Effect of Korean Red Ginseng on Superoxide Dismutase Inhibitor-Induced Pancreatitis in Rats A Histopathologic and Immunohistochemical Study

Objectives: Korean red ginseng (KRG) is a representative herbal remedy in Korea. We examined the effects of KRG treatment on superoxide dismutase inhibitor-induced experimental pancreatitis. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats and KRG from the roots of a 6-year-old fresh Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer plant were used in this study. Pancreatitis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of diethyldithiocarbamate for 4 weeks. Korean red ginseng was fed orally to rats for the next 3 weeks. At week 7, all rats were killed, and pancreatic tissues were analyzed. Results: No histological alterations were detected in the pancreata of normal and KRG control groups. Tissues from the non-KRG-treated pancreatitis group exhibited marked pancreatic damage including changes in histological architecture, acinar cell necrosis and degeneration, and cytoplasmic vacuolization. However, tissues from the KRG-treated pancreatitis group exhibited no cellular damage and had normal histological pancreatic architecture. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that the expressions of nuclear factor kappa B, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and the oxidant stress markers, malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal, were significantly decreased in the KRG-treated pancreatitis group as compared with the non-KRG-treated pancreatitis group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that KRG has antioxidant therapeutic effects on superoxide dismutase inhibitor-induced pancreatitis by inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B.