• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.759-770
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• 2022

Background: Aerobic cellular respiration provides chemical energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to maintain multiple cellular functions. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) can deacetylate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) to promote mitochondrial biosynthesis. Targeting energy metabolism is a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, such as cardiac and neurological disorders. Ginsenosides, one of the major bioactive constituents of Panax ginseng, have been extensively used due to their diverse beneficial effects on healthy subjects and patients with different diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of total ginsenosides (GS) on energy metabolism remain unclear. Methods: In this study, oxygen consumption rate, ATP production, mitochondrial biosynthesis, glucose metabolism, and SIRT1-PGC-1α pathways in untreated and GS-treated different cells, fly, and mouse models were investigated. Results: GS pretreatment enhanced mitochondrial respiration capacity and ATP production in aerobic respiration-dominated cardiomyocytes and neurons, and promoted tricarboxylic acid metabolism in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, GS clearly enhanced NAD⁺-dependent SIRT1 activation to increase mitochondrial biosynthesis in cardiomyocytes and neurons, which was completely abrogated by nicotinamide. Importantly, ginsenoside monomers, such as Rg1, Re, Rf, Rb1, Rc, Rh1, Rb2, and Rb3, were found to activate SIRT1 and promote energy metabolism. Conclusion: This study may provide new insights into the extensive application of ginseng for cardiac and neurological protection in healthy subjects and patients.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.315-319
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• 2022

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.210-212
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• 1990

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1990.06a
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• pp.68-70
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• 1990

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.408-419
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• 2023

Background: Ginsenoside compound K (CK), the main active metabolite in Panax ginseng, has shown good safety and bioavailability in clinical trials and exerts neuroprotective effects in cerebral ischemic stroke. However, its potential role in the prevention of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of ginsenoside CK against cerebral I/R injury. Methods: We used a combination of in vitro and in vivo models, including oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion induced PC12 cell model and middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion induced rat model, to mimic I/R injury. Intracellular oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification rate were analyzed by Seahorse multifunctional energy metabolism system; ATP production was detected by luciferase method. The number and size of mitochondria were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and MitoTracker probe combined with confocal laser microscopy. The potential mechanisms of ginsenoside CK on mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergy were evaluated by RNA interference, pharmacological antagonism combined with co-immunoprecipitation analysis and phenotypic analysis. Results: Ginsenoside CK pretreatment could attenuate mitochondrial translocation of DRP1, mitophagy, mitochondrial apoptosis, and neuronal bioenergy imbalance against cerebral I/R injury in both in vitro and in vivo models. Our data also confirmed that ginsenoside CK administration could reduce the binding affinity of Mul1 and Mfn2 to inhibit the ubiquitination and degradation of Mfn2, thereby elevating the protein level of Mfn2 in cerebral I/R injury. Conclusion: These data provide evidence that ginsenoside CK may be a promising therapeutic agent against cerebral I/R injury via Mul1/Mfn2 mediated mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergy.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.611-616
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• 2003

Through the whole period of the twentieth century, Chinese Traditional Medicine has been affected by the political and cultural changes of Chinese society. Before the 1949 Communist Revolution, Chinese Traditional Medicine was regarded as a dark past which should be cleared off. But Chinese Traditional Medicine has been reevaluated as a national medicine and spreaded quickly since the 1949 Communist Revolution. Moreover, 'the bare foot doctor' who received short term training appeared during the Cultural Revolution. It enhanced the status of Chinese Traditional Medicine. At the same time, it was estimated as a model of the self-reliant development of Third World countries. But the direction of development of Chinese Traditional Medicine was changed again recently. Chinese government has adapted the open-economy policy since the late 1970s. Accordingly Chinese Traditional Medicine also has been changed. Nowadays it pursues the professional development strategy. This paper inquired the following research questions. First, what kind of historical changes in the development strategy of Chinese Traditional Medicine has happened? Second, how much Chinese Traditional Medicine has accomplished the professionalization? Third, what kind of problems Chinese Traditional Medicine has met in the process of professionalization? Finally, why Chinese Traditional Medicine has adapted the professional development strategy?

