeks. Hair density was significantly increased at 16 weeks after applying RMHP (125.0±4.9 FU/cm2) compared to before treatment (104.3±4.7 FU/cm2, p 〈 0.05), and hair thickness were also significantly increased (0.066±0.003 mm) than before treatment (0.055±0.002 mm, p 〈 0.05). The result of clinical photo-interpretation using 7-point rating scale assessment, after 16 weeks clinical symptoms were evaluated to significantly improve with 1.23±0.05 (p 〈 0.05). Therefore, the results of this study were observed that RMHP have hair loss prevention effect and hair growth promotion effect to hair loss patients.