Page 22 - A. Aging

[A. Aging-12]

Long-term administration of red ginseng non-saponin

fraction rescues the loss of skeletal muscle mass and

function associated with aging in mice

Da Eun Cho¹, Gwang Muk Choi¹, Hyein Song², Mijung Yeom³, Bombi Lee³, Dae Hyun Hahm¹˙³˙⁴

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea,

²Department of Medicinal Bioscience, Nonsan Interdisciplinary & Creative Studies Campus, Konyang University,
Nonsan-si 32992, Republic of Korea, ³Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University,

Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea, ⁴Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul
02447, Republic of Korea

Korean red ginseng has been known to relieve fatigue and enhance the physical performance especially in the

elderly. Anti-sarcopenic effect of its non-saponin fraction (RGNS) was investigated in 22-month-old mice,
administered with 0.08% RGNS chow diet for another 4 months. Aging-associated weight loss of hindlimb skeletal

muscles such as tibials anterior, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), gastrocnemius and soleus was significantly
alleviated by RGNS treatment. The cross-sectional areas of soleus, decreased by 40 % in aged mice raised from 22

to 26 months, were mitigated to 12.5%, and a shift of fast- to slow-twitch muscle type, observed in soleus and EDL
was also retarded. In order to elicit a senescence in C2C12 myoblasts, the cells were treated with C2-ceramide, and

RGNS 1h earlier. RGNS significantly alleviated C2-ceramide-induced senescence indicated by intracellular lipid
accumulation, increased amount of lysosomal β-galactosidase, cell cycle retardation, and reduced cell proliferative

capacity. RGNS restored C2-ceramide-stimulated expression of p21, p57, p16, MuRF1 and atrogen-1, and the
suppression of Pax-7 in a dose dependent manner. RGNS thus might be invaluable for the development of

therapeutic medicines to rescue sarcopenia and its accompanying muscle dysfunction.