Geum-Soog Kim

(1) Background: Astragalus membranaceus (AM) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, but its specific mechanism of action in the brain is still unclear. In this study, we developed a roasting process to maximize the cognitive improvement impact of AM. We focused on enhancing physiological activity to enhance the brain neuron protection effect and alleviate neuronal damage caused by neurodegenerative diseases. (2) Methods: AM was roasted at 260 °C for 20, 30, or 40 min, and the hot water extracts were tested on HT22 cells for ROS levels, apoptosis, and antioxidant protein expression. The effect on the BDNF-AKT-CREB pathway under stress was also analyzed. (3) Results: Roasted AM decreased ROS production and the expression of apoptosis-related factors while activating the expression of antioxidant proteins in HT22 cells treated with Aβ25–35. In particular, 30 min roasting (R-AM2) significantly reduced ROS production, inhibited cell death, and increased antioxidant protein expression. The Nrf2 pathway was activated Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 levels were reduced. BDNF and p-CREB expression were increased by 20% and 50–70%, respectively. In the MAPK pathway, p-ERK levels were increased by 30%, and p-P38 levels were increased by approximately 20%. (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that roasted AM upregulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in HT22 cells, providing neuroprotective effects by activating the AKT/CREB/BDNF pathway and inhibiting neuronal apoptosis. Therefore, roasted AM shows potential as a neuroprotective agent for preventing or treating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, linked to BDNF deficiency.

One of the factors related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, a disease characterized by gradual cognitive and memory impairment, is an inflammatory process induced by the amyloid-β-mediated activation of microglia. In the present study, an extract of the Chrysanthemum boreale (Makino) Makino (CB) flower, which has inhibitory effects on inflammation and the production of phosphorylated tau in cells, was investigated for its ameliorative effect on memory dysfunction in scopolamine-treated Alzheimer’s disease models. The CB-extract-diet-administered groups, which were treated chronically with scopolamine (intraperitoneal), showed increased spontaneous alterations (12.5–15.5% increase) in the Y-maze test and latency to escape (3.7–6.7-fold increase) in the passive avoidance test, compared to the negative control (NC) group. Rats administered the CB extract also showed a higher tendency (66–86% increase) of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression than NC rats. Moreover, the ratio of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase in the CB-extract-administered group was lower (48.0–52.2%) than that (100%) in the NC group. In the Morris water maze test conducted on the fifth day, the free-swimming times of the CB-extract-administered mice that were also treated with scopolamine for a short time (5 d) increased (51.7–56.1%) significantly compared to those of the NC mice. Finally, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis confirmed that isochlorogenic acid A, linarin, and chlorogenic acid are the major phenolic components of the CB extract. These results suggest that the extract of CB flowers might be useful as a functional material with memory-enhancing effects.

Obesity, a metabolic disease linked to several other diseases, is emerging as a global problem. We determined the harvest time that maximized the anti-obesity effect by evaluating the inhibition of lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells treated with fruits of Cornus officinalis. FS1 (pericarp + seeds, harvested 15 September) showed excellent anti-obesity activity (Oil Red O; 26.12 ± 1.37% vs. MDI) and inhibited the expression of PPAR-γ (0.05 ± 0.01 ford vs. MDI), C/EBPα (0.03 ± 0.02 ford vs. MDI), and C/EBPβ (0.33 ± 0.07 ford vs. MDI) at 200 μg/mL. The antioxidant activity of FS1 was also the most effective. In addition, FS1 contained higher levels of active ingredients than samples harvested in other periods. Especially, content of loganin, verbenalin, and sweroside was high. In terms of anti-obesity activity and functional components, immature COF (FS1) was the best, and these results indicate that it is necessary to adjust the harvest time, when used as an anti-obesity agent.

