Department of Herbal Medicine Resource, Kangwon National University, Samcheok 245-907, Korea.
J Ginseng Res. 2011 Nov;35(4):479-86. doi: 10.5142/jgr.2011.35.4.479.
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic, inflammatory skin disease characterized by chronic eczema and mechanical injury to the skin, caused by scratching. Korean red ginseng (RG) has diverse biological activities, but the molecular effects of RG on allergic diseases, like AD, are unclear. The present study was designed to investigate whether RG inhibits 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD in a mouse model. DNCB was applied topically on the dorsal surface of Balb/c mice to induce AD-like skin lesions. We observed the scratching behavior and examined the serum IgE level and interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 in splenocytes compared with dexamethasone. We also evaluated the DNCB-induced mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), NF-κB, and Ikaros activities after RG treatment using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and ELISA. Our data showed that the topical application of RG significantly improved the AD-like skin lesions and scratching behavior. RG decreased not only the mRNA expression of IL-4 and IL-10, but also the secretion of IL-4 protein and serum IgE in mice. Additionally, RG treatment decreased the DNCB-induced MAPKs activity and subsequent Ikaros translocation irrespective of NF-κB. We suggest that RG may be useful as a therapeutic nutrition for the treatment of AD.
特应性皮炎（AD）是一种过敏性炎症性皮肤病，其特征为慢性湿疹和搔抓导致的皮肤机械性损伤。红参具有多种生物学活性，但红参对特应性皮炎等过敏性疾病的分子作用尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨红参是否能抑制 1-氯-2,4-二硝基苯（DNCB）诱导的小鼠 AD 模型。将 DNCB 涂抹于 Balb/c 小鼠背部表面，诱导 AD 样皮肤损伤。与地塞米松相比，我们观察了搔抓行为，并检测了血清 IgE 水平和脾细胞中的白细胞介素（IL）-4 和 IL-10。我们还评估了 RG 处理后 DNCB 诱导的丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPKs）、NF-κB 和 Ikaros 活性，方法是使用逆转录-聚合酶链反应、Western blot 和 ELISA。我们的数据表明，红参的局部应用显著改善了 AD 样皮肤损伤和搔抓行为。红参不仅降低了 IL-4 和 IL-10 的 mRNA 表达，还降低了小鼠中 IL-4 蛋白和血清 IgE 的分泌。此外，红参处理可降低 DNCB 诱导的 MAPKs 活性，随后 Ikaros 易位，而不依赖于 NF-κB。我们认为，红参可能是治疗特应性皮炎的一种有前途的治疗性营养物质。
