The American Journal of Chinese Medicine

A new small polypeptide was isolated from the crude extraction of polysaccharide peptide of Coriolus versicolor (Cov-1) by HPLC and CIEF. It has a smaller molecular weight (10K) compared with that of PSP (100K) and was named small peptide of Coriolus versicolor, SPCV. It was found that SPCV possesses potent cytotoxic effect on human tumor cell lines of HL-60, LS174-T, SMMU-7721, and SCG-7901. The IC₅₀ of SPCV on HL-60 was 30 μg/ml. The inhibition rates of leukemia cells and SCG-7901 were significantly higher in SPCV treated group than that in PSP and PSK groups. SPCV also has immunopotentiating effect as it increased WBC and IgG levels. Pretreatment of SPCV for two weeks decreased the incidence of tumor mass in nude mice inoculated with tumor cells.

The immunomodulatory effects of Physalis angulata L. extract fraction VII (PA-VII), PA-VII-A, PA-VII-B and PA-VII-C were investigated in this study. The results showed that PA-VII and PA-VII-C strongly enhanced blastogenesis response, PA-VII-B had moderate activity, and PA-VII-A exerted only slight effect on cell proliferation. A synergistic effect was observed when the suboptimal dosage of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was added to the culture. Furthermore, PA-VII and PA-VII-C possessed stimulatory activity on B cells and less effect on T cells. The antibody responses were also augmented by PA-VII, PA-VII-B and PA-VII-C, but not by PA-VII-A. The enhancement of antibody response could be observed both in BALB/c and C3H/HeJ mice.

The cardiotonic and arrhythmogenic effects, and the excitatory effect on respiration of "Kyushin," a drug containing toad venom, were studied in comparison with those of digoxin. In anesthetized rabbits, the maximum rate of rise of left ventricular systolic pressure (max dP/dt) was measured as an index of cardiotonic effect, and the respiratory flow was measured as an index of respiratory function. Intraduodenal (i.d.) administration of 80 mg/kg "Kyushin" produced a cardiotonic effect and an excitatory effect on respiration, but i.d. administration of 16 mg/kg digoxin produced only a cardiotonic effect, and conversely inhibited respiration. In anesthetized open-chest guinea pigs, myocardial contractile force was measured as an index of cardiotonic effect and the arrhythmogenic effect was evaluated from the appearance of arrhythmic myocardial contraction. By i.d. administration of a 20% ethanol suspension or solution, "Kyushin" and digoxin showed a cardiotonic activity with doses higher than 40 mg/kg and 0.25 mg/kg, respectively. The arrhythmogenic doses of "Kyushin" and digoxin by i.d. administration were 2560 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg, respectively, suggesting that the safety margin of "Kyushin" is broader than that of digoxin.

Bombax malabarica DC and Scutellaria rivularis B. were extracted in boiling water and concentrated into 1 g/ml solution to investigate their hepatoprotective effect. Carbon tertrachloride (CCL₄) was injected into rat subcutanously with a dose of 3.0 ml/kg to induce experimental acute hepatotoxicity in the animal. The activities of serum glumtamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamicpyruvic transaminase (SGPT) were measured after 72 hours of CCL₄ administration. The hepatopathological changes of the liver tissue were observed simultaneosly with liver enzyme activities determination. The pharmacological effect of B. malabarica and S. rivularis of Taiwan was compared with that of the Bupleurum chinense from mainland China. B malabarica(p < 0.001), S. rivularis(p < 0.001) and B. chinense(p < 0.05) all demonstrated a significant reduction in the CCL₄-induced SGOT and SGPT. Pathological studies of these three drugs extracts demonstrated a marked hepato-protective effects on CCL₄-induced liver fatty degeneration and cell necrosis.

We have recently found that Tokishakuyakusan (TS), Keishibukuryogan (KB) or Unkeito (UT) inhibits in vivo DNA polymerase α activity in the rat uterus stimulated by PMS. In this study, uteri resected 24 h after injection of PMS on day 27 of age were incubated in vitro with 20 μg/ml of extract of TS, KB or UT for 4 h. The DNA polymerase α activity in uteri tended to decrease after the addition of TS, KB or UT with significant difference (P < 0.05) compared with TS-, KB- and UT-untreated control groups. These results suggest that TS, KB or UT, especially KB, tends to inhibit directly the enzyme activity in rat uterus.

A survey of hypoglycemic effective crude drugs in the market in Taiwan revealed 24 species of crude drug prescriptions, 34 kinds of crude drugs derived from 48 species of medicinal plants belonging to 25 families, all concerned with the treatment of diabetes mellitus. This paper updates a list of anti-diabetic crude drugs used as a remedy for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Taiwan by means of ethnobotanical and pharmacological studies. Results showed that many of these crude drugs have hypoglycemic effects. Further investigation will be made.

