Methanol extract (MeOH), n-hexane (Hx), chloroform (CHCl3), ethyl acetate (EA), butanol (BuOH) and aqueous (H2O) fractions of Eucommiae Cortex including geniposidic acid (GA), geniposide (GP) and aucubin (AU) were tested for their therapeutic efficacy on osteoporosis. The contents of GA, GP and AU in the cortex and leaf of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver were quantified by HPLC. The effect of Eucommiae Cortex on the induction of growth hormone (GH) release was studied by using rat pituitary cells. The proliferation of osteoblast-like cells increased by herbal extracts was assayed using a tetrazolium (MTT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and [3H]-proline incorporation assays. The inhibition of osteoclast was studied by using the coculture of mouse bone marrow cells and ST-2 cells. As a result, the GA, GP and AU were present in the cortex more than in the leaf of E. ulmoides Oliver. The MeOH (1 mg/mL), Hx, CHCl3 and EA fractions (each 20 microg/mL) had potent induction of GH release. The CHCl3 exhibited the potent proliferation of osteoblasts. The AU, GP and GA were increased proliferation of osteoblasts. In addition, GA (IC50: 4.43 x 10(-7) M), AU and GP were significantly inhibited proliferation of osteoclast. In summary, it is thought that the components in a part of the fractions of Eucommiae Cortex participate in each step of mechanism for activating osteoblast to facilitate osteogenesis, and suppress osteoclast activity to inhibit osteolysis.

Puerariae Flos is a traditional herbal medicine that has long been used as a treatment for colds, diabetes, and hangovers. The herbal medicine contains a wide variety of isoflavones such as kakkalide, tectoridin, and tectorigenin. This study demonstrates that the substances undergo a certain degree of change depending on the storage period by the method of HPLC and 13C-NMR, and that the HPLC analysis can be used to determine the freshness of Puerariae Flos.

-Coptis japonica (C. japonica) is a perennial medicinal plant that has anti-inflammatory activity. C. japonica contains numerous biologically active alkaloids including berberine, palmatine, epi-berberine, and coptisine. The most well-known anti-inflammatory principal in C. japonica is berberine. For example, berberine has been implicated in the inhibition of iNOS induction by cytokines in microglial cells. However, the efficacies of other alkaloids components on microglial activation were not investigated yet. In this study, we investigated the effects of three alkaloids (palmatine, epi-berberine and coptisine) from C. japonica on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced microglial activation. BV2 microglial cells were immunostimulated with LPS and then the production of several inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were examined as well as the phosphorylation status of Erk1/2 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK). Palmatine and to a lesser extent epi-berberine and coptisine, significantly reduced the release of NO, which was mediated by the inhibition of LPS-stimulated mRNA and protein induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) from BV2 microglia. In addition to NO, palmatine inhibited MMP-9 enzymatic activity and mRNA induction by LPS. Palmatine also inhibited the increase in the LPS-induced MMP-9 promoter activity determined by MMP-9 promoter luciferase reporter assay. LPS stimulation increased Erk1/2 phosphorylation in BV2 cells and these alkaloids inhibited the LPS-induced phosphorylation of Erk1/2. The anti-inflammatory effect of palmatine in LPS-stimulated microglia may suggest the potential use of the alkaloids in the modulation of neuroinflammatory responses, which might be important in the pathophysiological events of several neurological diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD) and stroke.

Objective:To validate the selfreported smoking status of Korean university students. Methods: Subjects included 322 Korean university in Korea, who participated in an annual health screening. Data on smoking were collected through a self-reported questionnaire and urine test. The data were analyzed by the McNemar test. Results: In the consistency test for males, the results from the questionnaire and the urine test were in agreement, but for females, there was a significant difference between the results reported by the 2 tests (P=.001). Conclusions: The findings showed that Korean female university students considerably underreported their smoking behavior.

Limited studies examined Medical Aid recipients' perception for amount of medical use. This study aimed to identify self-perception (optimal, under and overutilization) for amount, and real amount of medical use, and to determine factors associated with the perception.