Saponin is the generic name of steroid or triterpene glycosides, and the capacities of some saponins to stimulate both Th1 immune response and production of cytotoxic T cells are useful as vaccine components against intracellular pathogens. Because saponins have been found commonly in starfish, we assessed the potential of starfish, Asterias amurensis and Asterina pectinifera, as adjuvant sourc...

Pulsatilla koreana, a species endemic to Korea, is an important herb used in traditional medicine to treat amoebic dysentery and malaria. In the present study, 23 oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins 1-23 and eight lupane-type triterpenoid saponins 24-31 were isolated from the roots of P. koreana. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. The methanol extract and isola...

The purpose of this study was to review the pharmacognostic characteristics of Sasang type-specific medical herbs and suggest biological mechanisms that might be related to the personalized treatment of the East. Major compounds and their pharmacological activities of medical herbs for each Sasang types were systematically reviewed. The pharmacognostic characteristics of its main compounds were...

Inflammation and oxidative stress play crucial roles in the etiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, we examined the anti-diabetic effects of triterpenoid saponins extracted from Stauntonia chinensis on stimulating glucose uptake by insulin-resistant human HepG2 cells. The results showed that saponin 6 significantly increased glucose uptake and glucose catabolism. Saponin 6 also enh...

Panax notoginseng (Sanqi), a traditional Chinese medical drug which has been applied to medical use for over four centuries, contains high content of dammarane-type tetracyclic triterpenoid saponins. A number of stereoisomeric dammarane-type saponins exist in this precious herb, and some are particularly regarded as "biomarkers" in processed notoginseng. Contemporary researches have indicated t...

Five new oleanane-type triterpene saponins including steganogenin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), steganogenin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), steganogenin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), chichipegenin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4) and chichipegenin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), along with four known olean...

OBJECTIVE Dental caries, periodontitis and other mucosal diseases are caused by a complex community of microorganisms. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial properties of saponins of four important oil yielding medicinal plant extracts on selected oral pathogens that are involved in such diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS Saponins were extracted from Bauhinia purpurea, Madhuca longif...