Herba Menthae Research Articles

Comparative study on effects of Xiaoyao Powder (逍遥散) and its modified prescription on plasma metabolomics of rats with chronic immobilization stress

To determine the changes in the levels of endogenous metabolites in rats with chronic immobilization stress (CIS) taking Xiaoyao Powder (XYP) and its modified prescription version, which lacks the volatile oils extracted from Herba Menthae. Twenty-four experimental male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups of 6 rats each: control, model, XYP-1 (containing volatile oils from Herba Menthae), and XYP-2 (lacking volatile oils). All rats except control group rats were subjected to CIS 3 h per day for 21 consecutive days. Groups XYP-1 and XYP-2 were given the extracted XYS with or without volatile oils (3.854 g/kg; suspended in distilled water) via gavage 1 h before CIS each day for 21 days. Rats were anesthetized using intraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital sodium (40 mg/kg) on the 22nd day. Observations were made using a Varian INOVA 600 MHz NMR spectrometer at 27 °C. Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) and longitudinal eddy-delay (LED) were applied, resulting in spectra showing only the signals from micro- and macro-metabolites. Compared to controls, rats subjected to CIS showed increased levels of plasma metabolites, such as acetic acid, choline, N-glycoprotein (NAC), saturated fatty acid, and blood sugars. Levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and unsaturated fatty acids were decreased. The biochemical effects of XYS were characterized by elevated levels of VLDL, LDL, threonine, methionine, and glutamic acid in plasma. Some common and characteristic metabolites on the anti-CIS of XYP and its modified prescription were obtained. The metabolomics technology is a valuable tool and may be used to identify the specific metabolites and potential biomarkers of therapeutic effect of Chinese medicinal prescriptions.

단양 지역 모범음식점 조리사들의 약선에 대한 인식

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data regarding the perceptions of medicated diets among chefs. The subjects were 22 exemplary restaurant chefs in the Danyang area. The results showed that 40.9% of the chefs regarded the taste of medicated diets as good. Conversely, 22.7% of the subjects answered that they didn't know about medicated diets. Mass media and education from relevant institutions were the means of acquiring information about medicated diets. The chefs recognized that varieties of sauce could make medicated diets popular because of special flavor. Female chefs were generally more familiar with herbs than male chefs. Overall, the chefs were not familiar with Menthae Herba, Atractylodis Japonica, Adenophorae radix, Caryophylli Flos, or Carthami Flos. However, they were familiar with Glycyrrhizae Radix, Cassiae Semen, Cinnamomi Cortex, Polygonati Rhizoma, Mume Fructus, and Ginseng Radix, even though they didn't like the tastes pertaining to medicated diets. Ginseng Radix was the most well-known oriental herb, and Mume Fructus and Rubi Fructus were also popular. The most popular cooking methods for medicated diets were, in order, boiling rice, roasting items, and preparing the herbs as beverages.

Identification and quantification of the major volatile constituents in antidepressant active fraction of xiaoyaosan by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Ethnopharmacological relevanceXiaoyaosan (XYS), a well-known formula for relieving depression, was originated from the book of “Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang” in Song Dynasty (960–1127 AD), composed of Radix Bupleuri, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Poria, Herba Menthae, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens and Radix Glycyrrhizae with dose proportion of 6:6:6:6:6:3:2:2. It is commonly used for the treatment of depression-related syndromes in China. In the formula, Radix Bupleuri usually serves as the principal drug, Radix Angelicae Sinensis and Radix Paeoniae Alba serve as the ministerial drugs, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Poria, Herba Menthae and Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens serve as adjunctive drugs, Radix Glycyrrhizae serves as messenger drug, they coordinate with each other and enhance the effect of the formula. In our previous experiments, the antidepressant effect of XYS was revealed. However, the antidepressant part (or component) of this prescription was still obscure. Materials and methodsAn experimental despair animal model: the mice tail suspension test (TST) was used to evaluate the antidepressant activity of XYS and its fractions. GC–MS method was developed to identify the volatile components and determine 4 major volatile components in active fraction. ResultsIn the TST test, the effect of a low polar fraction (XY-EA) was superior to other fractions of XYS. 13 volatile compounds in the XY-EA were identified on the basis of standards, isolation and structural determination in our laboratory, NIST 05 database and literature data. The content of 4 major volatile compounds in XY-EA which is 6.703%. ConclusionsThe petroleum ether fraction (XY-EA) appears to be the active fraction of XYS. 4 major components Z-ligustilide, palmitic acid, atractylenolide I, and atractylenolide II may be the antidepressant active compounds.

