Ginsenosides are not only the principal bioactive components, but also the important indexes to the quality assessment of Panax ginseng Meyer. Their contents in cultivated ginseng vary with the growth environment and age. The present study aimed at evaluating the significant difference between 36 cultivated ginseng of different cultivation areas and ages based on the simultaneously determined contents of 14 ginsenosides.

Ginseng is a traditional herbal medicine for human health. Ginseng contains a bioactive ligand named gintonin. The active ingredient of gintonin is lysophosphatidic acid C18:2 (LPA C18:2). We previously developed a method for gintonin-enriched fraction (GEF) preparation to mass-produce gintonin from ginseng. However, previous studies did not show the presence of other bioactive lipids besides LPAs. The aim of this study was to quantify the fatty acids, lysophospholipids (LPLs), and phospholipids (PLs) besides LPAs in GEF.

Streptococcus pneumoniae, more than 90 serotypes of which exist, is recognized as an etiologic agent of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Immunization with a pneumococcal pep27 mutant (Δpep27) has been shown to confer comprehensive, long-term protection against even non-typeable strains. However, Δpep27 is only effective as a vaccine after at least 3 rounds of immunization. Therefore, treatments capable of enhancing the efficiency of Δpep27 immunization should be identified without delay.

Inflammation is an innate immune response that protect the body from pathogens, toxins, and other dangers and initiated by recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) expressing on or in immune cells. Intracellular PRRs, including nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs), absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), and cysteine aspartate-specific protease (caspase)-4/5/11 recognize various PAMPs and DAMPs and assemble protein complexes called ‘inflammasomes’.

In the current phytochemical research on ginseng, the differentiation and structural identification of ginsenosides isomers remain challenging. In this paper, a two-dimensional mass spectrometry (2D-MS) method was developed and combined with statistical analysis for the direct differentiation, identification and relative quantification of protopanaxadiol (PPD)-type ginsenoside isomers.

The synergistic effect of maclurin on CK-induced inhibition of the transcriptional expression of MMP-1 was investigated in HaCaT human keratinocyte cells. Maclurin suppresses transcriptional expression of MMP-1 via inhibition of ERK/Ets-1 signaling. The combination of CK and maclurin may be promising way to be used as an anti-skin aging agent.

The root and rhizome are historically and officially utilized as medicinal parts of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen (PN), which in raw and steamed forms are differently used in practice.