Pharmaceutical Studies on “Dang-Gui” in Korean Journals

A crude drug “Dang-Gui”, belonging to the genus Angelica, has been used as a traditional herbal medicine in Asia. Various studies have investigated the chemical components and pharmacological activities of Dang-Gui worldwide. However, domestic research results published in Korean are undervalued in international academia due to language barriers. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the domestic research findings systematically for greater accessibility. This review focuses on the results published in four Korean pharmaceutical journals between 1970 and 2018, which detail the botanical, phytochemical, and pharmacological properties of three Angelica species (A. gigas, A. sinensis, and A. acutiloba) used as “Dang-Gui” in Korea, China, and Japan.

Preclinical safety assessment of Angelica acutiloba using a 13-week repeated dose oral toxicity study in rats / 한국실험동물학회지

Angelica acutiloba (AA), a Japanese species of Danggui, has been used worldwide as a traditional herbal medicine with several bioactivities including anti-diabetic, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and anti-obesity. However, there is lack of toxicological data available to evaluate potential long-term toxicity and the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of AA extract in accordance with the test guidelines published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In the 14-day repeat-dose toxicity study, no adverse effects on mortality, body weight change, clinical signs, and organ weights was found following repeat oral administration to rats for 14 days (125, 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg body weight), leading that 2000 mg/kg is the highest recommended dose of AA extract for the 13-week repeat-dose oral toxicity study. In the 13-week repeat-dose oral toxicity study, the AA extract was orally administered to groups of rats for 13 weeks (125, 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg body weight) to compare between control and AA extract groups. The administration of AA extract did not produce mortality or remarkable clinical signs during this 13-week study. And, the data revealed that there were no significant differences in food/water consumption, body weight, hematological parameters, clinical chemistry parameters, gross macroscopic findings, organ weight and histopathology in comparison to the control group. On the basis of these results, the subchronic NOAEL of the AA extract was more than 2000 mg/kg/day when tested in rats. And, the AA extract is considered safe to use orally as a traditional herbal medicine.

Evaluation of in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity of Angelica acutiloba in a standard battery of assays / 한국실험동물학회지

Among three representative species of Angelica found in Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan, Angelica acutiloba (AA) has been used as traditional herbal medicine with antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and anti-diabetes activities. In this study, the potential genotoxicity and mutagenicity of the AA extract were examined in a battery of in vitro and in vivo tests (bacterial reverse mutation assay, in vitro chromosomal aberrations assay, and in vivo micronucleus assay) in accordance with the test guidelines for toxicity testing developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Upon testing in the bacterial mutation assay (Ames test) using five Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA102, TA1535 and TA1537, no significant increase the number of revertant colonies in the metabolic activation system and non-activation system was noted in the AA extract groups. Also, in the chromosome aberration test, the AA extract did not cause chromosomal aberration with or without metabolic activation by S9 mix. A bone marrow micronucleus test of mice demonstrated that the incidence of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the AA extract groups (500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg BW) was equivalent to that of the negative control group. Based on these results from a standard battery of assays, the AA extract was concluded to have no genotoxic at the proper dose.

Comparison on polysaccharide among five species of Angelicae Radix / 中草药

Objective: Comparing the quality among five species of Angelicae Radix (Danggui) samples, i.e. Chinese Danggui (CDG, the roots of Angelica sinensis), Japanese Danggui (JDG, the roots of A. acutiloba), Korean Danggui (KDG, the roots of A. gigas), Lovage root (LR, the roots of Levisticum officinale), and Angelica archangelica root (AAR, the roots of A. archangelica) by evaluating the contents of their bioactive components. Methods: The 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid colorimetric method (DNS method) was developed to quantify the amount of polysaccharides in a total of 46 species of Angelicae Radix collected from different countries based on the optimization of sampling, comparing the differences of polysaccharide among various species of Angelicae Radix, etc. Results: The contents of polysaccharides were found to be significantly different among the five species of Angelicae Radix. The order from high to low amount was AAR (162.5 mg/g, n=9), LR (142.3 mg/g, n=4), JDG (126.8 mg/g, n=13), KDG (126.8 mg/g, n=13), and CDG (80.75 mg/g, n=12). For JDG sample, the contents of polysaccharide were significant variety among samples cultivated in Japan (131.37 mg/g, n=3), China (184.29 mg/g, n=4), and Korea (94.98 mg/g, n=4). Conclusion: The developed DNS method is suitable to accurately quantify the amount of polysaccharide in Angelicae Radix. The pharmaceutical efficacy is variety among the five Angelicae Radix resulting from the various contents of polysaccharide. These herbs can not be mixed or substituted in clinical use.

<b>Study on Conditions to Increase the Domestic Production of Herbal Materials by Changing Crops Production from Tobacco </b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Herb supplies can become unstable because of climate change and the economic development of herb exporters. In this paper, in order to increase the self-sufficiency of herbal resources we examined the possibil ity of changing to herb crop production from tobacco, for which demand is declining. Firstly, we considered demand, quality and the price of raw herb materials to make recommendations for corrections, and selected <i>Angelica </i>(A. ) <i>acutiloba </i>and <i>Bupleurum </i>(B. ) <i>falcatum </i>Linne. Next, we compared the profitability of tobacco and the herbs. Profit margins for <i>A. acutiloba </i>were less than for tobacco. It was thought that the profitability of <i>A. acutiloba </i>could become equivalent to tobacco if an adjustment subsidy were provided. The self-sufficiency rate for <i>A. acutiloba </i>would be one hundred percent with 35 million yen in every year. Although the profitabil ity of <i>B. falcatum </i>has exceeded tobacco, its selling price was about 3 times that of imports, while the price of medical <i>B. falcatum </i>was lower than its selling price. It was thought that the price competitiveness problem of <i>B. falcatum </i>can be covered if a production subsidy is provided, and to reach a 50 percent B. falcatum self sufficiency rate with 660 million yen per year.