chinese (incl. TCM)

[Analysis on clinical treatment in hypertension by traditional Chinese medicine for 10 years in Beijing]: Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2007 Aug;32(15):1569-72 Authors: Zou ZD, Liu N, Guo P, Guo LY, Sun Y, Shi J, Wang L

To make a retrospective study of clinical treatment in hypertension by traditional Chinese medicine for 10 years in Beijing, and to mainly analyze in three facets: the study on total regularity of using Chinese herbal medicine, the study on regularity of application, and the study on differentiation of symptoms and signs. RESULT: (1) Total regularity of using Chinese herbal medicine: They are tonic herbs, expelling phlegm and stopping winding herbs, heat-clearing herbs, blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs, damp-clearing herbs in turn. The frequently used herbs were gouteng, niuxi, tianma, fuling, baishao, zexie, chuanxiong, and so on. (2) The study on regularity of application: The 6 kinds of herbs above were abide by the total regularity and the frequently used herbs were gouteng, niuxi, fuling, tianma, chuanxiong, baishao, zexie, and so on. (3) It was showed that the common syndromes of hypertension and herbs were: The herbs such as gouteng, niuxi, baishao, tianma, chuanxiong, juhua were frequently used in liver yang ascending syndrome. Herbs such as gouqizi, niuxi, shanyao, shudihuang, fuling, mudanpi, were frequently used in symptoms of yin deficiency of liver and kidney. Herbs such as huangqin, xiakucao, gouteng, zhizi, longdancao, juhua were frequently used in syndrome of flarming liver-fire. Herbs such as fuling, banxia, jupi, baizhu, tianma, gancao were frequently used in the stagnation of phlegm. Herbs such as tianma, gouteng, baishao, shijiuming, banxia were frequently used in up-stirring of liver. Herbs such as chuanxiong, chishao, honghua, danshen, sanqi were frequently used in syndrome of blood stasis in the collateral of the brain. Herbs such as shanzhuyu, shudi, fuling, rougui, fuzi, niuxi were frequently used in both-yini-and-yang-deficiency.

PMID: 17972592 [PubMed - in process]

[Research on different processings of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi]: Zhong Yao Cai. 2006 Sep;29(9):893-5 Authors: Song SH, Wang BL, Feng JK, Wang ZZ

OBJECTIVE: Comparing the different processings of S. baicalensis Georgi with fresh herb. METHODS: Watering, cooking and steaming method were adopted and the contents of flavonoids was determined by HPLC. RESULTS: Cooking and steaming method could not only intenerate the slices, but also destroy the activity of enzyme. So different means could be choosen according to practice. CONCLUSION: Among them, cooking method with 1 time volume of water, heating 10 min, drying at 80 degrees C and steaming method taking 20 min, drying at 80 degrees C is proper.

PMID: 17212039 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Complexities of the herbal nomenclature system in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): lessons learned from the misuse of Aristolochia-related species and the importance of the pharmaceutical name during botanical drug product development.: Phytomedicine. 2007 Apr;14(4):273-9 Authors: Wu KM, Farrelly JG, Upton R, Chen J

Herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have diverse cultural/historical backgrounds and are described based on complex nomenclature systems. Using the family Aristolochiaceae as an example, at least three categories of nomenclature could be identified: (1) one-to-one (one plant part from one species): the herb guan mutong refers to the root of Aristolochia manshuriensis; (2) multiple-to-one (multiple plant parts from the same species serve as different herbs): three herbs, madouling, qingmuxiang and tianxianteng, derived respectively from the fruit, root and stem of Aristolochia debilis; and (3) one-to-multiple (one herb refers to multiple species): the herb fangji refers to the root of either Aristolochia fangchi, Stephania tetrandra or Cocculus trilobus; in this case, the first belongs to a different family (Aristolochiaceae) than the latter two (Menispermaceae), and only the first contains aristolochic acid (AA), as demonstrated by independent analytical data provided in this article. Further, mutong (Akebia quinata) is allowed in TCM herbal medicine practice to be substituted with either guan mutong (Aristolochia manshuriensis) or chuan mutong (Clematis armandii); and mu fangji (Cocculus trilobus) by guang fanchi (Aristolochia fangchi) or hanzhong fangji (Aristolochia heterophylla), thereby increasing the risk of exposing renotoxic AA-containing Aristolochia species to patients. To avoid these and other confusions, we wish to emphasize the importance of a pharmaceutical name, which defines the species name, the plant part, and sometimes the special process performed on the herb, including cultivating conditions. The pharmaceutical name as referred to in this article is defined, and is limited to those botanicals that are intended to be used as drug. It is hoped that by following the pharmaceutical name, toxic herbs can be effectively identified and substitution or adulteration avoided.

[Quality appraisal of systematic reviews or meta-analysis on traditional Chinese medicine published in Chinese journals]: Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 2007 Apr;27(4):306-11 Authors: Liu JP, Xia Y

OBJECTIVE: To critically assess the quality of literature about systematic review or meta-analysis on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) published in Chinese journals. METHODS: Electronic searches in CNKI, VIP and Wanfang data-base were conducted to retrieve the systematic reviews or meta-analysis reports on TCM, including herbal medicine, needling, acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as integrative medicine, they were identified and extracted according to the 18 items of QUOROM (quality of reporting of meta-analyses) Statement and relative information. The appraisal was made taking the indexes mainly including objectives, source of data, methods of data extraction, quality assessment of the included studies, measurement data synthesis, etc. RESULTS: Eighty-two systematic reviews were identified, except 6 reviews were excluded for repeatedly published or didn't comply with the enrolled criterion, 76 reviews concerning 51 kinds of diseases were enrolled for appraisal. Among them, 70 reviews evaluated the efficacy of TCM, mainly on Chinese herbs and 9 on acupuncture and moxibustion. In majority of the reviews, randomised controlled trials were included and the data resources were described, but in 26 reviews only the Chinese databases were searched and the description about data extraction and analysis method were too simple; and 70% of reviews assessed the quality of the included studies; none used flow chart to express the process of selection, inclusion and exclusion of studies. CONCLUSIONS: Few reviews or Meta-analysis reports reached the international standard and there is insufficient description of methodology for conducting systematic reviews, so it is hardly to be repeated. The authors suggested that advanced methodological training is necessary for reviewers.

