Pharmacology Original Paper	Planta Med 2008; 74: 210-214 DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1034313
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Evaluation of Antipruritic Effects of Red Ginseng and Its Ingredients in Mice
Hien-Trung Trinh1, Yong-Wook Shin1, Sang-Jun Han1, Myung Joo Han2, Dong-Hyun Kim1
1 Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea 2 Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

The anti-pruritic effect of red ginseng (the steamed root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Araliaceae), a traditional medicine in Asian countries, was investigated in mouse scratching behavior models induced by either compound 48/80 or histamine. Red ginseng and its saponin fraction, but not its polysaccharide fraction, showed an anti-pruritic effect. Representative constituents in the saponin fraction, ginsenosides Rg3 and Rh2, inhibited scratching behavior and vascular permeability. These ginsenosides also inhibited the expression of TNF-α and IL-4 induced by IgE-antigen complex in RBL-2H3 cells, as well as acetic acid-induced writhing in mice. These results suggest that red ginseng and its ingredients, ginsenosides Rg3 and Rh2, may inhibit scratching behavior by inhibiting IL-4 and TNF-α expression, promoting membrane stability, and inhibiting Ca⁺⁺ influx.

Abbreviations

PF:polysaccharide fraction

RG:red ginseng extract

SF:saponin fraction

RBL:rat basophilia leukemia

DNP-HSA:dinitrophenyl - human serum albumin

Key words

Panax ginseng - Araliaceae - ginsenoside Rg3 - ginsenoside Rh2 - scratching behaviors - IL-4