Traditional Medicine Prescription Research Articles

보중익기탕 추출물의 대식세포 분화 유도 효과

본 실험에서는 생쥐에서 분리한 골수 세포의 분화에 보중익기탕 추출물이 미치는 영향을 알아보았다. GM-CSF와 IL-3는 대식세포의 형성을 자극하는데 관여한다. 보중익기탕 추출물을 첨가하였을 때 GM-CSF와 IL-3로 분화하는 colony의 수를 증가시키는 것을 알 수 있었으며 anti-CD11b 항체로 염색한 결과 분화한 세포는 대식세포의 특이적 세포표면 단백질인 CD11b(Mac-1)를 발현하고 있었다. 또한 보중익기탕 추출물은 대식세포가 생산하는 IL-6와 일산화질소(nitric oxide)의 분비량도 증가시키는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이상의 실험 결과, 오래전부터 전통 처방제로 사용되어온 보중익기탕 추출물은 대식세포의 분화와 증식을 유도하는데 효과가 있는 것으로 생각된다.

Shiquandabutangjiaweibang inhibits tumor metastasis and angiogenesis via regulation of topoisomerase-1

Shiquandabutangjiaweibang (SDJ) is a traditional medicine prescription used for increasing body resistance against cancer. In the present study, the effect of SDJ extract on tumor metastasis and angiogenesis was evaluated. SDJ showed cytotoxicity against P388 (leukemia cells) and B16-F10 (murine melanoma cells) to 60% of control at 1 mg. SDJ significantly inhibited lung metastasis and also restored the number of platelets in C57BL/6 mice with thrombocytopenia induced by intravenous injection of B16-F10 cells. SDJ significantly disrupted chick embryonic angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Interestingly, SDJ suppressed DNA topoisomerase I in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that SDJ can be a potent inhibitor of metastasis and angiogenesis, at least in part, via regulation of topoisomerase I.

Education in Oriental Medicine in Kyung Hee University

Oriental medicine has been developed over a long period of time. When the Medical Service Act was legislated in Korea in September 25, 1951 for the first time, Oriental medicine began to have the support of the legal system. Presently, Oriental medicine has the same legal status as Western medicine in Korea. Students of Oriental medicine are qualified for the National License Examinations for Oriental Medicine Practice after finishing 6-year courses in a College of Oriental Medicine. Before the Medical Service Act came into force in 1951, acupuncture was taught based on the acupuncturist system. However, after this legislation, the acupuncturist system was invalidated and legally assimilated into the Oriental medicine system since 1962. Presently doctors of Oriental medicine are entitled to practice all aspects of Oriental medicine, including acupuncture and prescription of traditional medicine. When medical resources are compared between Western and Oriental medicines, the numbers of licensed doctors are 62 609 and 10 707 for Western and Oriental Medicine, respectively, and the number of such medical schools are 41 (entrance quota of 3300) and 11 (entrance quota of 750), respectively. The number of hospitals and local clinics is 16 643 (hospital 767, local clinic 15 876) for Western medicine and 6272 (hospital 115, local clinic 6520) for Oriental medicine (Table 1). Table 1 Status of Oriental and Western medical resources. In Korea, a medical insurance system for Western medicine was started from July 1, 1977, but was not available for Oriental medicine until February 1, 1987. The insurance coverage is quite limited covering only some areas of Oriental medicine, such as diagnosis, acupuncture and cupping glass categories. Medical expenses in Korea are estimated at about 6.0% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1996, of which 15% is spent on Oriental medicine. This reflects the fact that the number of licensed doctors of Oriental medicine is one-sixth that of the number of doctors of Western medicine. As the insurance coverage for Oriental medicine is expanded, the number of visitors to clinics of Oriental medicine is increasing already and is expected to increase rapidly. To promote Oriental medicine, the medical specialties system has been required by Oriental medicine doctors and government recently. After graduation from medical college, medical licenses should be required by the ministry and graduates have to complete a 1 year internship and 3 year residency. Those seeking to become specialists should have to take a training course at the designated hospitals and pass the qualifying examination for specialists provided by the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine. The Association has produced 436 specialists through two examinations up to the present. Eight specialty fields make up the systems, i.e. oriental internal medicine; acupuncture and moxibustion; oriental gynecology; oriental pediatrics, oriental neuropsychiatry, dermatosurgery and ophthalmo-otolaryngology; oriental rehabilitation medicine; and Sasang constitutional medicine.

