Abstract
Ginseng has been known in Korea as a health-supportive herbal medicine from time immemorial. Red ginseng is one of processed ginseng that is produced from white ginseng through steaming and drying. Many protective functions of red ginseng have been reported from various groups in many diseases. In this study, we first investigated whether red ginseng water extract (RG) aggravates inflammation in human sebocytes and outer root sheath (ORS) cells after treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and mice with Cutibacterium (C.) acnes strain (ATCC 1182)-induced inflammatory nodules. Sebocytes and ORS cells were isolated and cultured from the human scalp. The RG augmented LPS mediated inflammation by increased the mRNA and protein expression of inflammatory cytokines in sebocytes and ORS cells. In addition, RG also showed the increased protein expression of p-NFκB, p-c-jun and p-JNK in the LPS-treated sebocytes and ORS cells. Furthermore, RG upregulated the LPS-induced production of sebum in sebocytes. In addition, RG inhibited improvement of inflammatory nodules and showed the increased expression of inflammatory biomarkers in inflammatory nodules of Cutibacterium acnes injected mice. Collectively, our data strongly suggest that RG is one of the aggravating factors of acne vulgaris. It would be better to stop taking RG in patients with inflammatory acne.
Red Ginseng Acidic Polysaccharides Promote the Expression of Acne-Related Inflammatory Biomarkers in Lipopolysaccharide-Treated Sebocytes and Outer Root Sheath Cells and Cutibacterium acnes-Injected Mice
