Ginsenoside Rg1 enhances CD4(+) T-cell activities and modulates Th1/Th2 differentiation.
Panax ginseng is commonly used as a tonic medicine in Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. It has been reported that ginsenoside Rg1 in P. ginseng increases the proportion of T helper (Th) cells among the total number of T cells and promotes IL-2 gene expression in murine splenocytes. This implies that ginsenoside Rg1 increases the immune activity of CD4(+) T cells, however, the exact mechanism remains unknown. The present study elucidated the direct effect of Rg1 on helper T-cell activities and on Th1/Th2 lineage development. The results demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg1 had no mitogenic effects on unstimulated CD4(+) T cells, but augmented CD4(+) T-cell proliferation upon activation with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibodies in a dose-dependent manner. Rg1 also enhanced the expression of cell surface protein CD69 on CD4(+) T cells. In Th0 condition, ginsenoside Rg1 increases the expression of IL-2 mRNA, and enhances the expression of IL-4 mRNA on CD4(+) T cells, suggesting that Rg1 prefers to induce Th2 lineage development. In addition, ginsenoside Rg1 increases IL-4 secretion in CD4(+) T cells under Th2 skewed condition, while decreasing IFN-gamma secretion of cells in Th1 polarizing condition. Thus, Rg1 enhances Th2 lineage development from the naïve CD4(+) T cell both by increasing Th2 specific cytokine secretion and by repressing Th1 specific cytokine production. Therefore, these results suggest that ginsenoside Rg1 is a desirable agent for enhancing CD4(+) T-cell activity, as well as the correction of Th1-dominant pathological disorders.
Department of East-West Medicine Graduate School, Kyunghee University, Seoul, South Korea.
Eui-Joon
EJ
Lee
Eunjung
E
Ko
Jinwoo
J
Lee
Samwoong
S
Rho
Seonggyu
S
Ko
Min-Kyu
MK
Shin
Byung-Il
BI
Min
Moo-Chang
MC
Hong
Si-Young
SY
Kim
Hyunsu
H
Bae
D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D005894:Panax; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
D016207:Cytokines; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D036145:Ginsenosides; D007376:Interleukin-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma; C035054:ginsenoside Rg1