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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Moon publishing : Seoul Korea, 1985;755-761.

2. Lee WT . Standard illu stration s of Korean

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3. Bae KH. Medicinal plant s of Korea, Kyo-

Hak publishing : Seoul Korea, 2000;488- 489.

4. Sakagami Y, Mizoguchi Y, Miyajima K, et

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inchinko- to intrahepatic cholest asis induc-

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안병민. 인진쑥(茵蔯蒿)이란 무엇인가? 사철쑥, 더위지기와 개똥숙 551

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on April 18, 2000.

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