KT&G, 全名为 “韩烟人参股份有限公司”(KSE:033780),是韩国最大烟草集团之一,每年营业额、盈利、投资等,达至超过20亿美元不等。
Background:Panax ginseng Meyer of the Araliaceae family have various biological activities and pharmacological actions such as anticancer, immunomodulation, and anti-inflammatory. In many studies on ginseng, studies on ginseng fruit are still new, and the effect and potential of ginseng fruit on periodontitis in HPDL cells have been investigated in vitro and in vivo. Methods:HPDL cells were stimulated with PG-LPS for 12 h to evaluate the effects of KGC19b (50-200 μg/mL) on periodontitis. Cell viability, pro-inflammatory markers, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and osteogenesis-related markers were assessed. In the rat model, periodontitis was induced using ligature and PG-LPS, and KGC19b was administered orally for 6 days. The effects of KGC19b were evaluated by micro-CT analysis and H&E staining. Results:KGC19b reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, restored osteogenic markers, enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, and decreased ROS in HPDL cells. In the rat model, KGC19b alleviated periodontal inflammation and prevented bone mass loss. Conclusion:In this study, KGC19b shows the possibility of improving and treating periodontitis through anti-inflammatory, osteogenesis, and antibacterial effects.
Background:Stress affects brain functions, which leads to the development of mental disorders. There is increasing focus on the role of nutritional, herbal and nutraceutical compounds on mental and cognitive functioning. Interestingly, studies suggest that American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) extracts (G1899) improve cognition. Methods:We examined whether G1899 showed protective effects on stress-induced behavioral changes in animals. 200 mg/kg G1899 was orally administered daily for 4 weeks to 2-3-month-old female and male mice before inducing stress. To induce acute stress in animals, we intraperitoneally injected a low dose of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) (10 μg/kg), and saline was used as a control. We also used chronic restraint stress (CRS) as a chronic stress model in mice. After LPS injection or CRS, multiple behavioral assays were carried out - a sucrose preference test, an open filed test, reciprocal social interaction, contextual fear conditioning, and a tail suspension test - to determine whether acute or chronic stress affected animals' behaviors and whether G1899 had protective effects against stress-induced behavioral dysfunction. Results:We found that both LPS injection and CRS induced stress-related behavioral dysfunction, including depression-like behavior, anhedonia, social dysfunction, and fear memory impairments in mice. However, G1899 was sufficient to reverse stress-induced behavioral abnormalities in animals. Our data further suggested that G1899 reduced the activity of hippocampal neurons by suppressing glutamatergic activity. Conclusion:G1899 supplements can be protective against both acute and chronic stress in mice by suppressing neuronal and synaptic activity.
Gut microbiota dysbiosis is closely linked to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), highlighting the therapeutic potential of probiotics that affect the gut microbiome when ingested. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Lacticaseibacillus casei KGC1201, a strain isolated from Panax ginseng, on a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. L. casei KGC1201 culture powder at doses of 206 and 412 mg/kg was administered orally once daily, one week before DSS administration until sacrifice. A 2
Reduced N input while maintaining biomass production of sorghum × sudangrass hybrids (Sorghum bicolor L. × Sorghum sudanense; SSG) is essential; however, its effects on root sustainability and photosynthetic capacity during the ratooning period are not well defined in a multiple harvests system. The physiological response and root morphology of SSG were investigated under different N application levels during the ratooning period in a two-year field experiment. Treatments were all combinations of two ecotypes (late-flowering, Greenstar; early-flowering, Honeychew) and four N levels (0, 50, 100, 150 kg N ha−1). The total root length, surface area, volume, tips, and dry matter (DM) were significantly influenced by both ecotype and N level, with Greenstar outperforming Honeychew. Specifically, Greenstar’s root length increased by up to three times with reduced N application (50 kg N ha−1), while Honeychew showed significant root length increases only at higher N levels (100 and 150 kg N ha−1). Our data support the conclusion that a low level of N (50–100 kg N ha−1) was the optimal rate for ratooning root sustainability. The findings highlight the critical role of root development in sustaining biomass production and suggest that the late-flowering ecotype, Greenstar, is more suitable for a multiple harvests system with a robust root system.
Ginseng (Panax ginseng) has been used as a valuable medicinal plant in Asia, and the demand for ginseng production for health functional food is increasing worldwide after the COVID-19 crisis. Although a number of cultivars have been developed to increase ginseng production, none of them were widely cultivated in Korea because they could not resist various environmental stresses while being grown in one place for at least 4 years. To address this, Sunhong was developed as a ginseng cultivar with high yield and multiple stress tolerance by pure line selection. Sunhong showed high yield and heat tolerance comparable to Yunpoong, a representative high-yielding cultivar, and exhibited 1.4 times lower prevalence of rusty roots than Yunpoong, suggesting that Sunhong can keep its high yield and quality during long-term cultivation. In addition, distinct color and lodging resistance were expected to increase the convenience of cultivation. To supply pure seeds to farmers, we also established a reliable high-throughput authentication system for Sunhong and seven ginseng cultivars through genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) analysis. The GBS approach enabled to identify a sufficient number of informative SNPs in ginseng, a heterozygous and polyploid species. These results contribute to the improvement of yield, quality, and homogeneity, and therefore promote the ginseng industry.