Abstract

Panax ginseng is commonly used as a tonic medicine in Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. It has been reported that ginsenoside Rg1 in P. ginseng increases the proportion of T helper (Th) cells among the total number of T cells and promotes IL-2 gene expression in murine splenocytes. This implies that ginsenoside Rg1 increases the immune activity of CD4⁺ T cells, however, the exact mechanism remains unknown. The present study elucidated the direct effect of Rg1 on helper T-cell activities and on Th1/Th2 lineage development. The results demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg1 had no mitogenic effects on unstimulated CD4⁺ T cells, but augmented CD4⁺ T-cell proliferation upon activation with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibodies in a dose-dependent manner. Rg1 also enhanced the expression of cell surface protein CD69 on CD4⁺ T cells. In Th0 condition, ginsenoside Rg1 increases the expression of IL-2 mRNA, and enhances the expression of IL-4 mRNA on CD4⁺ T cells, suggesting that Rg1 prefers to induce Th2 lineage development. In addition, ginsenoside Rg1 increases IL-4 secretion in CD4⁺ T cells under Th2 skewed condition, while decreasing IFN-γ secretion of cells in Th1 polarizing condition. Thus, Rg1 enhances Th2 lineage development from the naïve CD4⁺ T cell both by increasing Th2 specific cytokine secretion and by repressing Th1 specific cytokine production. Therefore, these results suggest that ginsenoside Rg1 is a desirable agent for enhancing CD4⁺ T-cell activity, as well as the correction of Th1-dominant pathological disorders. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Author keywords

CD4⁺ T cells; IFN-γ; IL-4; Rg1; Th1; Th2

Indexed keywords

EMTREE drug terms: CD4 antigen; CD69 antigen; gamma interferon; ginseng extract; ginsenoside Rg 1; interleukin 2; interleukin 4; messenger RNA; monoclonal antibody; monoclonal antibody CD3

EMTREE medical terms: animal cell; animal experiment; antigen expression; article; cell activity; cell isolation; cell lineage; controlled study; cytokine release; female; gene expression; ginseng; helper cell; lymphocyte differentiation; lymphocyte proliferation; mitogenesis; mouse; nonhuman; priority journal; spleen cell; T lymphocyte activation; Th1 cell; Th2 cell

MeSH: Animals; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Cell Differentiation; Cytokines; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Ginsenosides; Interferon Type II; Interleukin-2; Interleukin-4; Lymphocyte Activation; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Panax; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger; Th1 Cells; Th2 Cells
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.

Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers: gamma interferon, 82115-62-6; ginsenoside Rg 1, 22427-39-0; interleukin 2, 85898-30-2;Cytokines; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; ginsenoside Rg1, 22427-39-0; Ginsenosides; Interferon Type II, 82115-62-6; Interleukin-2; Interleukin-4, 207137-56-2; RNA, Messenger

Manufacturers:Drug manufacturer: korea ginseng and tobacco research.