A Korean research team has found that red ginseng may help improve respiratory health, including alleviating asthma symptoms, by modulating immune responses through dendritic cells.

The findings will be presented at the fall conference of the Korean Society of Ginseng at Seoul National University on Wednesday.

The study was conducted by Professor Park Sang-chul and his team from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital.

The researchers reported that red ginseng extract influences the activity of dendritic cells, which serve as the immune system’s gatekeepers by detecting bacteria, viruses, and allergens and relaying these antigens to T cells to trigger immune reactions.

While properly regulated dendritic cells help eliminate pathogens and maintain immune balance, excessive activation can drive harmful inflammation, contributing to allergic reactions and respiratory conditions such as asthma.

Regulating dendritic cell activity has therefore been regarded as a key goal in respiratory immunology research.

Professor Park’s team used cytokine secretion patterns and co-stimulatory molecule expression as indicators to study how red ginseng exerts its immunomodulatory effects.

When bone marrow-derived dendritic cells from mice were treated with red ginseng extract, inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 decreased by up to 37 percent, while the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 increased.

Further co-culture experiments with T cells showed that pro-inflammatory IL-17A secretion dropped by more than 29 percent, while IFN-γ, a cytokine critical for immune balance, rose by about 22 percent.

The researchers confirmed that ginsenosides, the main active compounds in red ginseng, played a pivotal role by directly modulating dendritic cell signaling pathways that govern T cell responses.

Animal experiments supported the laboratory findings.

In an asthma mouse model, oral administration of ginsenoside and non-ginsenoside fractions for 10 days reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in the airways compared with control groups. Histological analysis of lung tissue also revealed suppressed mucus overproduction and inflammation, confirming an anti-asthmatic effect.

“Our study demonstrates that red ginseng regulates immunity through dendritic cell-mediated mechanisms,” Professor Park said. “This provides important scientific evidence for the potential use of red ginseng in preventing and treating respiratory diseases such as asthma.”