Ginsenoside Rg3

Ginsenoside Rg3 is a K 7.1 channel activator, γ2 GABA-A receptor agonist, and a α10 nAChR antagonist found in Panax. It exhibits a wide variety of biological activities, including decreasing expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, reducing oxidative stress, and inhibiting tubular formation and migration of endothelial progenitor cells. (In Vitro) :Ginsenoside Rg3 plays an important role in its effect on the Na+ channel. Treatment with Ginsenoside Rg3 reversibly inhibits the inward Na+ peak current (INa) with an IC50 of 32.2±4.5 μM, and the inhibition is voltage-dependent. Ginsenoside Rg3 at 100 μM inhibits the hKv1.4 channel currents by an average of 65%.The Ginsenoside Rg3 effect is concentration-dependent and reversible. The IC50 value and Hill coefficient are 32.6±2.2 μM and 1.59±0.13, respectively. Ginsenoside Rg3 shows the significant inhibition of NF-κB activity thereby reduced COX-2 expression. To examine the cytotoxicity of Ginsenoside Rg3 on IL-1β-induced inflamed A549 cells, the cells are firstly treated with IL-1β (10 ng/mL) for 4 h and treated with 100 to 900 ng/mL concentration of Ginsenoside Rg3 for 12 h. Cell viability is analyzed using an MTT assay. There is no observed cytotoxicity of Ginsenoside Rg3 in IL-1β-induced inflamed A549 cells compared to only PBS-treated cells (Con) .To obtain the anti-inflammatory effects of Ginsenoside Rg3 on inflammation induced human lung epithelial cells, A549 cells inflammation is induced by IL-1β (10 ng/mL) and then treated by 5 μM of Dexamethasone (Dex) or 900 nM of Rg3. The NF-κB activation is analyzed by a western blot analysis to evaluate the effect of Ginsenoside Rg3 treatment on A549 cells. Phospho-NF-κB p65/total NF-κB p65 densitometry in the cells treated with Rg3 shows the significant decrease compared to IL-1β-induced inflamed A549 cells. The meaning of reducing the ratio of p-p65/p65 by Rg3 treatment is associated with NF-κB activation. Ginsenoside Rg3 also downregulates the expression of COX-2 effectively. (In Vivo) :Ginsenoside Rg3 ((20S) -Rg3) is an Aβ-lowering Natural Compound. APP/PS1 mice are treated with Ginsenoside Rg3 once a day for 4 weeks by intraperitoneal injection (10 mg/kg/day) . Aβ ELISA analysis of brain tissues reveal that Ginsenoside Rg3 treatment results in a significant reduction of Aβ40 and Aβ42 in the brain.