Ethanol Fraction of Aralia elata Seemann Enhances Antioxidant Activity and Lowers Serum Lipids in Rats When Administered with Benzo(.ALPHA.)pyrene

Abstract

Aralia elata Seemann, one of the most popular edible mountain vegetables in Korea, is classified as a shrub belonging to a species of Araliaceae. The bark and roots have been used in treating hypoglycemia, ulcer, diabetes, gastritis, colitis and schizophrenia.Quercitrin, a bioactive constituent of Aralia elata Seemann, has been suggested to have effects on heart stimulation and contraction, fungal and virus infections, diabetic cataracts, activation of natural killer cells, and pneumonia. As a pharmacologically-active component, araloside was reported to protect from cardiovascular infarction. 1) Plouvier et al. 2)found that feeding 10-50 mg/kg of saponoside to hyperlipidemic rats resulted in reductions in serum cholesterol, free fatty acids, phospholipids and triglycerides. The antioxidant effects of Aralia elata Seemann extract were examined by Bol'shakova et al. 3) Also from the extract, 3,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid was characterized and found to have an antimicroorganism effect.Essential antioxidant nutrients such as retinoids, 4,5) tocopherols, 6,7) ascorbic acid, 8) zinc, 9) selenium, 10-12) flavones, and phenolic compounds from the diet, particularly plant sources, may act directly on the oxidative defense systems.These naturally-occurring or synthetic antioxidants have been proved to be effective in blocking the initiation and promotion of chemically-induced carcinogenesis including dimethyl-hydrazine, aflatoxine and benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) in many experimental animal models.13-16) B(a)P, a strong carcinogenic and mutagenic substance, is also produced as an environmental contaminant by gasoline, tar, coal, and cigarette smoking. Dietary antioxidants were shown to modulate cytochrome P-450 action in mice liver to form less activated metabolites of carcinogens such as B(a)P.17) The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Aralia elata Seemann on antioxidant enzyme systems and a-tocopherol and lipid metabolism in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental Animals and Diet Sprague Dawley (SD)weaning rats weighing approximately 100 g were maintained in a 12 : 12 dark and light cycled room. Before the start of an experiment the animals were fed chow diet for a week and then divided into the four groups: C, control; CE, Aralia ethanol extract fed group; CB, B(a)P treated group and CEB, Aralia ethanol extract and B(a)P group (Table 1). Each group consisted of seven rats. Specimens of Aralia bud were obtained locally in Kangwon province, Korea, washed, lyophilized, ground and ethanol-extracted using a rotary evaporator (Eyela, Japan). The extract (50 mg/kg body weight) was administered to rat daily for 4 weeks into the stomach using stomach tube. Rats were maintained for a total of 6 weeks, including a week of adaptation.Preparation of Tissue Specimens Animals were fasted for 12 h and weighed before being sacrificed by ether anesthesia and cervical dislocation. Blood was taken by cardiac puncture, and organs including the liver and kidney were weighed and rinsed with physiological saline. Liver samples of...

Antagonistic Effect of the Ainu‐Selected Traditional Beneficial Plants on the Transformation of an Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor

“…Our findings suggest that these plant extracts contain the potent compounds for suppression of AhR transformation, which is the initial step to express the multiple toxicity of HAHs and PAHs including dioxins (Fernandez‐Salguero and others 1996; Vorderstrasse and others 2001; Andersson and others 2002; Moennikes and others 2004). Aralia elata has been traditionally used as folk medicine in Japan and Korea (Satio and others 1993; Chung and Jung 2003; Hu and Wang 2009). Therapeutic effects of the bark and root cortex of Aralia elata against treatment of various diseases, such as diabetes and hepatics, have also been revealed (Chung and others 2005; Hu and Wang 2009), and effective constituents in the bark and root of Aralia elata are saponins, alkaloids, glycosides, and so on (Lee and others 2005).…”

Ameliorating effect of capsaicin on alterations in lipid metabolism during mice lung carcinoma

“…Numerous chemical agents like B(a)P have been shown to affect cellular lipids in variety of tissues (Chung and Jung, 2003). The combined epidemiological evidences suggested a casual relationship between fat intake and the occurrence of Results are expressed as mean ± S.D for six mice in each group.…”

The antitumor effects of Araloside A extracted from the root bark of Aralia elata on human kidney cancer cell lines

“…The effective components of A. elata included saponins, alkaloids, glycosides, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, etc (Lee et al, 2005). Previous study has shown that ethanol extract of A. elata exhibited antioxidant activity by increasing activities of GST and SOD, and lowered decrease serum lipids in rats, which indicated its strong hypocholesterolemic and hypolipidemic actions (Chung et al, 2003). In vivo studies confirmed that the water extract of A. elata can suppress aldose reductase in STZ-induced diabetic rats (Chung et al, 2005).…”

“…Aralia elata has been used as folk medicine in Oriental courtiers such as Japan and Korea several hundred years ago (Chung et al, 2003;Hu and Wang, 2009;Satio et al, 1993). The bark and root cortex of A. elata were shown to be able to treat diabetes, hepatics, stomach pain, etc (Chung et al, 2005;Hu and Wang, 2009;Kim et al, 2009).…”