Discussion on the Laws of Traditional Chinese Medical Treatment of H1N1 Influenza Based on a Cohort Study

Abstract This article was aimed at discussing the laws of compound medicine application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of influenza A (H1N1). Data on 4037 influenza A (H1N1) cases were collected in a multicenter cohort study using compound TCM treatment during the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in Guangzhou from December 2009 to April 2010. The laws of TCM compound medicine application were summarized based on syndrome differentiation. The results showed that 156 kinds of Chinese herbs were used: heat-clearing and detoxifying medicinal, cough-suppressing, phlegm-relieving and panting-calming medicinal, wind-cold dispersing medicinal, wind-heat dispersing medicinal, heat-clearing and fire-purging medicinal. These medicinal occupy 51.90% in the prescription. Twenty-eight kinds of TCM medicinals were commonly used. The channel tropism involved 12 channels. The main channels were the Lung meridian, Stomach meridian, Heart meridian, and Liver meridian. The proportion of these medicinals occupies 78.71%, and all medicinals cover 7 kinds of tastes. The top three tastes are bitter, sweet, and pungent. Their proportion was 99.57%. The top 10 commonly used TCM medicinals (except for RADIX GLYCYRRHIZAE) were RADIX PLATYCODONIS, FRUCTUS FRUCTUS FORSYTHIAEE, FLOS LONICERAE, FOLIUM MORI, RHIZOMA PHRAGMITIS, HERBA MENTHAE, FLOS CHRYSANTHEMI, HERBA LOPHATHERI, FRUCTUS ARCTII, and SEMEN ARMENIACAE AMARUM. The most frequently used prescription in the group of expelling exogenous wind heat was Yin-Qiao Powder. The prescription of expelling exogenous wind cold was Jing-Fang-Bai-Du Powder. The frequency of using Ma-Xing-Shi-Gan Decoction to remove toxic heat blocking in the lungs was approximately 100%. It is concluded that the efficacy, taste, channel tropism, and compatibility of the TCM medicinals used in the treatment of H1N1 flu were closely related to the etiological factor and the pathogenesis of Influenza A (H1N1).

Metabonomic study on chronic unpredictable mild stress and intervention effects of Xiaoyaosan in rats using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

Xiaoyaosan (XYS), a famous Chinese prescription, composed of Radix Bupleuri (Bupleurum chinense DC.), Radix Angelicae Sinensis (Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels), Radix Paeoniae Alba (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.), Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae (Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz.), Poria (Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf), Radix Glycyrrhizae (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.), Herba Menthae (Mentha haplocalyx Briq.), and Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens (Zingiber officinale Rosc.), has been widely used in the clinic for treating mental disorders. Behavior and biochemical analyses indicate XYS has obvious anti-depression activity. However, there is no report on the effects of XYS using a metabolomics approach. Depression is a prevalent complex psychiatric disorder and its pathophysiological mechanism is not yet well understood. This paper was designed to study metabonomic characters of the depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and the therapeutic effects of XYS, classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in treating the depression. A plasma metabonomics method based on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was developed. Principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to classify and reveal the differences between the model group and control group. In turns, the concentration of these differences was analyzed with t-test to determine whether XYS was possible to influence the metabolic pattern induced by CUMS. The significant difference in metabolic profiling was observed from model group compared with drug-dose group by using the PCA, indicating the recovery effect of XYS on CUMS rats. Some significantly changed metabolites like glycine, glucose and hexadecanoic acid have been identified. These biochemical changes are related to the disturbance in amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism and glycometabolism, which are helpful to further understand the CUMS and the therapeutic mechanism of XYS. Metabonomic approach is helpful to further understanding the pathophysiology of depression and assisting in clinical diagnosis of depression and is also a valuable tool for studying the essence of Chinese medicine's syndrome theory and therapeutic effect mechanism of TCM.

