The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and anti-obesity effects of the Korean red ginseng extract in dogs. To this end, we fed healthy beagles a Korean red ginseng diet and/or snack for 8 weeks. The dogs were submitted to a thorough physical examination, complete blood count, serum biochemistry analysis, analysis of adipose tissue activity, and body fat-con- tent analysis by computed tomography (CT). At the end of the study period, the dogs that were fed the ginseng extract-diet/snack showed a significant decrease in body weight, body condition score and leptin levels relative to the baseline value. The CT findings revealed a decrease in body fat content in dogs fed the ginseng extract diet but not in those fed the ginseng-extract snack. The results of blood analysis did not show any meaningful changes in any of the dogs. All dogs tolerated the diet/snack well, and there were no adverse events. Our results suggest that the Korean red ginseng extract diet can potentially serve as an anti-obesity diet for reducing fat mass in dogs.

This study investigated the quantitative anatomy of photosynthetic tissues (leaf mesostructure) of wild ginseng Panax ginseng C.A. Mey. (Araliaceae) plants from different natural habitats. The structural and functional traits of the photosynthetic apparatus shown to be especially elastic were mesophyll cell volume (Cv >40%) and traits related to filling of the leaf with cells and plastids (Cv≥21%). P. ginseng possesses relatively few cells per leaf area (44.6-107.2 103/cm2) and chloroplasts (1.7-4.9 106/cm2). Also low are the values of such integral indexes as relative surface of mesophyll cells (Ames/A, 2.78-5.28) and relative surface of chloroplasts (Achl/A, 1.9-3.2). The leaf mesostructure of wild ginseng shows traits of a plant typically found in shady forest habitats. The photosynthetic apparatus of ginseng adapts to various habitat conditions on the level of leaf mesostructure, through structural transformations of mesophyll tissue, such as changes in the number and size of cells and chloroplasts and also the integral surface indexes Achl/A and Ames/A.