US EPA

5367809 

Journal Article 

Effects of korean red ginseng extract for the treatment of atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in mice 

Sohn, EH; Jang, SA; Lee, CH; Jang, KH; Kang, SC; Park, HJ; Pyo, S 

2011 

No 

Journal of Ginseng Research
ISSN: 1226-8453 

35 

4 

479-486 

English 

23717095 

10.5142/jgr.2011.35.4.479 

WOS:000298723600012 

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic, inflammatory skin disease characterized by chronic eczema and mechanical injury to the skin, caused by scratching. Korean red ginseng (RG) has diverse biological activities, but the molecular effects of RG on allergic diseases, like AD, are unclear. The present study was designed to investigate whether RG inhibits 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD in a mouse model. DNCB was applied topically on the dorsal surface of Balb/c mice to induce AD-like skin lesions. We observed the scratching behavior and examined the serum IgE level and interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 in splenocytes compared with dexamethasone. We also evaluated the DNCB-induced mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), NF-κB, and Ikaros activities after RG treatment using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and ELISA. Our data showed that the topical application of RG significantly improved the AD-like skin lesions and scratching behavior. RG decreased not only the mRNA expression of IL-4 and IL-10, but also the secretion of IL-4 protein and serum IgE in mice. Additionally, RG treatment decreased the DNCB-induced MAPKs activity and subsequent Ikaros translocation irrespective of NF-κB. We suggest that RG may be useful as a therapeutic nutrition for the treatment of AD. 

Atopic dermatitis; Panax ginseng; Red ginseng