Evaluation of Antipruritic Effects of Red Ginseng and Its Ingredients in Mice

Abstract

The anti-pruritic effect of red ginseng (the steamed root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Araliaceae), a traditional medicine in Asian countries, was investigated in mouse scratching behavior models induced by either compound 48/80 or histamine. Red ginseng and its saponin fraction, but not its polysaccharide fraction, showed an anti-pruritic effect. Representative constituents in the saponin fraction, ginsenosides Rg3 and Rh2, inhibited scratching behavior and vascular permeability. These ginsenosides also inhibited the expression of TNF-α and IL-4 induced by IgE-antigen complex in RBL-2H3 cells, as well as acetic acid-induced writhing in mice. These results suggest that red ginseng and its ingredients, ginsenosides Rg3 and Rh2, may inhibit scratching behavior by inhibiting IL-4 and TNF-α expression, promoting membrane stability, and inhibiting Ca⁺⁺ influx.

Abbreviations

PF:polysaccharide fraction

RG:red ginseng extract

SF:saponin fraction

RBL:rat basophilia leukemia

DNP-HSA:dinitrophenyl - human serum albumin

Key words

Panax ginseng - Araliaceae - ginsenoside Rg3 - ginsenoside Rh2 - scratching behaviors - IL-4

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