Antidepressant-like effects of the fractions of Xiaoyaosan on rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress

Xiaoyaosan (XYS), composed of Radix Bupleuri, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Poria, Herba Menthae, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens and Radix Glycyrrhizae, is a valuable traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) which is used for the treatment of depression in China. In the formula, Radix Bupleuri usually serves as the principal drug, Radix Angelicae Sinensis and Radix Paeoniae Alba serve as the ministerial drugs, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Poria, Herba Menthae and Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens serve as adjunctive drugs, Radix Glycyrrhizae serves as messenger drug, they coordinate with each other and enhance the effect of the formula. In our previous experiments, the antidepressant effect of XYS was revealed. However, the antidepressant part (or component) of this prescription was still obscure. We divided the XYS into five different polar fractions, and explored the antidepressant activity of five different polar fractions to identify the active fraction. Behavior research and metabonomics method based on (1)H NMR were used for efficacy study of different fractions in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model of depression. Rats were divided into 8 groups and drugs were administered during the 21 days model building period. The urine samples of rats were collected overnight (12h) on 21 day and the metabolic profiling of the urine was measured using NMR. Multivariate analysis was also utilized to evaluate the active fraction of XYS. In the behavior research, there were significant difference between the lipophilic fraction group (XY-A) and the model group. In addition, with pattern recognition analysis of urinary metabolites, the results showed a clear separation of the model group and control group, while XY-A group was much closer to the control group in the OSC-PLS score plot. Seven endogenous metabolites contributing to the separation of the model group and control group were detected, while XY-A group regulated the 5 perturbed metabolites showing a tendency of recovering to control group. The present work suggested that petroleum ether fraction was the most effective fraction, implying that lipophilic components contribute to the antidepressant effect of XYS.

The Origin, Changes and Compositive Principles of Yangkyuksanhwa-tang

1. Objectives: This paper investigates the origin, the progressive changes and the constructive principles of Yangkyuksanhwa-tang (凉膈散火湯). 2. Methods: Yangkyuksanhwa-tang and other related prescriptions were analyzed in terms of their pathological indications, based on previous literature including Donguisusebowon Chobongwon (東醫壽世保元 草本卷), Donguisusebowon Gabobon (東醫壽世保元 甲午本), Donguisusebowon Sinchukbon (東醫壽世保元 辛丑本) and Dongmuyugo (東武遺稿). 3. Results and Conclusion: 1) The Yangkyuksanhwa-tang most likely originates from Sodokeum, Yangkyuksan, Baekho-tang and Indongdeung. 2) Sodoksanhwa-tang introduced in Donguisusebowon Chobongwon (東醫壽世保元 草本卷) progressively transformed into Chungyangsanghwa-tang (Donguisusebowon Gabobon (東醫壽世保元 甲午本)) and ultimately into Yangkyuksanhwa-tang (Donguisusebowon Sinchukbon (東醫壽世保元 辛丑本)), a prescription appropriate for usage in the Sangso symptomatology (上消證). 3) Yangkyuksanhwa-tang is composed of 9 herbs. Of these, Schixonepetae herba(荊芥), Ledebouriellae Radix(防風), Forsythiae fructus(連翹), Menthae Herba(薄荷), Gardeniae fructus(梔子) scatter the Hwa-qi(火氣), and Rehmanniae Radix(生地黃), Gypsum fibrosum(石膏), Anemarrhenae(知母) put off the Stomach-heat(胃熱), whereas Lonicerae caulis(忍冬藤) support the prevention of carbunculosis(癰疽).

