Ginsenoside metabolite compound K exerts anti-inflammatory effect via suppressing T cell activation

Ginsenoside metabolite compound K (CK, 20-O-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol), a novel ginsenoside metabolite, belongs to dammarane-type triterpene saponins according to its structure. The anti-inflammatory activity of CK has been identified in several studies. Our previous study demonstrated that CK exerted anti-inflammatory effect on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) animal models, and this effect was due to inhibiting the abnormal activation and differentiation of T cells. Our recent study showed that the inhibitory effect of CK on T cell activation was related to suppressing CCL21-CCR7-mediated migration of dendritic cells (DCs) and signals between T cells and DCs. In this brief review, we summarize recent studies on the anti-inflammatory effect of CK and highlight recent advances in our understanding of how CK contributes to the anti-inflammatory effect via suppressing T cell activation in autoimmune conditions. Elucidating the potential mechanism by which CK contributes to the anti-inflammatory effect may provide a rationale for development of CK as new therapeutic agents in treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disease.