Journal
NUTRIENTS
Volume 6, Issue 2, Pages 517-529Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/nu6020517
Keywords
oxidative stress; epithelial cells; Panax ginseng; interferon; influenza A virus
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Funding
- NIH/NIAID [AI105170, AI093772]
- Korean Ginseng Corp.
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Ginseng herbal medicine has been known to have beneficial effects on improving human health. We investigated whether red ginseng extract (RGE) has preventive effects on influenza A virus infection in vivo and in vitro. RGE was found to improve survival of human lung epithelial cells upon influenza virus infection. Also, RGE treatment reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory genes (IL-6, IL-8) probably in part through interference with the formation of reactive oxygen species by influenza A virus infection. Long-term oral administration of mice with RGE showed multiple immunomodulatory effects such as stimulating antiviral cytokine IFN-gamma production after influenza A virus infection. In addition, RGE administration in mice inhibited the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the bronchial lumens. Therefore, RGE might have the potential beneficial effects on preventing influenza A virus infections via its multiple immunomodulatory functions.
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