Korean Panax Ginseng Reduces Orthodontic Tooth Movement in Rats

Abstract

Ginseng, a herbal plant, is rich in pharmacologically active ginsenosides capable of promoting bone regeneration and of reducing inflammatory osteolysis. Ginseng was therefore proposed to reduce the catabolic changes during periodontitis. Here, we tested the capability of ginseng to modulate orthodontic tooth movement (OTM). To this aim, 55 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly distributed into five groups: (I) a normal group without any interventions; (II) an untreated OTM serving as a control; and (III, IV, and V) treated OTMs receiving daily oral administrations of 75, 150, and 300 mg/kg of a standardized extract from the roots of Korean Panax ginseng G115 for three weeks, respectively. The molar tooth was moved towards the incisor during three weeks followed by measurements of the distance between the first and the second molars. Moreover, the impact of OTM and ginseng extracts on body weight was determined. Our data showed that, compared with the OTM control, 150 and 300 mg/kg of G115 ginseng extract significantly decreased the OTM from 0.87 mm (min 0.69; max 0.96) to 0.53 (min 0.42, max 0.62; p = 0.002) and 0.36 (min 0.27, max 0.43; p < 0.0001), respectively. Moreover, 150 and 300 mg/kg of G115 significantly lowered the body weights of the rats when compared with the respective controls (p = 0.002 and p < 0.0001, respectively). These findings suggest that extracts from Panax ginseng are capable of reducing orthodontic tooth movement in rats and is associated with a decrease in body weight.