Korean red ginseng has been studied various biological activities such as immune, anti-oxidative, anti-microbial, and anticancer activities but antiviral mechanism needs further studies. In this study, we aimed to examine the antiviral effects of Korea red ginseng extract and ginsenosides on norovirus surrogate, including murine norovirus (MNV) and feline calicivirus (FCV). We evaluated the pre-, co-, and post-treatment effects of Korean red ginseng (KRG), ginsenosides Rb 1 , and Rg 1 . To measure the antiviral effect and cytotoxicity of KRG extract, and ginsenosides Rb 1 , and Rg 1 , we treated Crandell-Reese Feline Kidney for FCY or RAW264.7 cells for MNV with concentrations of 0, 5, 6.7, 10,20 ug/ml, total saponin. There was cytotoxic effect in the highest concentration 20 ug/mL of KRG extract so this concentration was excluded in this study. The FCV titer was significantly reduced to 0.23-0.83 log 10 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID 50 )/mL in groups pre-treated with red ginseng extract or ginsenosides. The titer of MNY was significantly reduced to 0.37-1.48 log 10 TCID 50 mL in groups pre-treated with red ginseng extract or ginsenosides. However, there was no observed antiviral effect in groups co-treated or post-treated with KRG and its constituents. Our data suggest that KRG extract has an antiviral effect against norovirus surrogates. The antiviral mechanisms of KRG and ginsenosides should be addressed in future studies.
