The aim of this study was to identify the inhibitory effect of hepatic toxicity and liver lipid metabolism after the administration of Artemisia capillaris and Paecilomyces japonica. SD rats were divided into CCl4 treated group with subgroups of 6% Artemisia capillaries (6A), 4% Artemisia capillaris＋2% Paecilomyces japonica (4A2P), 3% Artemisia capillaris＋3% Paecilomyces japonica (3A3P), 2% Artemisia capillaris＋4% Paecilomyces japonica (2A4P) and 6% Paecilomyces japonica (6P). In this study we also intended to verify the optimum ratio of Artemisia capillaris and Paecilomyces japonica which can reduce hepatotoxicity. Artemisia capillaris and Paecilomyces japonica reduced cholesterol and triglyceride levels which were increased by the treatment of CCl4. HDL-cholesterol level was the most enhanced in the group of 4A2P. On the other hand, athrogenic index (AI) was reduced statistically (p<0.05). When the ratio of Artemisia capillaris and Paecilomyces japonica was 2:1, the improvement of rat serum and liver lipid metabolism and the alleviation of hepatic damage induced by CCl4 were shown to be the most effective in this study. It is considered that the symptoms of severe chemically induced hepatotoxicity could be lessened by Artemisia capillaris and Paecilomyces japonica administration.

This study was conducted to investigate antioxidative and physiological activities of ethanol extracts from different parts (flower, leaf, root, and the whole plant) of Taraxacum officinale. The ethanol extracts from different parts were measured to examine total flavonoids content, total polyphenol content, electron donating ability, superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, nitrite-scavenging ability and tyrosinase inhibition effects. Total flavonoids content in leaf extract (41.66 mg/g) and total polyphenol content in flower extract (71.91 mg/g) were higher than those of other parts. All assays were conducted at concentrations of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1 mg/mL ethanol extracts. The electron donating abilities of leaf, flower, the whole plant, and root extracts were 92.25%, 88.18%, 84.55% and 83.40%, respectively, at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The activities were concentration dependent. The SOD-like activity of ethanol extracts from different parts was 8.40～11.20% at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The nitrite-scavenging abilities of flower and leaf extracts measured at pH 1.2 were 47.37% and 47.18%, respectively, at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, which were higher than those of the whole plant and root extracts. Tyrosinase inhibition activity of the leaf extract at a concentration of 1 mg/mL was the highest (34.22%) and that of the whole plant and root extracts was shown to be more than 20%. These results suggest that ethanol extracts from different parts of Taraxacum officinale could be used as antioxidative functional food sources.Key words: Taraxacum officinale, total flavonoids, total polyphenols, antioxidative activity, tyrosinase inhibition † Corresponding author. E-mail: ckc@hallym.ac.kr † Phone: 82-33-248-2131, Fax: 82-33-256-9450 Ethanol extractContents (mg/g) .