Yun T K, Lee Y S, Lee Y H, Kim S I, Yun H Y
Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2001 Dec;16 Suppl(Suppl):S6-18. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2001.16.S.S6.
The failure to improve the five-year survival rate of cancer patients, from one in three in the 1960s to one in two in the 1970s, stimulated awareness of the importance of primary prevention of cancer. Korean investigators carried out extensive long-term anticarcinogenicity experiments with 2000 newborn mice to investigate whether Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer inhibited carcinogenesis induced by several chemical carcinogens in 1978. There was a 22% decrease (p<0.05) in the incidence of urethane induced lung adenoma by the combined use of red ginseng extract. In the group sacrificed at 56 weeks after the treatment with aflatoxin B1, the incidence of hepatoma significantly decreased to 75% by the addition of red ginseng extract (p<0.05). The result showed that natural products can provide hope for human cancer prevention. By the newly established '9 week medium-term anticarcinogenicity test model of lung tumors in mice' (Yun's model), we confirmed significant anticarcinogenic effects of powders and extracts of the 6- yr-old dried fresh ginseng, 5- and 6-yr old white ginsengs, and 4-, 5-, and 6-yr old red ginseng. We also demonstrated that the anticarcinogencity of ginseng was more prominent in aged or heat treated extracts of ginseng and red ginseng made by steaming. To investigate the active components for cancer prevention, several fractions of 6-yr old fresh ginseng and red ginseng, four semi-synthetic ginsenoside Rh1, Rh2, Rg3 and Rg5, major saponin components in red ginseng, were prepared. Among the ginsenosides, Rg3 and Rg5 showed statistically significant reduction of lung tumor incidence and Rh2 had a tendency of decreasing the incidence. Ginsenoside Rg3, Rg5 and Rh2 were found to be active anticarcinogenic compounds. Rg3, Rg5 and Rh2 are active components in red ginseng, and they prevent cancer either singularly or synergistically.
癌症患者的五年生存率未能从20世纪60年代的三分之一提高到70年代的二分之一，这促使人们意识到癌症一级预防的重要性。1978年，韩国研究人员用2000只新生小鼠进行了广泛的长期抗癌实验，以研究人参（Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer）是否能抑制几种化学致癌物诱导的致癌作用。联合使用红参提取物可使氨基甲酸乙酯诱导的肺腺瘤发病率降低22%（p<0.05）。在用黄曲霉毒素B1处理56周后处死的组中，添加红参提取物可使肝癌发病率显著降至75%（p<0.05）。结果表明，天然产物可为人类癌症预防带来希望。通过新建立的“小鼠肺肿瘤9周中期抗癌实验模型”（Yun氏模型），我们证实了6年生干鲜人参、5年生和6年生白参以及4年生、5年生和6年生红参的粉末和提取物具有显著的抗癌作用。我们还证明，人参的抗癌作用在人参和红参的老化或热处理提取物（通过蒸煮制成）中更为显著。为了研究预防癌症的活性成分，制备了6年生鲜人参和红参的几个馏分、四种半合成人参皂苷Rh1、Rh2、Rg3和Rg5，它们是红参中的主要皂苷成分。在人参皂苷中，Rg3和Rg5显示出肺肿瘤发病率的统计学显著降低，Rh2有降低发病率的趋势。人参皂苷Rg3、Rg5和Rh2被发现是活性抗癌化合物。Rg3、Rg5和Rh2是红参中的活性成分，它们单独或协同预防癌症。
