AIDS-causing AIDS virus (HIV) expressed in three-dimensional (3D) graphics by the National Institutes of Health. Wikimedia provided.
A Korean research team has revealed the mechanism by which Korean red ginseng inhibits the proliferation of the AIDS virus and prevents disease progression. The results were obtained by following 146 AIDS patients for regarding 10 years.
A research team led by Professor Cho Young-geol of the Department of Microbiology at Asan Medical Center in Seoul announced on the 14th that they found that AIDS patients who took red ginseng regularly had less AIDS virus proliferation than AIDS patients who did not.
AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is an infectious disease that leads to death due to infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, AIDS virus) and the loss of immune function in the body. It was first reported in 1981, and it was confirmed in 1983 that the cause was HIV. However, not everyone infected with HIV becomes AIDS. If the immune system is damaged or dropped and a disease such as cancer appears while infected with a virus, it is classified as an AIDS patient. It survives and reproduces in the body for a long period of time, and may infect others through the blood or body fluids of the host (patient).
According to Professor Cho, the AIDS virus is a low-virulence virus at the beginning of infection, and then turns into a highly virulent virus as the infection progresses. Professor Cho explained, “This is because the amino acids in specific regions that make up the virus envelope are changed to amino acids with positive charges. The positively charged virus-infected cells fuse with neighboring uninfected cells. At the same time, it is explained that the number of infected cells increases, the immune cells do not function properly, and the disease becomes progressively worse.
Researchers have been observing the effects of red ginseng on AIDS patients for regarding 30 years. As a result, we found a link between red ginseng intake and the reduction of AIDS disease. The researchers conducted an experiment on 146 AIDS patients to find the mechanism related to the observed phenomenon. We divided 88 AIDS patients who took red ginseng regularly and 58 AIDS patients who did not take red ginseng and followed them for regarding 10 years. The red ginseng group took 5.4 g of red ginseng per day. This is more than the 3g recommended daily intake by the Korea Ginseng Corporation.
As a result, it was found that the maintenance period of the virus with low toxicity was longer in the group taking red ginseng. The maintenance period of the treatment group was 2.98 times longer than that of the non-treatment group. The conversion period to highly virulent virus was also 3.46 times longer in the taking group than in the non-taking group.
The research team said, “This is a mechanism supporting the slowing of the growth rate of dysfunctional cells by taking red ginseng.
This study was published on the Internet version of the international academic journal ‘Journal of Ginseng Research’ on the 6th.
Young-Gul Cho, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul. Provided by Asan Medical Center, Seoul
