Abstract
Black ginseng (BG, CJ EnerG), prepared via nine repeated cycles of steaming and drying of fresh ginseng, contains more accessible acid polysaccharides and smaller and less polar ginsenosides than red ginseng (RG) processed only once. Because RG exhibits the ability to increase host protection against viral respiratory infections, we investigated the antiviral effects of BG. Mice were orally administered either BG or RG extract at 10 mg/kg bw daily for two weeks. Mice were then infected with a A(H1N1) pdm09 (A/California/04/2009) virus and fed extracts for an additional week. Untreated, infected mice were assigned to either the negative control, without treatments, or the positive control, treated with Tamiflu. Infected mice were monitored for 14 days to determine the survival rate. Lung tissues were evaluated for virus titer and by histological analyses. Cytokine levels were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Mice treated with BG displayed a 100% survival rate against infection, while mice treated with RG had a 50% survival rate. Further, mice treated with BG had fewer accumulated inflammatory cells in bronchioles following viral infection than did mice treated with RG. BG also enhanced the levels of GM-CSF and IL-10 during the early and late stages of infection, respectively, compared to RG. Thus, BG may be useful as an alternative antiviral adjuvant to modulate immune responses to influenza A virus.
Highlights
Influenza viruses are RNA viruses of seven different genera in the family Orthomyxoviridae: Influenza viruses A, B, C, and D, Quaranjavirus, Thogotovirus, and Isavirus [1,2]
To identify differences in the composition of red ginseng (RG) and BG, we measured the amounts of acid polysaccharides and major ginsenosides (Table 1)
Our results suggest that oral administration of BG improves antiviral activity and prevents histopathological alterations against lethal influenza A virus
Summary
Influenza viruses are RNA viruses of seven different genera in the family Orthomyxoviridae: Influenza viruses A, B, C, and D, Quaranjavirus, Thogotovirus, and Isavirus [1,2]. The influenza type A virus is responsible for the most common outbreaks of clinical respiratory diseases. These include all the human influenza pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu, 1957 Asian flu, 1968. Hong Kong flu, and most recently, the 2009 swine flu [3,4,5]. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States recently announced influenza surveillance reports based on data collected from October 2018 through May 2019. In this time frame, influenza caused an estimated. Influenza vaccination and antiviral treatments have been used as the most effective methods to prevent the spread and reduce the mortality of novel and potentially pandemic influenza viruses
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