Platycodon grandiflorum have been used as a traditional remedy and food source. This study was performed to investigate the immunomodulating effects of Platycodon grandiflorum in mouse, using ex vivo experiments. Six to seven-week old mice were fed ad libitum on a chow diet, and water extract of Platycodon grandiflorum was orally administrated at two different concentractions (50 and 500 ㎎/㎏ B.W./day) every other day for four weeks. In ex vivo experiments, the highest proliferation of splenocytes and levels of cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) production were observed in 500 ㎎/㎏ BW/day supplementation group for all three cytokines stimulated by LPS. In conclusion, this study suggests that Platycodon grandiflorum extracts may enhance the immune function by regulating the splenocytes proliferation and cytokine production capacity by activating macrophages in mice.

Vanadium, a dietary micronutrient, has been reported to present interesting biological and pharmacological properties, including superoxide and nitric oxide scavenging effects. Low-dose ionizing radiation (LDR) is known to damage DNA and cause apoptosis of peripheral immunocytes by producing reactive oxygen species (ROS). The aim of this study was to elucidate the capacity of immune activation of Jeju water containing vanadium on immunosuppression caused by LDR. We examined the ROS production, DNA damage, cell apoptosis and proliferation of peripheral immunocytes in irradiated mice drinking different concentrations for 90 days; V0 (vanadium 0㎍/L, control), V1 (vanadium 15～20㎍/ L) and V2 (vanadium 20∼25㎍/L). Compared to V0 control where level of ROS showed tendency to increase, the ROS production was attenuated in peripheral immunocytes of irradiated mice drinking V1 and V2. DNA damage of peripheral immunocytes triggered by LDR significantly increased in mice drinking V0 compared to non-irradiated control, whereas V1 and V2 dramatically induced remission of DNA damage. On the observation of apoptosis of peripheral immunocytes, V1 and V2 showed the potency to reduce the number of apoptotic cells. On the other hand irradiated mice drinking V0 exhibited raised number of apoptotic cells. From the results obtained, we speculated that Jeju water containing vanadium (V1 and V2) has a potential role in decreasing DNA damage and apoptosis of immune cell by inhibiting ROS production. Consistent with this, Jeju water containing vanadium (V1 and V2) exhibits a capacity to enhance cell proliferation of peripheral immunocytes, which is suppressed by LDR as shown in V0 control. Collectively, Jeju water containing vanadium reduced DNA damage and apoptosis and induced the stimulatory potential on immunocytes. These results suggest that Jeju water containing vanadium sustained immune activities under immunosuppression caused by LDR.

Background: Prenatal exposure to infectious and/or inflammatory insults can increase the risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorder such as bipolar disorder, autism, and schizophrenia later in life. We investigated whether Valeriana fauriei (VF) treatment alleviates prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits and social interaction impairment induced by maternal immune activation (MIA).Methods and Results: Pregnant mice were exposed to polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidilic acid (5㎎/㎏, viral infection mimic) on gestational day 9. The adolescent offspring received daily oral treatment with VF (100㎎/㎏) and injections of clozapine (5㎎/㎏) for 30 days starting on the postnatal day 35. The effects of VF extract treatment on behavioral activity impairment and protein expression were investigated using the PPI analysis, forced swim test (FST), open field test (OFT), social interaction test (SIT), and immunohistochemistry. The MIA-induced offspring showed deficits in the PPI, FST, OFT, and SIT compared to their non MIAinduced counterparts. Treatment with the VF extract significantly recovered the sensorimotor gating deficits and partially recovered the aggressive behavior observed in the SIT. The VF extract also reversed the downregulation of protein expression induced by MIA in the medial prefrontal cortex.Conclusions: Our results provide initial evidence of the fact that the VF extract could reverse MIA-induced behavioral impairment and prevent neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia.

