- P-ISSN 1010-0695
- E-ISSN 2288-3339
So-Hap-Hyang-Won, a traditional oriental medicine used in the treatment of stroke patients, was examined for its ability to reverse the cell damage caused by lipid peroxidation products and oxidative stress in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC). The effects of herbal medicine on cell proliferation and recovery of oxidative damaged situation were studied in BAEC, which was considered an appropriate in vitro model for stroke resulting from various vascular diseases prevalent in advanced age. In a clinical study of stroke patients, So-Hap-Hyang-Won appeared to improve considerably arm and leg movements as well as consciousness disturbance condition, compared with other traditional medicines used for stroke. When BAEC were treated with extracts of the lyophilized herbal medicines, only that of So-Hap-Hyang-Won stimulated cell proliferation and showed no toxicity even at high concentrations. In studies of BAEC treated with extracts of the lyophilized material of the 14 components of So-Hap-Hyang-Won, only the extract of Foeniculi Fructus stimulated cell growth at all concentrations tested. Moreover, when cells were treated with Foeniculi Fructus (10 and 100 mg/ml) extract after prior exposure to t-BHP (10μM) or HNE (0.2μM), lipid peroxidation products which are known to be involved in aging and vascular diseases, or after the exposure to SIN-1(500μM), which generates nitric oxide (NO) and other reactive oxygen species, there was substantial recovery from the oxidative damage, presumably due to the radical-scavenging effect of Foeniculi Fructusextract. Foeniculi Fructus not only showed stimulatory effects on cell growth and cell damage repair in BAEC, but also appeared to show the most anti-aging activity among all the herb components of So-Hap-Hyang-Won.