This study investigated the chemical composition of Cirsium japonicum var. ussurience Kitamura essential oil and the quantitative changes of major volatile flavor compounds according to the harvesting season. The essential oils obtained by the method of hydrodistillation extraction from aerial parts of C. japonicum var. ussurience Kitamura were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Sixty-four volatile flavor compounds were identified in the essential oil from C. japonicum var. ussurience Kitamura harvested in May 2012; hexadecanoic acid (49.31%) was the most abundant compound, followed by 6,10,14- trimethyl-2-pentadecanone (13.72%), phytol (13.40%) and 9-hexadecenoic acid (4.16%). Eighty-three compounds were identified in the essential oil from the plant harvested in October 2012; phytol (40.56%), hexadecanoic acid (17.69%), 6,10,14- trimethyl-2-pentadecanone (13.71%), and caryophyllene oxide (4.15%) were the most abundant compounds. Types and levels of volatile compounds from different harvesting seasons varied. The essential oil composition of C. japonicum var. ussurience Kitamura harvested in the spring and autumn was characterized by higher contents of aliphatic fatty acid, diterpene and sesquiterpene, respectively.

Background : Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory disorder related with oxidative stress and apoptosis leading to cartilage damage. Recently, Cirsium japonicum var. maackii (CJM) was reported to play a protective role in various inflammatory response. However, the role of CJM in cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis progression is still unknown. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the protective effect of CJM in a animal model of osteoarthritis and cartilage degradation. Methods and Results : First, in order to determine active ingredient contents of CJM, we were carried out total polyphenolic content and total flavonoid content analyses. As a result, dried aerial parts of CJM were found to contain 149.2 ± 24.1 ㎎·GAE/g dry weight and 27.9 ± 2.0 ㎎·NE/g dry weight in boiling water extraction. Also, the HPLC analysis of CJM showed major compounds identified as cirsimarin and cirsimaritin. In addition, CJM protected against osteoarthritic cartilage destruction in an osteoarthritis mouse model induced by destabilization of the medial meniscus, as demonstrated by histopathological analysis. Conclusion : The results of this study demonstrate that CJM may protect against the osteoarthritis and cartilage destruction. Further study is needed to identify the mechanism for their improvement effects of osteoarthritis and cartilage destruction.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of the Cirsium japonicum var. ussuriense (C. japonicum)extract on serum level of hormones from induced osteoporosis by ovariectomized rats. Two month-old rats were ovariecto-mized (OVX), remained untreated for 8 weeks, and were subsequently administered C. japonicum (200㎎/㎏) every day for8 weeks. We examined the effects of treated C. japonicum on ovariectomy-related changes in Insulin-like Growth Factors(IGF), Insulin-like Growth Factor binding protein-3 (IGBF-3), Estrogen, Calcium, and Phosporus. After 8 weeks, the serumlevels of IGF-I, -II, and IGFBP-3 were higher presented as compared to the other two groups (P<0.05), in the C. japonicumextract treatment on OVX rats. There were differences between OVX and C. japonicum extract treated OVX rats in serumlevels of Ca2+, but Ca2+ levels for the normal group was higher than for the other two groups. The C. japonicum extractincreased both serum IGFs and IGFBP-3 levels on induced osteoporotic rat by ovariectomized. Thus, these results revealedthat the C. japonicum extract is a possible role for improvement of osteoporosis induced-ovariectomized rats and has a greatpotential as an alternative tool for the treatment of osteoporosis.

엉겅퀴 부위별 메탄을 추출 수율을 구한 결과 뿌리 및 잎 추출물은 10% 정도의 수율을 보였으나 줄기 추출물은 2.8%의 낮은 수율을 보였다. 항산화활성 실험 결과 부위별 ethyl acetate 분획물과 butanol분획물에서 강한 항산화 활성을 보였으며, 특히 뿌리의 ethyl acetate 분획물(RC50:11μg/ml)과 butanol 분획물(RC50:14μg/ml), 잎의 butanol 분획물(RC50:15μg/ml)에서 대조구인 α-tocopherol(RC50:12μg/ml)이나 BHA(RC50:14μg/ml)정도의 항산화활성을 보였다. 곰팡이에 대한 포자발아 억제시험에서는 전반적으로 물분획물에서 우수한 활성을 나타냈다. Yeasts에 대한 실험에서는 ethyl acetate 분획물에서 대조구와 유사한 활성을 나타냈다. 박테리아에 대한 항균시험은 역시 ethyl acetate 분획물에서 활성을 나타냈다. Ames test결과 MNNG(0.4μg/plate)의 경우 S. typhimurium TA100 균주에서 시료농도 1000μg/plate에서 핵산 분획물이 88.18%로 가장 높은 억제효과가 나타났다. 4NQO(0.15μg/plate)에 대한 S. typhymurium TA98 균주에서 시료농도 1000μg/plate에서는 엉겅퀴 뿌리 추출물 및 에칠아세테이트 분획물이 77, 75.8%의 억제효과를 나타냈으며, TA100 균주에서도 엉겅퀴 뿌리 추출물 및 에칠아세테이트 분획물이 72.5, 74.3%의 억제효과를 나타냈다. Trp-P-1(0.15μg/plate)을 사용한 S. typhimurium TA98 균주에서는 시료농도 1000μg/plate에서 엉겅퀴 뿌리 추출물(1000μg/plate)에서 82.25%의 가장 높은 억제효과를 보였으며, TA100균주의 경우, 시료농도 1000μg/plate에서 부탄을 분획물에서 77.75%의 가장 높은 억제효과를 보였다. 엉겅퀴 뿌리 추출물 및 용매 극성을 이용한 분획물을 대상으로 암세포주에 대한 증식 억제 효과를 실험한 결과, A549, Hep3B, MCF-7 세포주에서 메탄올 추출물이 가장 우수한 억제효과를 나타내었으며 인간유래의 정상 간세포 293에 대하여 시료농도에 따른 세포독성 효과는1000μg/ml 시료 첨가 시 암세포에 대하여 대부분 60% 전후의 억제율을 보이는데 반해 293에 대해서는 25% 이하의 생육억제율을 보였다. 이는 암세포에 대한 높은 억제효과에 비해 정상세포에 대해서는 비교적 낮은 독성효과를 나타냄을 알 수 있었다.