Preventive Effect of Korean Red Ginseng for Acute Respiratory Illness: A Randomized and Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Lee, Chang-Seop; Lee, Ju-Hyung; Oh, Mira; Choi, Kyung-Min; Jeong, Mi Ran; Park, Jong-Dae; Kwon, Dae Young; Ha, Ki-Chan; Park, Eun-Ock; Lee, Nuri; Kim, Sun-Young; Choi, Eun-Kyung; Kim, Min-Gul; Chae, Soo-Wan

(25) performed a retrospective study of long term use of KRG in the staff of geriatric hospital. They also reported that KRG has preventive effects on the common cold symptom complex, including flu. However, there was no well designed clinical trial regarding the effect of ARI for KRG. McElbaney et al. (11) compared American ginseng with a placebo in preventing acute respiratory illness in an institutional setting during influenza seasons. In their study, the mean age of volunteers was over 80 yr old, 74% female, and approximately 90% had received influenza vaccine in each of the 2 yr. Confirmation of viral acute respiratory illness was conducted by culture or serology for influenza. They showed that the incidence of laboratory confirmed influenza illness was lower in American ginseng groups than in placebo groups (odds ratio [OR], 0.14; 95% CI, 0.02-0.97). Combined data for laboratory confirmed influenza illness and respiratory syncytial virus illness (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.01-0.86) were also lower in American ginseng study groups than in placebo groups. This suggests that American ginseng is potentially effective for preventing acute respiratory illness. Predy et al. (12, 26) performed a clinical trial that was very similar to our study. The mean age of volunteers was 43, 60% female, and subjects were excluded if they had been vaccinated against influenza in the previous 6 months. The mean number of colds per person was lower in the ginseng group than in the placebo group (ginseng vs placebo, 0.68% vs 0.82%, 95% CI, 0.04-0.45). The proportion of subjects with 2 or more Jackson-verified colds (ginseng vs placebo, 10.0% vs 22.8%, P = 0.004) was significantly lower in the ginseng group than in the placebo group, as were the total symptom score (ginseng vs placebo, 77.5 vs 112.3, P = 0.002), and the total number of days that cold symptoms were reported (ginseng vs placebo, 10.8 vs 16.5, P < 0.001). These results showed that American ginseng had protective effects for ARI. However, the effect of KRG on ARI has not been studied although it is known to have a broad range of biological activities and effect of KRG on influenza A (H1N1) virus infection. In this study, we showed that KRG has a significant protective effect for ARI and decreases the symptom duration and symptom score similar to American ginseng.