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대한간학회지 제 6 권 제 4 호 2000 ; 548-551
Nothing is more closely related to humans
than the plant , named sook in Korea. A very
famous story, which has been passed down
through generations, talks about a bear that
endured 100 days in a cave eating only sook
and garlic and became a bride of the mythical
ancestor of Koreans, T ankoon. The word
sook originates from the description of a
plant ' s ability to rapidly grow even in infertile
soil. The shoot of sook appears from the
ground in early spring, appearing soft and mild,
tasting slightly bitter and spreading a
chracteristic fragrance. In terms of nutrition, it
has been a source of vitamins to Koreans for
centuries. Koreans have enjoyed the shoot of
the sook in soups and in rice cakes.
However , sook grows very rapidly as high as
the knees in some cases, forming rigid stems
and leaves along the way. It also has a strong
bitter taste. Thus, sook is rarely used as a
food material during summer. The stems and
leaves die completely in winter except for the
roots which extend around and grow the
shoots that will emerge in the following spring.
T he scientific name of sook mentioned above
is A rtem isia p rinceps var. orientalis (Fig. 1).
In Korea a total of 28 species are present in
Figure 1. Artemisia princeps var. orientalis
<간과 관련된 한국의 민간요법 비평 (3)>
인진쑥(茵蔯蒿)이란 무엇인가?
사철쑥(Artemisia capillaris), 더위지기(Artemisia iwayomogi)와
개똥쑥(Artemisia annua)
가톨릭대학교 의과대학 내과학교실 대전성모병원
안 병 민
What is In-Jin-Sook?
Artemisia capillaris, Artemisia iwayomogi, and Artemisia annua
Byung Min Ahn, M.D.
Daejeon St. Many 's Hospital, Department of Jnternal Medicine. College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea
Byung Min Ahn. What is In-Jin-Sook? Artemisia capillaris, Artemisia iwayomogi, and Artemisia annua 549
g enera A rtem is ia which belongs to the class
Camp anulales and the family Comp os itae .1,2
Ever since it s fir st mention in the old Chinese
bible of medicinal plant s it has been used in
the treatment for jaundice and liver diseases of
various origin . T here are at least three species
of g enera A rtem is ia claimed as In - Jin - Sook in
Korea ; A rtem is ia cap illaris (Fig . 2), A rtem is ia
iway om og i (Fig. 3) and A rtem is ia annua (Fig. 4).3
In contrast , there have been several studies on
the therapeutic effect s of A rtem is ia cap illaris
on the various liver diseases and cholestasis in
Japan.4 ,5 Recent scientific analy sis reveal that
inhibitory activity on T GF - beta 1 induced
apoptosis of hepatocyte by capillin and
capilliene6 contained in A rtem is ia cap illaris and
on F as induced apoptosis by genipin7 which is
(a )
(b )Figure 2. Artemisia capillaris
Figure 3. Artemisia iwayomogi
Figure 4. Artemisia annua
a kind of metabolite of A rtem is ia cap illaris
produced by intestinal bacteria.
In - Jin - Sook is probably the most common
plant among the various herbal remedies being
u sed in the treatment of liver diseases in
Korea . T he dried whole stem s and leaves (Fig .
5) are commonly u sed for making w ater
extract s through the process of long time
boiling , however , so far there have been no
w ell known studies on In - Jin - Sook in Korea.
Furthermore, the elevation of tran saminases ,
aggravation of known hepatitis and acute
hepatitis with jaundice are observed infreque-
ntly in the subject s who have ingested
In - Jin - Sook. Although In - Jin - Sook induced
hepatitis are more commonly found in long
550 대한간학회지 제 6 권 제 4 호 2000
Figure 5. The dried whole stems and leares of In-Jin-Sook
term u ser s u sing large amount or high
concentrated regimen, the mechanism s behind
liver injuries caused by In - Jin - Sook has not
been clearly defined. Most of the patient s do
not show hyper sentivity such as fever , skin
rash , and eosinophilia. T he dose dependency
might indicate mild intrinsic hepatotoxicity as
a mechanism of liver injury . However , further
investigation s should be performed on whether
the possible hepatotoxicity comes from the
component of In - Jin - Sook or some possible
additives which are added to dried In - Jin - Sook
imported from China. Furthermore, fir st we
evaluate the species of A rtem is ia as a causal
plant for the In - Jin - Sook related liver injuries
in Korea. In fact , there are flood of advertise-
ment s on the various product s made from
In - Jin - Sook which has not clearly identified
the precise species, although the Korea F ood
and Drug Administration indicated A rtem is ia
cap illaris as the In - Jin - Sook which was
allowed as a food supplement .8 From the view
point of the subject s who eat In - Jin - Sook
product s, most of them ingested it for a
certain pharmacological effi-
cacy rather than as a bev -
erage or a food.
Even though certain her -
bal remedies may be effe-
ctive, do their benefit s out -
w eigh the risks? In the
United States and European
countries where various her -
bal medicines are sold as
food supplement s, there are
significant problem s expo-
sing the control of their
quality and safety .9 ,10 T he
minister for public health in
the UK recently pointed out that the regimen
for un - licensed medicines does not give
sy stematic protection to the public against low
quality and unsafe unlicenced herbal reme-
dies .10 ,11 An important lesson should be
learned from the current situation in the UK.
A cknow ledg em ent : T he author deeply thanks
Prof. Ki- Hwan Bae for the photograph of
A rtem is ia annua and some critical comment s .
References
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안병민. 인진쑥(茵蔯蒿)이란 무엇인가? 사철쑥, 더위지기와 개똥숙 551
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