The pyrrolizidine alkaloid composition of three Chinese herbs, "pei lan", "cheng gan cao" and "zi xiao rong" identified respectively as Eupatorium cannabinum, Eupatorium japonicum (Compositae) and Crotalaria assamica (Leguminosae), were studied by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-electron impact mass spectrometry. Viridiflorine, cynaustraline, amabiline, supinine, echinatine, rinderine and isomers of these alkaloids were found in the Eupatorium species. Monocrotaline was the only pyrrolizidine alkaloid detected in the Crotalaria species.

Poor sperm motility is an important cause of male infertility. In an attempt to identify Chinese medicinal herbs that might improve human sperm motility in vitro, we screened water extracts of 18 herbs with a trans-membrane migration method which measured the percentage of sperm that moved across the 5 micron pores of a Nuclepore membrane from a semen-drug mixture into phosphate buffered saline during 2 hours incubation. Astragalus membranaceus was the only herb that showed a significant stimulatory effect. At 10 mg/ml, it increased the motility of sperm in semen to 146.6 ± 22.6 % of control. It also increased the motility of washed sperm to 138.2 ± 13.8% of control. Purification of the active component(s) from this herb as well as its application in assisted reproduction technology await further investigation.

The effect of Ninjinyoeito on three cases of Wemer's syndrome fibroblasts was investigated. In all three cases, groups which were treated with Ninjinyoeito showed improved life-span doubling levels compared to groups which were not treated with Ninjinyoeito. Also, all of the treated group in all three cases showed significantly higher values in the rates of DNA synthesis including two cases which showed significantly higher rates of protein synthesis.

The human promyelocytic cell line HL-60 can be induced to monocytoid terminal differentiation by several conditioned media produced by lectin-stimulated mononuclear cells. We reported previously that a 572-conditioned medium (CM) secreted from viscum alniformosanae-stimulated mononuclear cells also had the capacity of inducing HL-60 leukemic cells into mature monocytes. In the present study, we showed that 572-CM did not contain IFN-r, TNF, IL-1 and IL-2 as determined by using ELISA tests. This CM was unable to induce granulocyte-macrophage colony formation. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electroporesis (SDS-PAGE) was used to detect the components of this CM. After running the acrylamide gels, a wide band protein, in the 65-80 kd range was obtained and it was different from those of other mitogens.

Kuei-chih-fu-Iing-wan (Keishi-bukuryo-gan; KBG), a traditional Chinese herbal remedy contains five components: bark of Cinnamomum cassia Bl. (Lauraceae ), root of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. (Paeoniaceae), seed of Prunus persica Batsch. or P. persiba Batsch. var. davidiana Maxim. (Rosaceae), carpophores of Poria cocos Wolf. (Polyporaceae), and root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. (Paeoniaceae ). This prescription has been frequently used in the treatment of gynecological disorders such as hypermenorrhea, dysmenorrhea and sterility. We previously reported that KBG might act as a LH-RH antagonist and a weak anti-estrogen on the uterine DNA synthesis in immature rats. In the present study, we investigated the effects of KBG on 110 premenopausal patients with uterine myomas. Clinical symptoms of hypermenorrhea and dysmenorrhea were improved in more than 90% of the cases with shrinking of uterine myomas in roughly 60% of the cases.

The incidence of Willis' ring obstruction (Moyamoya disease) in Japan is higher than in Europe and North America. The therapeutic technique usually employed is either surgery or Western drug treatment. But these methods are still not satisfactory. We attempted to apply Chinese medicinal treatment to a patient with Moyamoya disease. This patient was referred to our department because of the ineffectiveness of Western drug treatment. The patient made satisfactory progress with Gui-Zhi-Fu-Ling-Wan and Xiao-Xu-Ming-Tang. We also noticed the improvement of the "stagnated blood condition." Whole blood viscosity was decreased and the blood flow rate in the bulbar conjunctiva was increased.

In a retrospective study 35 patients with gonarthrotic pain were treated with acupuncture at the outpatient unit of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care in the University of Vienna. The subjective effectiveness of the treatment using a standard method on the knee demonstrated that patients reported an explicit improvement of their ailments. Therefore, we can unreservedly recommend this program, which was only augmented through additive "locus dolendi" treatment if indicated.

Acupuncture is based on neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. At each acupuncture point, there are peripheral nerves and terminals. Acupuncture will be useful for further understanding of the nervous system. A conceptual view of acupuncture's physiology is presented.