Fuzzy Modeling for Modifying Standard Prescriptions of Oriental Traditional Medicine

The aim of our research is to simulate a thinking of Traditional medical practitioners in forming a prescription of Oriental traditional medicine based on the observed symptoms of the patient. In this paper, we focus on modeling for modifying standard prescriptions of oriental Traditional medicine using the fuzzy sets theory when the standard prescription is given. Input data are symptoms and patient status which are represented as fuzzy sets and outputs are new ingredients of herbal plants of the given standard prescription and some new herbal plants constituting a advised prescription.

Panax ginseng: a role in cancer therapy?

Panax ginseng is a plant that has been used in traditional medicine in China for thousands of years. It is used as a general tonic or adaptogen with chronically ill patients and is frequently featured in traditional medicine prescriptions from China, Japan, and Korea used by cancer patients. The putative active compounds are the ginsenosides, of which there are more than two dozen. These compounds are found in both Panax ginseng and in other Panax species that are used in herbal medicine. Analysis of ginsenosides is being used in developing quality control assessments for ginseng, which has frequently been adulterated due to its high cost; many currently available standardized extracts do appear to contain the amounts of ginsenosides listed on package labeling. The toxicity of ginseng appears to be low: some of the reports of toxic episodes of ginseng may actually pertain to other components of multicomponent preparations. Very low incidence of toxicity has been observed in ginseng clinical trials using well-characterized preparations. Numerous pharmacological activities of ginseng and the ginsenosides have been explored: the authors review here the activities relating to cancer. Immune system modulation, antistress activities, and antihyperglycemic activities are among the most notable features of ginseng noted in laboratory and clinical analyses. Much testing has been done in humans to explore ginseng's purported antifatigue properties, but this area remains controversial. A number of investigations point to antitumor properties and other pharmacological activities related to cancer, but no trials have yet confirmed a clinically significant anticancer activity. Cancer patients may empirically find ginseng to be useful when they are fatigued, although clinical trials should be conducted to confirm its benefits.

Selective priming of Th1-mediated antigen-specific immune responses following oral administration of mixed prescriptions of traditional Korean medicines

Background: In previous studies, we showed that oral administration of traditional Korean medicines, Soamsan (SA) and Bo-yang-hwan-o-tang (BHT), modulated antigen-specific immune responses in mice. Methods: We attempted to strengthen cell-mediated immune responses in mice using two mixed prescriptions composed mainly of components used in SA and/or BHT. The effect of oral administration of the medicines on the induction of antigen-specific immune responses was investigated using hen egg-white lysozyme (HEL) as a model antigen system. Results: Following oral administration, HEL-specific cellular immune responses were enhanced in HEL low-responder mice, and the concentrations of gamma interferon (IFN-γ), but not interleukin (IL)-4, increased significantly. In addition, the prescriptions decreased the level of HEL-specific antibodies of the immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 subtype, which is associated with helper T lymphocyte (Th2) cell stimulation. Moreover, the presence of the medicines in vitro significantly increased IFN-γ production from mouse splenocytes, and the magnitude of the increase was closely associated with glycoprotein concentrations. Conclusions: The Korean prescriptions enhanced anti-HEL-specific cellular immune responses by selectively priming specific subtypes of the helper T cell population. Consequently, they might be useful therapy for patients who need enhanced Th1, or to suppress Th2 immune responses.

Daeganghwal-tang inhibits the stem cell factor-induced migration and inflammatory cytokines secretion in mast cells

Traditional Oriental medicinal prescription, Daeganghwal-tang (DGHT) has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Korea. However, its effect in experimental models remains unknown. Recent reports suggest that in patients with RA, synovial mast cells increase in number and show signs of activation and inflammatory cytokines secretion. Our results show that stem cell factor (SCF) is a potent chemotactic factor for the mast cells in vitro. The chemotactic response to SCF was blocked by DGHT. When DGHT (1 mg/ml) was added, the secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 was inhibited by 60.1, 81.8, 72.5%, respectively in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) plus calcium ionophore A23187-stimulated HMC-1 cells. In addition, the expression of TNF-α mRNA in HMC-1 cells was inhibited by DGHT (1 mg/ml). These findings indicate that DGHT inhibits SCF-induced migration and PMA plus calcium ionophore-stimulated inflammatory cytokines secretion in mast cells.

