• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.651-656
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• 2006

Activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ is known to be a trigger of various cellular disorders including inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Numerous approaches are ongoing within laboratories to identify potential therapeutic agents which inhibit the $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. In this study, we have tested the inhibitory effects of five traditional medicines on the activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ by NIK. Among three medicines which exhibited inhibitory effect on the expression of $NF-{\kappa}B$ repoter plasmid, we investigated further the inhibitory mechanism of Dichroa febrifuga in connection with IKKY activity. Wild type $IKK{\gamma}$ inhibited the $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation by NIK but the C-terminal deletion mutant of IKKY did not show the inhibitory effect, indicating that the C-terminal leucine zipper domain of $NF-{\kappa}B$ is important for the inhibition of $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. The water extract of Dichroa febrifuga(DFE) also strongly inhibited the $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation by NIK. The inhibitory activity of DFE appeared to be independent of the expression of $IKK{\gamma}$, suggesting that the pathways of inhibition by Dichroa febrifuga and $IKK{\gamma}$ are different. Our results suggest that Dichroa febrifuga can be used as a medicine for inhibition of the $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation in a wide range of cells without relation to the expression of $IKK{\gamma}$.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.81-96
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• 2005

This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of Dichroa febrifuga(DIF) on the Alzheimer’s disease. The effects of DIF extract on $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, $TNF-{\alpha}$ mRNA of THP-1 cell treated by $A{\beta}$ plus LPS and amyloid precursor proteins(APP), acetylcholinesterase(AChE), glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) mRNA of PC-12 cell treated by $A{\beta}$ plus $rIL-1{\beta}$ and AChE activity of PC-12 cell lysate treated by $A{\beta}$ plus $rIL-1{\beta}$ and behavior of memory deficit mice induced by scopolamine and mice glucose, uric acid, AChE activity of memory deficit rats induced by scopolamine were investigated, respectively. The results were summarized as follows ; 1. DIF extract suppressed APP, AChE, GFAP mRNA in PC-12 cell treated by $A{\beta}$. 2. DIF extract suppressed $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, $TNF-{\alpha}$ mRNA in THP-1 cell treated by LPS. 3. DIF extract suppressed AChE activity in cell lysate of PC-12 cell treated by $A{\beta}$. 4. DIF extract increased glucose, decreased uric acid and AChE significantly in the serum of the memory deficit rats induced by scopolamine. 5. DIF extract group showed significantly inhibitory effect on the memory deficit of mice induced by scopolamine in the experiment of Morris water maze. According to the above results, it is suggested that DIF extract might be usefully applied for prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and memory deficit.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.911-916
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• 1995

Ionophorous antibiotics have been used popularly for the protection of avian coccidiosis, though Halo-fuginone which is derived from an extract of the Dichroa febrifuga, was developed as an antimalarial and anticoccidial agent. The antibiotics are regarded as the causes of residues in the avian products, therefore the author has tried to find out more safe herbal materials for the control of avian coccidiosis. Thus, the extracts of 5 kinds of herbs, roots of Pulsatilla koreana Nakai and Sophora flavescens Aiton, nuts of Quisqualis indica Linne, whole herbs of Artemisia annua Linne and Polygonum aviculare Linne, were investigated on the efficacy against E tenella. Survival rates, bloody diarrhea, lesion scores, body-weight gains and feed conversion rate were investigated at the 1st and the 2nd week after infection. The bloody diarrhea in the groups treated with P koreana, A annua, Q indica and P aviculare were milder than those in the groups treated with S flavescens and infected control. The lesion score in the groups treat.4 with herb extracts(2.00$\pm$0.82~2.65$\pm$0.89) were lower than those in the control group (2.80$\pm$0.7l). But, there was not significant in all infected groups. The body weight gai in the groups treated with P koreana, S flavescens, A annua and Q indica(291.74$\pm$15.76~303.43$\pm$51.90) were higher than that in the control group (283.71$\pm$16.53) but there was not significant. In a conclusion, analyzing the data of the survival rates, bloody diarrheal symptoms, lesion scores, body weight gains and oocyst excretions, the extract of S flavescens, P koreana, A annua and Q indica were effective. The further research on the above herbal materials will have been carried out by the author and the other researchers by means of the chemical analysis of the components.