Radioprotective Effects of Ginsan, an Immunomodulator

Abstract Song, J-Y., Han, S-K., Bae, K-G., Lim, D-S., Son, S-J., Jung, I-S., Yi, S-Y. and Yun, Y-S. Radioprotective Effects of Ginsan, an Immunomodulator. Radiat. Res. 159, 768–774 (2003). We previously reported that ginsan, a purified polysaccharide isolated from Panax ginseng, had a mitogenic activity, induced LAK cells, and increased levels of several cytokines. In an effort to identify other immunostimulatory effects, we evaluated the protective effects of ginsan injected in vivo against radiation by measuring its effects on the CFU-S bone marrow cells and spleen cells. Ginsan was found to significantly increase the number of bone marrow cells, spleen cells, granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells (GM-CFC), and circulating neutrophils, lymphocytes and platelets in irradiated mice. In addition, ginsan induced the endogenous production of cytokines such as Il1, Il6, Ifng and Il12, which are required for hematopoietic recovery, and was able to enhance Th1 function while interfering with the Th2 respo...