Metabolomics study on the anti-depression effect of xiaoyaosan on rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress

Xiaoyaosan, a famous Chinese prescription, composed of Poria (Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf), Radix Paeoniae Alba (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.), Radix Glycyrrhizae (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.), Radix Bupleuri (Bupleurum chinense DC.), Radix Angelicae Sinensis (Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels), Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae (Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz.), Herba Menthae (Mentha haplocalyx Briq.), and Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens (Zingiber officinale Rosc.), has been widely used in the clinic for treating mental disorders. Behavior and biochemical analyses indicate xiaoyaosan has obvious anti-depression activity. However, there is no report on the effects of xiaoyaosan using a metabolomics approach. A urinary metabolomics method was applied to evaluate the efficacy of xiaoyaosan on rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress. Rats were divided into 6 groups and drugs were administered during the 21-day model building period. Urine was measured using GC-MS, processed with XCMS and Microsoft Excel and analyzed by SIMCA-P and SPASS software. Variable importance in projection statistics and loading plot were used to find biomarker ions. Clear separation between model and each drug group was achieved. High dose group of xiaoyaosan was much closer to control group than middle dose group and amitriptyline group. The time-dependent recovery tendency in high dose group was obtained. In term of anti-depression effect, high dose xiaoyaosan was the most effective and amitriptyline equaled middle dose xiaoyaosan as shown by metabolomics strategy and behavior tests. Some common and characteristic metabolites on the anti-depression of xiaoyaosan and amitriptyline were obtained. The work showed metabolomics is a valuable tool in studying the efficacy and potential biomarkers of therapeutic effect of complex prescriptions.

Traditional Chinese medicine for atopic eczema: PentaHerbs formula suppresses inflammatory mediators release from mast cells

Background PentaHerbs formula (PHF) containing Cortex Moutan, root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. (Ranunculaceae), Cortex Phellodendri, bark of Phellodendron chinensis Schneid. (Rutaceae), Flos Lonicerae, flower of Lonicera japonica Thunb. (Capri-foliaceae), Herba Menthae, aerial part of Mentha haplocalyx Briq. (Labiatae) and Rhizoma Atractylodis, rhizome of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC. (Compositae) at the ratio of 2:2:2:1:2 was useful in the management of eczema. Aim of the study Since the mechanism of action of PHF is not known, we aimed to investigate the actions of PHF on mast cell activation. Materials and methods Effects of aqueous extracts of PHF and individual component herb on mediator release from rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMCs) and cytokine production from HMC-1 were investigated. Results PHF, Cortex Moutan and Herba Menthae significantly attenuated histamine release and prostaglandin D 2 synthesis from RPMC activated by anti-IgE and compound 48/80 ( p < 0.05). While Flos Lonicerae and Rhizoma Atractylodis suppressed only mediator release from compound 48/80 activated RPMC, Cortex Phellodendri potentiated only anti-IgE induced mediator release ( p < 0.05). However, with the exception of Cortex Moutan, PHF and the other four component herbs failed to affect cytokine production in HMC-1. Conclusions Although individual herbs demonstrated different modulating effects on mast cells, inhibition of inflammatory mediator release from mast cells would contribute to the therapeutic efficacy of PHF.

Screening for antimycotic properties of 56 traditional Chinese drugs.

In the present study we screened extracts of 56 widely used dried Chinese medical plants or their parts (TCD) for their antimycotic properties against pathological phyla of Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Geotrichum candidum and Rhodotorula rubra. The highest activity against Aspergillus fumigatus was shown by Carthamus tinctorius L. (flos) and Rheum palmatum L. (radix et rhizoma) and against Candida albicans, Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (radix) had the highest activity. The highest activity against Geotrichum candidum was shown by Agastache rugosa (Fisch et Mey.) O. Ktze. Herba Menthae has moderate antimycotic properties.

Studies on chemical protectors against radiation. XXVI. Protective effect of various extracts on crude drugs on skin injury induced by X-irradiation

The protective potency against skin injury on mice induced by X-irradiation was studied by use of 72 extracts of crude drugs. The protective potency was determined according to the degrees on skin injury after irradiation of 1100R, 30 k Vp soft X-ray. As a result of these study, 16 kinds of crude drugs such as Rosae Fructus, Aloe arborescens (Herba), Citri Leiocarpae Exocarpium, Schizonepetae Spica, Evodiae Fructus, Bupleuri Radix, Corni Fructus, Perillae Herba, Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, Menthae Herba, Trapae Fructus, Angelicae Dahuricae Radix, Sinomeni Caulis et Rhizoma, Ephedrae Herba, Acer nikoense (Cortex), Forsythiae Fructus, revealed protective potencies on skin injury.