Narrow Results

The anxiolytic effect of the alcoholic extract of Ting-Chih-Wan (TCWa) was studied using the black and white test (BWT) and the elevated plus-maze (EPM). We further demonstrated the anxiolytic mechanism of TCWa by combining with diazepam (DIZ), serotonin (5-HT) agonists or antagonists, and measuring the levels of monoamines and its metabolites in the brain stem and cortex. In the BWT, TCWa (0.1–1.0 g/kg, p.o.) increased the time spent in the white chamber and total change between the two chambers, and decreased the time spent in the black chamber. TCWa (0.1–0.5 g/kg, p.o.) increased the arm entries and the time spent on the open arms, and decreased the arm entries and the time spent on the closed arms in the EPM. On the other hand, TCWa (1.0 g/kg, p.o.) decreased horizontal activity and prolonged pentobarbital-induced sleeping times. TCWa (0.1, 0.5 g/kg) decreased the levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), 5-HT and 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and increased the levels of vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in the brain stem. TCWa (0.1 and 0.5 g/kg) decreased the levels of NE, DA and increased the levels of VMA and HVA in the cortex. TCWa also attenuated the anxiogenic effect of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and enhanced the anxiolytic effect of 9p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), buspirone (BUS) and ritanserin (RIT) in the EPM. From these results, TCWa at 0.1 and 0.5 g/kg posessed an anxiolytic effect. The anxiolytic mechanisms of TCWa might be due to decreased catecholaminergic activity caused by the increase in the turnover rate of catecholamines in the brain and decreased concentrations of 5-HT in the brain stem via activating somatodendritic 5-HT1A autoreceptors and inhibiting postsynaptic 5-HT2 receptors.

The purpose of this study is to explore the psychological efficacy of Xinwei Decoction, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, to treat functional dyspepsia (FD) accompanied with depression and anxiety. Seventy-three subjects, divided into three groups, had been given herbal medicine (Xinwei Decoction), prokinetic agent (Domperidone) and placebo, respectively for 8 weeks. Before and after treatment, all subjects were examined with FD symptom scale, Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA). As a result, the total scores of the three groups in FD symptom scale, HAMD and HAMA after treatment decreased in different levels, with the decrease in the herbal group more significant than the other two groups (p<0.01), indicating the efficacy of the herbal medicine. The total effective rates of the herbal, Domperidone and placebo groups were 90%, 67% and 31%, respectively, which indicated significant effect differences between Xinwei Decoction and Domperidone (p<0.05) and between Xinwei Decoction and placebo (p<0.01), showing that the efficacy of herbal therapy was superior to that of the other two therapies. Furthermore, there was no one in the Domperidone and placebo groups being cured of depression and anxiety, while the curing rate in the herbal group was about 70%, indicating the efficacy of herbal medicine in comparison to that of Domperidone and placebo for anti-depression and anti-anxiety. The result demonstrated that Xinwei Decoction could not only alleviate FD symptoms but also relieve depression and anxiety.

It is presently accepted that emotional disturbances lead to immune system impairment, and that therefore their treatment could restore the immune response. Thus, the aim of the present work was to study the effect of an acupuncture treatment, designed specifically to relieve the emotional symptoms stemming from anxiety, on several functions (adherence, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, basal and stimulated superoxide anion levels, lymphocyte proliferation in response to phytohemagglutinin A (PHA) and natural killer (NK) activity) of leukocytes (neutrophils and lymphocytes) from anxious women. The acupuncture protocol consisted of manual needle stimulation of 19 acupoints, with each session lasting 30 min. It was performed on 34 female 30–60 year old patients, suffering from anxiety, as determined by the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Before and 72 hours after receiving the first acupuncture session, peripheral blood samples were drawn. In 12 patients, samples were also collected immediately after the first single acupuncture session and one month after the end of the whole acupuncture treatment, which consisted of 10 sessions during a year, until the complete remission of anxiety. Twenty healthy non-anxious women in the same age range were used as controls. The results showed that the most favorable effects of acupuncture on the immune functions appear 72 hours after the single session and persist one month after the end of the complete treatment. Impaired immune functions in anxious women (chemotaxis, phagocytosis, lymphoproliferation and NK activity) were significantly improved by acupuncture, and augmented immune parameters (superoxide anion levels and lymphoproliferation of the patient subgroup whose values had been too high) were significantly diminished. Acupuncture brought the above mentioned parameters to values closer to those of healthy controls, exerting a modulatory effect on the immune system.

To evaluate the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we evaluated five CHMs in oligomeric A${\beta }_{25-35}$-treated mouse primary hippocampal neuronal cultures. The aqueous extract from the root of Pueraria lobata (Puerariae Radix; PR) showed better neuroprotective effects than did the other four CHM aqueous extracts, including Gardenia jasminoides, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Rhodiola rosea, and Panax, in the primary culture treated with saline or oligomeric A${\beta }_{25-35}$. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effects of aqueous extract of PR were also better than its well-known active compound, puerarin, against the neurotoxicity of oligomeric A${\beta }_{25-35}$ in a primary culture. For in vivo experiments, C57BL/6J male mice that received direct infusion of soluble oligomeric A${\beta }_{25-35}$ into the bilateral hippocampal CA1 subregion were used as an alternative AD mouse model. The effects and molecular mechanisms of chronic systemic administration of PR aqueous extract were evaluated in the alternative AD model. PR aqueous extract prevented anxiety and cognitive impairment in mice associated with a decrease in the levels of A$\beta$ deposition, tau protein phosphorylation, inflammation, loss of noradrenergic, and serotonergic neurons and an increase in the levels of synaptophysin and insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) against the toxicity of oligomeric A${\beta }_{25-35}$. Furthermore, no obvious damage to the liver and kidney was detected after chronic systemic administration of PR aqueous extract. Therefore, using PR could be a safer, more effective therapeutic strategy than using its active compound puerarin to prevent both cognitive and noncognitive dysfunction and related pathological features of AD.