Biological Activities and Cell Proliferation Effects of Red Ginseng Ethanol Extracts

(8) Journal of Pharmacopuncture, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 55∼61, 2011

Biological Activities and Cell Proliferation Effects of Red Ginseng Ethanol Extracts

Sung-Yeoun Hwang, Seong-Hun Ahn

Abstract

Objectives: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are continuously produced at a high rate as a by-product of aerobic metabolism. Because of tissue damage by free radicals, ROS such as hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and nitric oxide (NO) increase with age. Several lines of evidence show that ROS appear to cause the development of various aging-related diseases, such as cancer, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease. In this study, we investigated the pharmacological effects of red ginseng to determine the feasibility of using it as a pharmacopuncture drug source or health food.

Methods: For our aims, we investigated the biological activities of red ginseng ethanol extracts (RGEE) by measuring the total polyphenol contents, the total flavonoid contents, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, the 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, and the cell viabilities of MCF 10A and SK-MEL-2 in vitro with the dimethyl thiazolyl diphenyl tetrazolium salt (MTT) assay method.

Results: The total polyphenol content of RGEE was 3.06 ± 0.11mg/g in 10 mg/ml, and the total flavonoid content of RGEE was 1.35 ± 0.01mg/g in the same concentration. The ABTS radical scavenging activity was about 80%, and that of the DPPH activity was 65% in 50 mg/ml of RGEE. The cell viability of the SKMEL-2 skin cancer cell line was decreased and that of the MCF 10A skin normal cell line was increased.

Conclusions: We conclude that RGEE may be useful as a potential functional food or pharmacopuncture drug source for the treatment of diseases induced by oxidant stress.

Key Words: red ginseng; red ginseng ethanol extracts; antioxidant activity; skin cell viability