20 s ginsenosides rb1 grb1

RGE was purchased from the Punggi Ginseng Cooperative Association (Youngjoo, Kyungpook, Korea) (Table 1). 20(S)-ginsenosides Rb1 (GRb1), GRb2, GRc, GRd, GRg1, GRg3, GRe, GRh1, GRh2, GF1, GF2, 20(S)-compound K (CK), 20(S)-proptopanaxadiol (PPD), and 20(S)-protopanaxatriol (PPT) were purchased from the Ambo Institute (Daejeon, Korea). Hank’s balanced salt solution (HBSS, pH 7.4), propranolol, caffeine, atenolol, ofloxacin, metformin, berberine (internal standards, IS), and pooled mouse plasma were purchased from Sigma–Aldrich Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA). Commercially available lactic acid bacterial formulation (LAB) was purchased from Chong Kun Dang Health Care (Dangjin-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea) (Table 2). Difco Lactobacilli MRS broth was purchased from BD BioSciences (Sparks, MD, USA). Collagen-coated 12-transwell, Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), fecal bovine serum, non-essential amino acids, penicillin-streptomycin, pooled liver microsomes prepared from male CD-1 mice were purchased from Corning Life Sciences (Tewksbury, MA, USA). All other chemicals and solvents were of reagent or analytical grade.

RGE was purchased from Punggi Ginseng Cooperative Association (Youngjoo, Kyungpook, Korea) and was produced in the facilities following the current guidelines of the Korea Good Manufacturing Practice. This product (Hwangpoonjung, Lot No. 731902) contains more than 60% of dried ginseng cultivated for 6 years, and the total amount of GRb1, GRg1, and GRg3 marker ginsenosides is 9 mg/g RGE. The following ginsenosides were purchased from the Ambo Institute (Daejeon, Korea): 20(S)-ginsenosides Rb1 (GRb1), GRb2, GRc, GRd, GRg1, GRg3, GRe, GRh1, GF1, GF2, CK, PPD, and PPT (Figure 1). For the internal standard (IS), both Berberine and ¹³C-caffeine were used and purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA). Mannitol, lactose, sucrose, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA). Trehalose, cross-linked polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVPc), polyethyleneglycol 1500 (P1500), and polyethyleneglycol 6000 (P6000) were provided by Acros (Leicestershire, England). Silicon dioxide (SiO₂; Aerosil 200) was obtained from Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Seoul, Korea). All other chemicals and solvents utilized in this study were of reagent or analytical grade.