Abstract
Objective: Cultivated Ginseng Radix has been extensively used in the traditional oriental medicine as a restorative, tonic and prophylatic agent. Recently. several reports regarding to the anticancer effects of Cultivated Ginseng Radix accumulated, In this study, the author investigated the effect of Mountain Grown Ginseng Radix, Mountain Cultivated Ginseng Radix, and Cultivated Ginseng Radix on cell viability in HL-60 cells. Methods: Cells were incubated with various concentrations $(10^{-2},\;10^{-3},\;10^{04}\;)$ of Mountain Grown Ginseng Radix. Mountain Cultivated Ginseng Radix, and Cultivated Ginseng Radix or medium (control) for 24 h and 48 h Cel] viability was analyzed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2 yl)-2.5 diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, trypan blue exclusion test, morphological change, DNA fragmentation, and flow cytometry. Result: After these ginseng exposure, cell viability was markedly decreased. To determine whether ginseng-induced cytotoxicity is involved in tumor necrosis $factor-\alpha\;(TNF-\alpha)$ secretion, $TNF-\alpha$ secretion was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, Surprisingly, ginseng significantly decreased the $TNF-\alpha$ production compared with media control. Conclusion: These results suggest that ginseng-induced cytotoxicity has no concern with the secretion of $TNF-\alpha$ in HL-60 ce]]s. Also, three different kinds of ginseng with $rIFN-\gammer$ sinergistically increased nitric oxide (NO) production in mouse peritoneal macrophages. In summary, Mountain Grown Ginseng Radix showed the highest cytotoxicity on HL-60 cells among three different kinds of ginseng,