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.561-571
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• 2022

Background: Ginsenoside Rb1 (GRb1) is capable of regulating lipid and glucose metabolism through its action on adipocytes. However, the beneficial role of GRb1-induced up-regulation of adiponectin in liver steatosis remains unelucidated. Thus, we tested whether GRb1 ameliorates liver steatosis and insulin resistance by promoting the expression of adiponectin. Methods: 3T3-L1 adipocytes and hepatocytes were used to investigate GRb1's action on adiponectin expression and triglyceride (TG) accumulation. Wild type (WT) mice and adiponectin knockout (KO) mice fed high fat diet were treated with GRb1 for 2 weeks. Hepatic fat accumulation and function as well as insulin sensitivity was measured. The activation of AMPK was also detected in the liver and hepatocytes. Results: GRb1 reversed the reduction of adiponectin secretion in adipocytes. The conditioned medium (CM) from adipocytes treated with GRb1 reduced TG accumulation in hepatocytes, which was partly attenuated by the adiponectin antibody. In the KO mice, the GRb1-induced significant decrease of TG content, ALT and AST was blocked by the deletion of adiponectin. The elevations of GRb1-induced insulin sensitivity indicated by OGTT, ITT and HOMA-IR were also weakened in the KO mice. The CM treatment significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of AMPK in hepatocytes, but not GRb1 treatment. Likewise, the phosphorylation of AMPK in liver of the WT mice was increased by GRb1, but not in the KO mice. Conclusions: The up-regulation of adiponectin by GRb1 contributes to the amelioration of liver steatosis and insulin resistance, which further elucidates a new mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of GRb1 on obesity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.117-122
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• 2014

As a Chinese herbal medicine used in East Asia for thousands years, Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis (CMO) was observed to possess a protective effect against OH-induced DNA damage in the study. To explore the mechanism, the antioxidant effects and chemical contents of five CMO extracts were determined by various methods. On the basis of mechanistic analysis, and correlation analysis between antioxidant effects & chemical contents, it can be concluded that CMO exhibits a protective effect against OH-induced DNA damage, and the effect can be attributed to the existence of phenolic compounds, especially magnolol and honokiol. They exert the protective effect via antioxidant mechanism which may be mediated via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and/or sequential electron proton transfer (SEPT). In the process, the phenolic-OH moiety in phenylpropanoids is oxidized to the stable quinine-like form and the stability of quinine-like can be ultimately responsible for the antioxidant.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.125-134
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to survey and report on the international programs for Chinese Medicine in China. Methods: Online research was conducted based on a survey of official websites of 25 universities of Chinese medicine. In certain situations, we used e-mail or phone calls to get more detailed information. Results: Among 25 universities of Chinese medicine, 22 operate international programs for Chinese medicine. The main contents of the programs are acupuncture, moxibustion, tuina, Chinese materia medica, cosmetology or qigong, and an average 400 foreign students finish each program yearly. China has maintained the lead in international education of traditional Oriental medicine, and has already established a systematic and remarkable infrastructure for globalization of Chinese medicine. Conclusions: This study can inform the development of strategy in the process of raising the competitiveness of Korean medicine in the world market.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.277-287
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• 2018

Background: Temperature is an essential condition in red ginseng processing. The pharmacological activities of red ginseng under different steam temperatures are significantly different. Methods: In this study, an ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry was developed to distinguish the red ginseng products that were steamed at high and low temperatures. Multivariate statistical analyses such as principal component analysis and supervised orthogonal partial least squared discrimination analysis were used to determine the influential components of the different samples. Results: The results showed that different steamed red ginseng samples can be identified, and the characteristic components were 20-gluco-ginsenoside Rf, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rg1, and malonyl-ginsenoside Rb1 in red ginseng steamed at low temperature. Meanwhile, the characteristic components in red ginseng steamed at high temperature were 20R-ginsenoside Rs3 and ginsenoside Rs4. Polar ginsenosides were abundant in red ginseng steamed at low temperature, whereas higher levels of less polar ginsenosides were detected in red ginseng steamed at high temperature. Conclusion: This study makes the first time that differences between red ginseng steamed under different temperatures and their ginsenosides transformation have been observed systematically at the chemistry level. The results suggested that the identified chemical markers can be used to illustrate the transformation of ginsenosides in red ginseng processing.