Korean Society of Ginseng Presents Latest Research at the International Ginseng Symposium

• Red ginseng aids memory improvement and helps prevent muscle and bone loss.

• Clinical trials on hypertensive and diabetic patients show improvements in blood pressure.

Red ginseng is widely recognized as a leading health supplement that boosts immunity. It is one of the 20 functional foods acknowledged by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for supporting immune health. Additionally, it has been proven to enhance blood circulation, alleviate fatigue, and improve memory and concentration. These effects stem from a combination of saponins, red ginseng polysaccharides, amino sugars, and minerals that are formed during the steaming and drying process of six-year-old ginseng.

Recent research is continuously unveiling new benefits of red ginseng when consumed consistently. At the 13th International Ginseng Symposium, held at Lotte Hotel in Seoul from the 25th to the 28th, the Korean Society of Ginseng presented various studies highlighting red ginseng's potential to enhance memory, prevent muscle and bone loss, and regulate blood pressure in patients with hypertension and diabetes.

Red Ginseng Extract Improves Memory Loss in PTSD-Induced Mice

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that impairs memory formation and is associated with neuroinflammation. A joint research team led by Professor Oh Se-Kwan from Ewha Womans University College of Medicine and Professor Lee Bom-Bi from Kyung Hee University College of Korean Medicine conducted experiments on 48 mice aged 6-8 weeks. The mice were divided into six groups and subjected to acute stress before receiving daily doses of 20–100 mg/kg of red ginseng extract for 14 days.

Through tests such as the Morris water maze and passive avoidance test, the researchers found that the red ginseng group located the exit at a rate similar to the non-stressed group. In contrast, the stressed group that did not receive red ginseng exhibited delayed learning.

Further analysis showed that red ginseng reduced levels of inflammatory markers like interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) while increasing the anti-inflammatory marker interleukin-12 (IL-12). It also lowered NF-kB levels in the hippocampus, a key factor in stress-induced inflammation, and restored brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression by 252.51%.

Professor Oh previously conducted a similar study in 2015 on 18-month-old aging mice. The results showed that daily administration of 200 mg/kg of red ginseng extract for three months suppressed age-related memory and learning decline, as assessed by the Y-maze and Morris water maze tests.

“This research scientifically proves that red ginseng can improve learning and prevent memory decline in various conditions, including aging and PTSD,” Professor Oh stated.

Red Ginseng and Ginseng Extracts Prevent Muscle and Bone Loss

Latest findings on the ability of ginseng and red ginseng to prevent muscle and bone loss were also presented at the symposium.

A research team led by Professor Kwon Hyuk-Young from Soonchunhyang University’s Department of Biomedical Convergence Science investigated the effects of ginsenoside Rd on muscle cells and muscle strength. Sarcopenia, the degenerative loss of muscle mass and function, is associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, sepsis, obesity, and depression. The study demonstrated that aged mice treated with ginsenoside Rd experienced muscle strength improvements comparable to those of normal adult mice over time. The ginsenoside Rd group also showed increased muscle cell size and a rise in multinucleated muscle cells from 20% to 37%.

Furthermore, the team discovered that ginsenoside Rd counteracts TNF-α-induced oxidative stress, thereby promoting muscle cell growth. It activates the pAKT pathway, crucial for protein synthesis, and suppresses MuRF1, a protein degradation marker, thereby inducing muscle cell growth and fusion. These findings suggest ginsenoside Rd may help prevent and treat muscle wasting in cancer patients.

Additionally, a research team led by Professor Narayan from the University of Michigan found that red ginseng may prevent bone loss by maintaining gut microbiome balance.

In an experiment on 21 male adult mice, the researchers administered broad-spectrum antibiotics for two weeks before providing either water or 500 mg/kg of red ginseng extract daily for four weeks. The antibiotic-treated group experienced significant reductions in gut microbiota diversity and intestinal barrier integrity, whereas the red ginseng-treated group showed significant prevention of these effects. Moreover, red ginseng prevented substantial bone loss in the femur and spine observed in the antibiotic-treated mice.

Blood Pressure Improvement in Hypertensive and Diabetic Patients

The benefits of red ginseng are not limited to animal studies. A clinical trial conducted by Professor Vladimir Vuksan’s team in Canada examined 80 patients with both type 2 diabetes and hypertension over a 12-week period. Participants who consumed both Korean red ginseng and American ginseng experienced a significant reduction of approximately 3.98 mmHg in central systolic blood pressure.

While no significant changes were observed in vascular function indicators such as pulse wave velocity and reactive hyperemia index, the study demonstrated that co-administration of ginseng with standard drug therapy may help lower blood pressure without directly affecting vascular function.

These findings continue to highlight red ginseng's expanding potential as a functional food for not only immune support but also memory enhancement, muscle and bone preservation, and blood pressure regulation.

Source: 서울경제(https://www.sedaily.com/)

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