Background : The roots of Codonopsis lanceolata have been used as a tonic crude drug and an edible plant in Korea. The plant mainly contains triterpenoid saponins, including codonolaside, codonolasideⅠ-Ⅴ, lancemaside A-G. Their saponins have shown anti-inflammatory effects such as bronchitis and cough, insomnia and hypomnesia. C. lanceolata is well known to affect various pharmacological effects for human health, and its consumption is increasing. Recently, plant and plant-derived products were treated a part of the healthcare system by applying the bioactive phytochemicals. Antioxidant and immune activity substances in food play an important role as a health-protecting factor. This study was designed to investigate the in vitro immune cell growth and xanthine oxidase Inhibitory activity of different storage period and storage temperature of C. lanceolata. Methods and Results : The plant materials were used the roots of C. lanceolata cultivated in Jeju area, Korea. Immune enhancing effect was conducted using T cell and B cell of human immune cells. Each cell incubated for 8 days with the sample extracts compared to the control group, and the immune activation was measured according to the growth of immune cells. The xanthine oxidase Inhibitory activity was measured by modifying the method of Noro(1983). In different storage period and storage temperature conditions, the immune cell growth of C. lanceolata extract promoted a concentration-dependent manner in both human T cell and B cell, and did not show a significant difference. The xanthine oxidase Inhibitory activity of C. lanceolata extract tended to decrease more, depending on the longer the storage period or the higher the storage temperature. Conclusion : These results of this study suggested that the root of C. lanceolata may assist in the potential biological activities, and can be used as a source of human health products.

This study was performed to determined the antioxidant activities, anticancer and immuno-activities of anthocyanin fraction from Rubus coreanus Miquel fruits (Bokbunja). Anthocyanin fraction extracted from Bokbunja revealed the presence of three anthocyanin components, which were tentatively identified as cyanidin 3-O-sambubioside, cyanidin 3-O-xylosylrutinoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside using RP-HPLC/DAD/MS. The anthocyanin fraction from Bokbunja always showed reducing power and high scavenging activities against DPPH, hydroxy radical (OH) and superoxide anion radical (O2-) similar to general synthetic antioxidant and polyphenol compounds from plant origin. Anthocyanin fraction from Bokbunja showed high inhibition on proliferation of LNCaP and A549 cells and did not inhibit the proliferation of other cancer cells. Immuno-activities of Anthocyanin fraction from Bokbunja were investigated, it showed high promotion of human B and T cells growth about 50% and secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α by treatment after 6 days. Over all, the result of the study suggest that anthocyanin fraction from Bokbunja displays antioxidant activity comparable to that general synthetic antioxidant, also, anthocyanin fraction from Bokbunja are expected to be good candidate for development into source of anticaner and immuno-activator agent in food industry.

황칠나무 잎의 추출물의 면역활성증진 실험에서 인간정상 간세포의 경우 모든 추출물이 1.0 Mg/ml의 농도에서 최고 26%이하의 세포독성을 나타내었다. 서로 다른 4가지의 암세포주(MCF7, A549, Hep3B, AGS)에서 50%이상의 저해율을 나타냈고, 정상 세포의 결과와 암세포의 저해율을 비로 나타낸 selectivity의 측정에서 모든 암세포주가 1.5이상의 사멸도를 나타내었고 전체적으로 에탄올 추출물의 효과가 가장 좋았다. 에탄올 추출물의 경우에서 인감 유방암 세포주(MCF7)와 인간 간암세포주(Hep3B)의 경우에서 1.0 mg/ml농도에서 각각 65%와 67%의 저해율을 기록했다. 면역세포 실험에서 에탄올 추출물이 1.0 mg/ml의 농도에서 B세포는 1.22배, T세포는 1.27배의 촉진 활성을 보였고, 6일 동안측정한 cytokines(IL-6, TNF-α)의 양도 에탄올 추출물의 경우 T cell의 경우 IL-6은 94pg/m1, TNF-α은 75pg/ml로 증가하는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이상의 결과로 볼 때 추출 열과 추출용매 등에 의해 황칠나무 잎에 존재하는 여러 가지 유용성분들이 풍부하게 존재하며, crude추출물 중에 에탄올 추출물이 면역활성에서 좋은 효과를 보였다는 것을 알 수가 있었고, 이를 통해서 황칠나무 잎을 이용한 기능성 식품으로의 연구 개발이 통해서 충분히 그 가치가 있다는 것을 알 수 있었다.