Compounds In Chinese Herbs Research Articles

Herbal medicines for treating HIV infection and AIDS.

HIV-infected people and AIDS patients often seek complementary therapies including herbal medicines due to reasons such as unsatisfactory effects, high cost, non-availability, or adverse effects of conventional medicines. To assess beneficial effects and risks of herbal medicines in patients with HIV infection and AIDS. Electronic searches included the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, Science Citation Index, the Chinese Biomedical Database, TCMLARS; plus CISCOM, AMED, and NAPRALERT; combined with manual searches. The search ended in December 2004. Randomized clinical trials on herbal medicines compared with no intervention, placebo, or antiretroviral drugs in patients with HIV infection, HIV-related disease, or AIDS. The outcomes included mortality, HIV disease progression, new AIDS-defining event, CD4 cell counts, viral load, psychological status, quality of life, and adverse effects. Two authors extracted data independently and assessed the methodological quality of trials according to randomization, allocation concealment, double blinding, and drop-out. Nine randomized placebo-controlled trials involving 499 individuals with HIV infection and AIDS met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of trials was assessed as adequate in five full publications and unclear in other trials. Eight different herbal medicines were tested.A compound of Chinese herbs (IGM-1) showed significantly better effect than placebo in improvement of health-related quality of life in 30 symptomatic HIV-infected patients (WMD 0.66, 95% CI 0.05 to 1.27). IGM-1 appeared not to affect overall health perception, symptom severity, CD4 count, anxiety or depression (Burack 1996a). An herbal formulation of 35 Chinese herbs did not affect CD4 cell counts, viral load, AIDS events, symptoms, psychosocial measure, or quality of life (Weber 1999). There was no statistical difference between SPV30 and placebo in new AIDS-defining events, CD4 cell counts, or viral load (Durant 1998) although an earlier pilot trial showed positive effect of SPV30 on CD4 cell count (Durant 1997). Combined treatment of Chinese herbal compound SH and antiretroviral agents showed increased antiviral benefit compared with antiretrovirals alone (Sangkitporn 2004). SP-303 appeared to reduce stool weight (p = 0.008) and abnormal stool frequency (p = 0.04) in 51 patients with AIDS and diarrhoea (Holodniy 1999). Qiankunning appeared not to affect HIV-1 RNA levels (Shi 2003), Curcumin ineffective in reducing viral load or improving CD4 cell counts (Hellinger 1996), and Capsaicin ineffective in relieving pain associated with HIV-related peripheral neuropathy (Paice 2000). The occurrence of adverse effects was higher in the 35 Chinese herbs preparation (19/24) than in placebo (11/29) (79% versus 38%, p = 0.003) (Weber 1999). Qiankunning was associated with stomach discomfort and diarrhoea (Shi 2003). There is insufficient evidence to support the use of herbal medicines in HIV-infected individuals and AIDS patients. Potential beneficial effects need to be confirmed in large, rigorous trials.

Four Groups of Chinese Herb Compound Meliorates the Abnormity of Hemorheology and Muscle Astrophy in Rats Under Simulated Weightlessness

目的 观察四组中药合剂对尾吊大鼠血液流变学异常和肌肉退行性变的防护作用.方法采用大鼠头低位30°尾部悬吊模型模拟失重对机体的影响.120只SD雄性大鼠随机分为6组:对照组、单纯尾吊组、丹黄刺组(尾吊同时给予丹参、黄芪和刺五加生药的水煎剂)、参川熟组(尾吊同时给予川芎生药、熟地和人参地上甙的水煎剂)、参山杜组(尾吊同时给予西洋参、山楂、杜仲生药的水煎剂)、参银生组(尾吊同时给予人参根、银杏叶、生地的水煎剂).实验第30d,经心脏取血,检测全血粘度、红细胞变形性、纤维蛋白原含量、血细胞压积、红细胞形态、肌肉重量、肌纤维类型和面积等指标.结果单纯尾吊导致大鼠体重明显降低(p<0.001),肌肉重量、肌肉纤维面积、I型纤维比例显著下降(p<0.05,0.01),中切和低切血粘度、纤维蛋白原含量、异形红细胞比例明显增高(p<0.001);红细胞最大变形指数(DImax)和积分变形指数(IDI)(p<0.001,0.01)、血细胞压积明显降低(p<0.001).中药合剂组与单纯尾吊组相比,血液流变学指标有较大改善,并可显著增加尾吊大鼠腓肠肌重量(p<0.05).结论中药合剂可改善尾吊导致的血液流变学及肌肉组织改变。

Differentiation in a Rat PC12 Cell Line Induced by Ostruthin and (-)-Bornyl Ferulate, Constituents of a Chinese Herbal Medicine

A search for neuritogenic compounds in Chinese herbs resulted in the isolation of two known substances, ostruthin and (-)-bornyl ferulate, from Notopterygium incisum (and/or N. forbesii). Both compounds induced comparable neurite-like structures in 20% of rat PC12 cells at 2 micrograms/ml, and showed cytotoxicity at concentrations higher than 3 micrograms/ml.

Superoxide scavenging activity of BG-104 before and after sonication-determined by ESR spin trapping method

BG-104 is a compound of Chinese herbs which were treated with infrared ray-heating and brewed with microorganisms resulting in activation of actual principles contained in the herbs, and its effectiveness has been reported on various inflammatory disorders such as Behcet's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, bacterial infections and so on. In addition, it is noted as an effective agent to retard cancer progress. This report shows a superoxide scavenging activity of BG-104 using an ESR spin trapping method. For the measurement of superoxide scavenging activity, recombinant human superoxide dismutase is used as a standard. Superoxide scavenging activity of BG-104 increases in a dose-dependent manner and activity is significantly augmented by its sonication.