Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0412
ISSN: 2167-0412
Seon-jong Kim and Chang-Su Na
Dongshin University, South Korea
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Med Aromat Plants
Ganghwaljetongyeum (GHJTY) has been used as a standard treatment for arthritis for approximately 15 years at the Korean Medicine Hospital of Dongshin University. GHJTY is composed of 18 medicinal herbs, of which five primary herbs were selected and named new Ganghwaljetongyeum (N-GHJTY). The purpose of the present study was to observe the effect of N-GHJTY on arthritis and to determine its mechanism of action. After confirming arthritis induction using Complete Freund�??s Adjuvant (CFA) in rats, N-GHJTY (62.5, 125, and 250 mg/kg/day) was administered once a day for 10 days. In order to determine pathological changes, edema of the paws and weight were measured before and for 10 days after N-GHJTY administration. Cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) levels and histopathological lesions in the knee joint were also examined. Edema in the paw and knee joint of N-GHJTY treated rats was significantly decreased at 6, 8 and 10 days after administration, compared to that in the CFA-control group, while weight consistently increased. Rats in N-GHJTY-treated groups also recovered from the CFA-induced pathological changes and showed a significant decline in cytokine levels. Taken together, our results showed that N-GHJTY administration was effective in inhibiting CFA-induced arthritis via anti-inflammatory effects while promoting cartilage recovery by controlling cytokine levels.
Seon-jong Kim is the Director of Mokpo Korean Medicine Hospital of Dongshin University in South Korea. He has completed his PhD from Wonkwang University and currently working as a Professor of Korean Medicine at Dongsin University, South Korea. With support from the Ministry of Health & Welfare, South Korea, he is developing a new drug of arthritis medicine composed of oriental herbs.
E-mail: mofoster@daum.net