Ginseng injections

Systematic reviews Adverse reactions to Ciwujia injection (Siberian Ginseng injection) recorded in a major Chinese database have been reviewed [19 ]. Of 800 clinical studies on the efficacy and safety of Ciwujia injection, 97 (12%) reported 285 cases of adverse reactions, the most serious of which involved anaphylactic shock, with four deaths. The most common reaction reported in clinical studies was pain at the injection site. 

Kim, D.-H., Jung, J.-S., Moon, Y.-S., Sung, J.-H., Suh, H.-W., Kim, Y.-H., and Song, D.-K. (2003a). Inhibition of intracerebroventricular injection stress induced plasma corticosterone levels by intracerebroventricularly administered compound K, a ginseng saponin metabolite, in mice. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 26,1035-1038. 

The blood radioactivity decreased in a triphasic manner after intravenous injection of [3H]ginsenoside Rgl to mice (Liu and Xiao, 1992). Other Chinese studies have characterized the biotransformation of ginsenoside 20(1S)-Rg2, one of the main constituents of ginseng roots and leaves. Its metabolism is complex and involves multiple hydrolysis reactions in the gastrointestinal tract. Metabolites of 20(5)-Rg2 include 20(5)-Rhl and 20(S)-protopanaxatriol. Details of the biotransformation of 20(5)-Rg2 and chemical structures of the ginsenosides are available in the cited reference (Liu and Xiao, 1992). 

Two polysaccharides isolated from the tissue cultures of ginseng and cultivated ginseng root caused, at a concentration of 20 and 40 mg/kg i.v. injection, a marked increase in spleen weight, enhanced the carbon clearance rate in mice and significantly promoted the production of serum specific antibody hemolysins as well as the IgG level in mice. They also enhanced DTH of footpad induced by SRBC in mice, but had no effect on graft-versus-host-reaction (GVHR) in mice [69]. 

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