한국산 인삼(Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer)의 한 성분군인 saponin 류의 말 및 닭의 간 alcohol dehydrogenase(ADH)에 미치는 영향을 분광학적으로 관찰함으로써 다음과 같은 결과를 얻었다. 1) 말과 닭의 간 ADH의 $K_m$ 값은 각각 $8{ imes}10^{-4}M$ 및 $5.1{ imes}10^{-4}M$이다. 2) ADH, ethanol의 농도를 일정하게 유지하고 saponin의 농도를 증가시키면 saponin 농도의 증가에 따라 ADH의 활성이 점차척으로 증가하나, 반응액에서의 saponin 류의 농도가 어느 이상(말은 $0.53{ imes}l0^{-3}%$ 닭은 $0.27{ imes}10^{-3}%$) 이 되면 ADH 활성은 오히려 감소되었다. 3) 반응액에서의 saponin 류의 농도가 $1.33{ imes}10^{-5}{sim}6.6{ imes}10^{-5}%$ 일때의 말의 간 ADH의 반응 속도와 ethanol 농도와의 관계는 sigrnoid 형의 곡선으로 표시되었다. 4) 인삼 saponin 류의 농도 뿐 아니라, ethanol 농도에 따라서도 크게 다르며 반응액에서의 인삼 saponin 류의 농도가 $1.33{ imes}10^{-5}%$이고 ethanol의 농도가 2~4mM 범위일 때 말의 간 ADH는 크게 활성화됨을 관찰하였다.
The effect of ginseng saponins on equine and chicken hepatic alcohol dehydrogenases was investigated spectrophotometric ally and the following results were obtained. 1) The Km values of equine and chicken hepatic ADH were found to be $8{ imes}10^{-4}M$ and $5.1{ imes}10^{-4}M$ respectively. 2) When the concentration of ginseng saponins of ADH reaction mixture in the presence of known amounts of ADH and ethanol, the activity of ADH increased gradually as the concentration of the saponins increased. It was found, however, that the activity of the hepatic ADH decreased when the concentration of the saponins was over $0.53{ imes}10^{-3}%$ (horse) and $0.27{ imes}10^{-3}%$ (chicken) respectively. 3) The velocity-concentration curves of the ADH reactions in vitro in the presence of the saponins ranging from $1.33{ imes}10^{-5}%$ were found to be sigmoid. 4) It was realized that the effect of the saponins on ADH activity was dependent not only upon its concentration but also upon the concentration of substrate and that the optimal concentrations of saponins and ethanol for the maximum activity of horse ADH were $1.33{ imes}10^{-5}%$ and 2~4 mM respectively.
