Abstract
This work describes an immunochemical approach for the quality control of Panax ginseng and a pharmacological study of ginsenoside Re, a major bioactive constituent in P. ginseng, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A hybridoma secreting monoclonal antibody
against ginsenoside Re was produced by fusing splenocytes immunized with a ginsenoside
Re-bovine serum albumin conjugate with the hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine-sensitive
mouse myeloma SP2/0 cell line. The method, at an effective measuring range of 7.8–500 ng · mL−1 of ginsenoside
Re, successfully detected ginsenoside Re in Chinese traditional herb prescriptions.
The results demonstrate that we generated a novel and reliable assay system for measuring
ginsenoside Re in Chinese medicines more efficiently. Futhermore, we determined the
ginsenoside Re concentrations in the saliva of six healthy adults after the oral administration
of a ginseng capsule to study the pharmacokinetics of ginsenoside Re in human saliva.
Key words
ginsenoside Re - ginsenoside Rg1 - monoclonal antibody - enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay - human saliva