immunity and red ginseng
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a flu epidemic warning for the first time in three years. According to the Agency for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of outpatients estimated to be flu from the 23rd to the 29th of last month was 9.3 per 1,000, the highest this year. It is close to twice the seasonal fashion standard of 4.9 people.
Influenza is an acute respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. It is highly contagious, and if the elderly, children, or people suffering from other diseases are infected, the risk of developing various diseases by lowering immunity is high, so prevention is important.
Red ginseng, recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as being able to help with immune function, has been proven effective in defense once morest viruses such as influenza and respiratory cell fusion through various studies. Red ginseng shows antiviral effects by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines and increasing the number of antiviral cytokines and immune cells.
Professor Kang Sang-mu’s team at Georgia State University Medical School found that red ginseng increases cell viability, restricts viral replication, and regulates the secretion of numerous immune cells and cytokines that metastasize to the lungs in case of RSV infection, resulting in antiviral effects. indicated that it indicates
As a result of analyzing immune cell changes following respiratory syncytial virus infection, the research team confirmed that the group administered red ginseng prophylactically had regarding 45% fewer viruses than the group infected without red ginseng administration. As a result of immune cell analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, CD8+ T cells, immune cells that secrete interferon gamma (IFN-γ) known to be related to defense once morest respiratory syncytial virus, increased by 9.24 times and CD4 T cells by regarding 9.5 times in the red ginseng-administered group. doubled. In particular, as a result of comparing the survival rate by infecting experimental mice with the H1N1 influenza virus, the survival rate was 100% in the group administered with the vaccine and red ginseng combination, 60% in the case of vaccination alone, and 40% in the case of normal mice.
Meanwhile, at the 13th International Ginseng Symposium held last month, Professor Lee Dong-kwon of Sungkyunkwan University’s School of Pharmacy presented the results of a study on ‘red ginseng’s pneumococcal vaccine adjuvant effect and pneumonia improvement effect’. Professor Lee’s team ingested red ginseng (100 mg/kg) for 15 days and vaccinated mice. After 7 days, they were infected with pneumococcal strains. It increased by regarding 25% compared to the case of only inoculation. Also, when only the vaccine was administered, only 30% survived, but when both red ginseng and the vaccine were administered, the survival rate reached 80%. This is the result of strengthening the efficacy of the pneumococcal vaccine by suppressing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by pneumococcal bacteria, preventing cell death and reducing inflammation. In addition, red ginseng was shown to promote phagocytosis by macrophages and attenuate pneumococcal colonization. Professor Lee said, “Red ginseng reduces inflammation by suppressing the secretion of inflammatory cytokines caused by pneumococcal bacteria.”