The radioprotective effects of bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang: a prescription of traditional Chinese medicine.

We evaluated the effect of bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang, a prescription of traditional Oriental medicine, and its major ingredients on protection of the intestine and hematopoietic organs against radiation damage in this study. The jejunal crypt survival, endogenous spleen colony formation, and apoptosis in jejunal crypt cells were investigated in mice irradiated with high and low doses of gamma-rays. bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang administration before irradiation protected the jejunal crypts (p < 0.0001), increased the formation of the endogenous spleen colony (p < 0.05) and reduced the frequency of radiation-induced apoptosis (p < 0.05). In experiments on the effects of the individual ingredient of bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang, Rensan (Radix Ginseng), Danggui (Radix Angelicae gigantis), Shengma (Rhizoma Cimicifugae) and Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri) might have major radioprotective effects, and each might have different degrees of effect on these three endpoints. These results indicated that bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang might be a better agent than any one of its ingredients to satisfy all three endpoints. Although the mechanisms of this inhibitory effect remain to be elucidated, these results indicated that bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang might be a useful radioprotector, especially since it is a relatively non-toxic natural product. Further studies are needed to better characterize the protective nature of bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang extract and its ingredients.

Radioprotective effects of two traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions: si-wu-tang and si-jun-zi-tang.

We performed this study to determine the effect of Si-Wu-Tang, a basic prescription of traditional Oriental medicine as a blood-building decoction (Chinese medical concept: Bu-Xie), Si-Jun-Zi-Tang, a basic prescription as an energy tonic (Chinese medical concept: Bu-Qi) and its major ingredients on jejunal crypt survival, endogenous spleen colony formation, and apoptosis in jejunal crypt cells of mice irradiated with high and low dose of gamma-irradiation. Si-Wu-Tang administration before irradiation protected the jejunal crypts (p < 0.0005), increased the formation of endogenous spleen colonies (p < 0.05) and reduced the frequency of radiation-induced apoptosis (p < 0.05). In an experiment on the effect of ingredients of Si-Wu-Tang, the result indicated that extract of Danggui and Baishaoyao might have a major radioprotective effect. The radioprotective effect of Si-Jun-Zi-Tang and its ingredients were not as significant as that of Si-Wu-Tang. Although the mechanisms of this inhibitory effect remain to be elucidated, these results indicate that Si-Wu-Tang might be a useful radioprotector, especially since it is a relatively nontoxic natural product. Further studies are needed to characterize better the protective nature of Si-Wu-Tang extract and its ingredients.

Age-related increase in nitric oxide synthase activity in senescence accelerated mouse brain and the effect of long-term administration of superoxide radical scavenger

The levels of nitric oxide (NO) and NO synthase (NOS) activities were compared in the brains of young adult (3 months old), aged (11 months old) and TJ-960 administered (11 months old) senescence accelerated mice (SAM), of which the SAMP8 substrain is inferior in acquisition of learning due to the abnormality of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the cerebral cortex. TJ-960, which is based on the Kampo (Japanese traditional herbal medicine) prescription Sho-saiko-to-go-keishi-ka-shakuyaku-to, acts as a superoxide radical scavenger and attenuates the deterioration of neuronal activity associated with aging. We administered TJ-960 orally for 5 months. In the cerebral cortex of aged SAMP8, NOS activity was increased compared with that of young adult SAMP8. Though TJ-960 did not alter the contents of NO in any brain region compared with those in aged SAMP8, it did prevent the increase in NOS activity in the aged cerebral cortex. Our data suggest that NOS activity may increase to compensate for the reduced sensitivity of the NO reaction system in the aging process, and that TJ-960 may normalize this increased NOS activity in the cerebral cortex, although further work is clearly needed to ascertain maintenance in the acquisition of learning.

Recent advances in studies on Chinese medicinal herbs with physiological activity

Medicinal plants with physiological activity studied in China during recent years are classified into three types: (1) drugs originating from traditional medicine and ancient prescriptions; (2) drugs originating from folk prescriptions or experienced prescriptions; (3) drugs originating from Chinese drugs with modified structures of the active principles and now in common use. The physiological activities are discussed in separate sections according to their therapeutic effects: nervous system; parasites; cardiovascular system; cancer; birth control; immuno-activity.