Study on the isolation of bioactive components and the identification of biomarker genes from Ostericum koreanum Maximowicz

Ostericum koreanum (Umbelliferae) is a perennial herb used in traditional Korean medicines for treatment of the common cold and for relief of rheumatic pains or headaches the herb imparts a pungent and warm sensation. From the dried roots of this plants, twelve pure compounds were isolated. We investigated pharmacological effects of 70% ethanol extract and other individual components purified from Ostericum. We observed that NO production by LPS stimulation in Raw cell line was strongly reduced at 70% ethanol extract treatment. The same effects were observed in mice experiments. However, none of the individual components showed the effect. In addition, 70% ethanol extract inhibited the production of cytokines including TNF-α, IL-1beta, IL-6 by LPS stimulation at RAW cell line. The 70% ethanol extract inhibited the PGE2 production by LPS stimulation, and other individual components showed the same trend. We isolated biomarker genes including Nuclear receptor subfamily 4, group A, member 2 (Nr4a2), Chemikine (C-C motif) receptor-like 2 (Ccrl2), and Interleukin 6 (Il6). Also the simutaneous analytical method of marker compounds isolated from Ostericum koreanum has been developed by using HPLC-UV technique. These marker-compounds have been successfully separated from intereference extracted from matrix in HPLC chromatogram. In ESI-MS/MS spectra, these compounds produced characteristic ions through collisional-induced dissociation.

Acknowledgements: This study was supported by a grant from Korea Food & Drug Administration (2006).

References: 1. Shin, S. (2005) Arch Pharm Res 27: 295–299.