The present study aimed to evaluate the antiobesity potential and synergistic effects of ALM16, a mixture of Astragalus membranaceus (AM) and Lithospermum erythrorhizon (LE) extracts, in HFD-induced obese mice. C57BL/6 mice were fed a normal diet (ND), high-fat diet (HFD), HFD+AM, HFD+LE or HFD+ALM16 (50, 100, and 200mg/kg) daily for 5 weeks. Compared to the ND group, HFD-fed mice showed significant increases in body weight, food efficiency ratio, weights of white adipose tissues, adipocytes size, liver weight, and hepatic steatosis grade. However, ALM16 significantly reduced those increases induced by HFD. Moreover, as compared to the HFD group, the ALM16 group significantly ameliorated serum levels of lipid profiles (TG, TC, HDL, and LDL), adipokines (leptin and adiponectin), and liver damage markers (AST and ALT levels). Notably, ALM16 was more effective than AM or LE alone and had a similar or more potent effect than Garcinia cambogia extracts, as a positive control, at the same dose. These results demonstrate that ALM16 synergistically exerts anti-obesity effects based on complementary interactions between each component. Also, metabolic profiling between each extract and the ALM16 was confirmed by UPLC-QTOF/MS, and the difference was confirmed by relative quantification.

The overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause oxidative stress to biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids, leading to neurodegenerative disorders. Sasa borealis (SB) has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anti-obesity effects. We evaluated the neuroprotective activity of SB on hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced oxidative stress. We investigated the antioxidant and neuroprotective effects of SB water extract (SBW) and SB ethanol extract (SBE) by measuring the radical scavenging activities and intracellular ROS production. SBE, which had a high level of isoorientin, had higher antioxidative activities than SBW in 2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazolin-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS⁺) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. It also reduced ROS generation in pheochromocytoma 12 (PC12) cells more significantly than SBW. It increased the translation of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) with a corresponding increase in the translation of NF-E2-related factor-2 (Nrf-2). In conclusion, SBE with high levels of phenolic compounds such as isoorientin shows promise for preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

Ginsenosides are active compounds that are beneficial to bone metabolism and have anti-osteoporosis properties. However, very few clinical investigations have investigated the effect of ginseng extract (GE) on bone metabolism. This study aims to determine the effect of GE on improving bone metabolism and arthritis symptoms in postmenopausal women with osteopenia. A 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted. A total of 90 subjects were randomly divided into a placebo group, GE 1 g group, and GE 3 g group for 12 weeks based on the random 1:1:1 assignment to these three groups. The primary outcome is represented by bone metabolism indices consisting of serum osteocalcin (OC), urine deoxypyridinoline (DPD), and DPD/OC measurements. Secondary outcomes were serum CTX, NTX, Ca, P, BsALP, P1NP, OC/CTX ratio, and WOMAC index. The GE 3 g group had a significantly increased serum OC concentration. Similarly, the GE 3 g group showed a significant decrease in the DPD/OC ratio, representing bone resorption and bone formation. Moreover, among all the groups, the GE 3 g group demonstrated appreciable improvements in the WOMAC index scores. In women with osteopenia, intake of 3 g of GE per day over 12 weeks notably improved the knee arthritis symptoms with improvements in the OC concentration and ratios of bone formation indices like DPD/OC.

External stimulation of the skin by ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation induces oxidative stress or inflammation, causing skin aging and skin cancer. Glycyrrhiza uralensis (licorice) has been used as a medicinal plant for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, and hepatoprotective properties. The present study analyzed the effects of thermal processing on the bioactivities of licorice. Heat-treated licorice (HL) extracts had better antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities than non-treated licorice (NL) extract. HL extracts also had higher total phenol contents than NL extract. In particular, contents of isoliquiritigenin, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance of licorice, increased in proportion to the skin-protection effects of HL extracts. Heat treatment increased the contents of phenolic compounds such as isoliquiritigenin in licorice extract, which improved the UV photoprotective effect of licorice in human dermal fibroblasts.

