Effects of the Extract of Four Herbs (Ginger, Cinnamon, Jujube and Chive) on Regulation of Nitric Oxide Production

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The 4 herbs, Zingiber officinale (Ginger), Cinnamomum cassia (Cinnamon), Zizyphus jujuba (Jujube), and Allium tuberosum (Chive) are the plants used for a long time as ingredients of foods and drinks but also for various medicinal purposes, particularly for treating infectious diseases or promoting blood circulation. Nitric oxide (NO) produced from macrophages is involved in body defense in innate immunity while that produced from endothelial cells plays a pivotal role in promoting blood circulation by relaxing vascular smooth muscles. Thus, we assumed that the beneficial effects of these herbs may be ascribed to promoting NO production. To test this assumption, the extract was prepared from the 4 herb-blend of ginger root, cinnamon bark, jujube fruit and chive leave (1:1:1:1) by treating the blend with hot water. The obtained extract was named E4Hs. The E4Hs was further treated with Lactobacillus plantarum and the extract prepared from this fermented E4Hs was named FE4Hs. Both E4Hs and FE4Hs did not affect the viability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) up to 400 μg/mL but increased the concentration of NO significantly, which was higher with FE4Hs than E4Hs. Simultaneously, levels of mRNAs of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) increased, which was also higher with FE4Hs than E4Hs. In Sprague Dawley rats, which were given 250 or 500 mg/kg of FE4Hs for 2 weeks, the levels of NO, iNOS and eNOS in the plasma significantly increased dose-dependently. The treated rats also showed the significant increase in the temperature at body surface and rectum. The results suggest that the 4-herb extracts, particularly, the fermented extract could modulate NO production and thus, has a potential to give some help for the increase in immune and circulatory functions.