There is increasing evidence to suggest that many degenerative or pathological processes, such as aging, cancer, and coronary heart disease, are related to reactive oxygen species and radical-mediated reactions. We examined the effectiveness of aged garlic extract (AGE), a garlic preparation rich in water-soluble cysteinyl moieties, and its component for scavenging of superoxide by using the hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase and human neutrophils. In the hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase system, electron spin resonance showed that aged garlic extract scavenged superoxide radicals in a dose-dependent manner up to 54%. The EC(50) value of aged garlic extract for the superoxide radical scavenging effect was 0.80 mg/ml. N-α-(1-deoxy-D-fructos-1-yl)-L-arginine (25.9%) and (1S, 3S)-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (20.8%), water-soluble moieties of AGE, also exerted superoxide scavenging effects. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-activated human neutrophils produced superoxide radical of 56.6 ± 9.27 nmol/min/10(7) cells. Aged garlic extract (3 mg/ml) significantly inhibited superoxide production in comparison to the control. These data suggest that aged garlic extract may be useful for preventing diseases associated with reactive oxygen species.

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of the groups. These results indicate that AGE may facilitate the turnover of aerobic glucose metabolism, attenuate oxidative stress, and promote oxygen supply based on vasodilation, suggesting that AGE ameliorates the various impairments associated with physical fatigue.

We developed a rapid and simple analytical method for the simultaneous determination of seven 3,28-bidesmosidic triterpenoid saponins in the roots of Codonopsis lanceolata. The saponins are lancemaside A, lancemaside B, lancemaside C, lancemaside E, lancemaside G, foetidissimoside A, and aster saponin Hb. Root samples were extracted with 50% methanol and prepared for analysis. Saponins were detected by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and ginsenoside Rb(1) was used as an internal standard. The overall recoveries of all saponins were 92-116%, and the relative standard deviation values of intra- and inter-day precision were lower than 3.7 and 7.7%, respectively. Eight root samples collected from Korea and Japan were analyzed using the developed method. Lancemaside A was the most abundant saponin in the root samples from Korea, ranging from 2.65 to 3.64 mg/g dry root. However, the maximum content of lancemaside A among Japanese samples was 0.101 mg/g dry root.

More than three thousand publications in the past have confirmed the efficacy of garlic for the prevention and treatment of a variety of diseases, acknowledging and validating its traditional uses. Garlic is also used for the treatment of fatigue, although the mechanism involved remain unclear. The anti-fatigue function of garlic may be closely related to its many favorable biological and pharmacological effects. In animal studies, garlic has been shown to promote exercise endurance. Differences in the methods of processing garlic result in differences in the intensity of its anti-fatigue effect, and the most favorable form of processing has been shown to be extraction of raw garlic followed by its natural aging for a long period in a water-ethanol mixture. In human studies, it has been confirmed that garlic produces symptomatic improvement in persons with physical fatigue, systemic fatigue due to cold, or lassitude of indefinite cause, suggesting that garlic can resolve fatigue through a variety of actions. Recently, primarily in Japan, attempts have been made to measure the intensity of fatigue objectively and quantitatively using biomarkers. Currently available data strongly suggest that garlic may be a promising anti-fatigue agent, and that further studies to elucidate its application are warranted.