Korean ginseng has been widely used in Eastern medicine for thousands of years. The contents of the compounds in ginseng roots change depending on the amount of steaming and drying, and the drying method used. Black ginseng (BG) is the Korean ginseng processed by repeated steaming and drying. In this study, 5-year-old fresh Korean ginseng roots were steamed and dried 3 or 5 times, and we investigated how many cycles of steaming and drying are preferable for antivirulence activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). As a result, the antivirulence activities was increased by the treatment of BG that was steamed and dried three times, and the effect was further increased by five-time processed BG. Moreover, an ELISA showed that the TNF-α production of RAW264.7 cells stimulated by MRSA supernatants was inhibited by subinhibitory concentrations of BG extract. The expression of Hla, staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), an important virulence factor in the pathogenicity of MRSA, was found to decrease when bacterial cells were treated with BG extract. The antivirulence activities of BG were not simply due to pathogen growth inhibition; the BG extract was shown to decrease agrA, hla, sea, and seb expression in MRSA. Therefore, BG strongly reduces the secretion of the virulence factors produced by Staphylococcus aureus, suggesting that a BG-based structure may be used for the development of drugs aimed at staphylococcal virulence-related exoproteins. This study suggests that BG could be used as a promising natural compound in the food and pharmaceutical industry.

Senescence is the phenomenon by which physiological functions of organisms degenerate with time. Cellular senescence is marked by an inhibition of cell cycle progression. Beta-galactosidase accumulates in the lysosomes of aged cells. In this study, human dermal fibroblast cells (HDFs) were treated with 0.5 μM doxorubicin for 4 h to induce cellular senescence. Senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity was then measured 72 h after treatment with aerial parts of Dendranthema zawadskii var. lucidum (Nakai) J.H. Park (DZ) extract. Treatment with DZ extract significantly decreased SA-β-gal activity in a dose-dependent manner in HDFs. Additionally, DZ extract treatment reduced age-related oxidative stress and inflammation in the aortas of aged rats. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in aortas of aged control rats were higher than those in young rats. However, DZ extract-fed aged rats showed significantly lower ROS levels than the aged control rats. When the aged rats were treated with DZ extract at either 0.2 or 1.0 mg∙kg⁻¹∙day⁻¹, NF-κB levels in aorta tissue decreased significantly compared to those in aorta tissue of the aged control rats without DZ treatment. In addition, DZ extract-fed aged rat aortas showed significant reductions in expression of iNOS and COX-2 induced by NF-κB translocation. Therefore, these results suggest that DZ effectively inhibited senescence-related NF-κB activation and inflammation. DZ extract may have a role in the prevention of the vascular inflammatory responses that occur during vascular aging.

Recently, lipidomics has revealed that many diseases are highly associated with altered lipid metabolism, as in the case of hypertension affecting serum lipid metabolism. In this study, an LC–MS-based lipidomic approach was used to profile serum lipids in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) treated with an extract of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus fruits (ASF), to elucidate the serum lipid metabolism alteration by hypertension and the treatment of a drug or ASF. First, UPLC-QTOF/MS profiled a total of 208 lipids from six pooled samples of normal controls, SHR, SHR + 100 mg/kg of drug, and SHR + ASF 200, 400, or 600 mg/kg. These six groups were differentiated by the PCA and sPLS–DA, and 120 lipid species were identified as differentially regulated lipids (DRLs) by ANOVA (p values < 0.05). Second, UPLC–QqQ/MS was used for the target profiling of 120 DRLs from individual samples of the six groups. Using an ANOVA, 67 lipids (38 TGs, 4 DGs, 17 PCs, 2 PEs, and 6 LPCs) were selected as validated DRLs. The mostly altered lipids, such as TG (62:13), TG (60:13), PC (34:4), PC (36:5), and PC (38:2), were decreased in SHR compared to the normal control, and received little by treatment with ASF. These results demonstrated the correlation between hypertension and serum lipid metabolism. Furthermore, both drug and ASF treatment similarly altered the lipid profiles of SHRs. Finally, we found that DRLs have the potential to help us to interpret the lipid metabolism of hypertension.