Chinese medicinal herbs for the common cold.: Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;(1):CD004782 Authors: Wu T, Zhang J, Qiu Y, Xie L, Liu GJ

BACKGROUND: Chinese herbal medicines are frequently used to treat the common cold in China. Until now, their efficacy has not been systematically reviewed. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for the common cold. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2006) which contains the Acute Respiratory Infections Group's specialised register; MEDLINE (1966 to July 2006); EMBASE (1980 to March 2006); AMED (1985 to July 2006); and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1975 to July 2005). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) studying the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine(s) for the treatment of the common cold were included, irrespective of publication status or language. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Four review authors telephoned original trial authors of the RCTs identified by our searches to verify the randomisation procedure. Two review authors extracted and analysed data from the trials which met the inclusion criteria. MAIN RESULTS: Fourteen studies involving 2440 patients were included. The methods of all studies were rated of poor quality (category C). Included studies used "effective drugs" as controls; however, the efficacy of these control drugs was not reported. Different Chinese herbal preparations were tested in nearly all trials; in only one was a Chinese herbal preparation tested twice. In six studies, five herbal preparations were found to be more effective at enhancing recovery than the control; and in the other eight studies, five herbal preparations were shown to be equal to the control. There was a strong probability of different biases in all of the included studies. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Chinese herbal medicines may shorten the symptomatic phase in patients with the common cold. However, the lack of high quality clinical trials means we are unable to recommend any kind of Chinese herbal preparation for the common cold.

Honokiol up-regulates prostacyclin synthease protein expression and inhibits endothelial cell apoptosis.: Eur J Pharmacol. 2007 Jan 5;554(1):1-7 Authors: Zhang X, Chen S, Wang Y

Honokiol is a bioactive compound extracted from the Chinese medicinal herb Magnolia officinalis. We recently demonstrated that honokiol inhibited arterial thrombosis through stimulation of prostacyclin (PGI2) generation and endothelial cell protection. The current study is designed to investigate its mechanism of stimulation of PGI2 generation and cell protection. 6-keto-PGF1alpha, the stable metabolite of PGI2, in the media of rat aortic endothelial cells was measured with radioimmunoassay kits. Indomethacin, an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (COX) and tranylcypromine, a prostacyclin synthease inhibitor were used to ascertain the target enzyme affected by honokiol. Prostacyclin synthease protein levels in endothelial cells were determined by Western blot analysis using an anti-PGI2 synthease rabbit polyclonal antibody. Flow cytometry was used to quantify the apoptotic cells and spectrophotometry was used to test the caspase-3 activity. Honokiol (0.376-37.6 microM) increased the level of 6-keto-PGF1alpha in the media of normal endothelial cells. It counteracted the inhibitory effect of tranylcypromine on the PGI2 generation, but did not influence the effect of indomethacin; evidently, honokiol up-regulated the expression of prostacyclin synthease in the endothelial cells. These effects showed perfect concentration-dependent behavior. In addition, at lower concentration (0.376-3.76 microM), honokiol significantly decreased the percentage of apoptotic endothelial cells induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and significantly lowered the activity of caspase-3 stimulated by ox-LDL. A high dose of honokiol (37.6 microM), however, failed to influence either of them. In conclusion, honokiol augments PGI2 generation in normal endothelial cells; its effect on PGI2 generation attributes to up-regulation of prostacyclin synthease expression; its cell protection may be correlated with its inhibition on apoptosis of endothelial cells. These findings have partly revealed the molecular mechanism of honokiol on inhibiting arterial thrombosis.

Clinical studies of immunomodulatory activities of Yunzhi-Danshen in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.: J Altern Complement Med. 2006 Oct;12(8):771-6 Authors: Bao YX, Wong CK, Leung SF, Chan AT, Li PW, Wong EL, Leung PC, Fung KP, Yin YB, Lam CW

OBJECTIVES: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a prevalent tumor in Hong Kong. The immune system of such patients could be adversely affected during the course of conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. We investigated the immunomodulatory effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Yunzhi-Danshen capsules in NPC patients treated with radiotherapy. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 16-week study. SETTING/LOCATION: The Prince of Wales Hospital, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven (27) patients with histologically proven NPC, at least 18 years of age. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with histologically proven NPC were recruited to take Yunzhi (3.6 g daily) and Dangshem (1.4 g daily) in the form of 12 combination capsules (TCM group) or placebo (12 capsules) daily for 16 weeks, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to assess the percentages and absolute counts of human lymphocyte subsets in whole blood. Plasma concentration of soluble interleukin-2 receptor and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Ex vivo production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10 in the whole blood assay culture supernatant was measured by ELISA. RESULTS: The decreases in percentage and absolute count of T lymphocytes in the TCM group were less than those in the placebo group after they took the capsules for 16 weeks (both p < 0.05). Furthermore, the decreases in absolute count of T suppressor cells plus cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and T helper cells in the TCM group were significantly lower than those in the placebo group after they took the capsules for 16 weeks (both p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Yunzhi-Danshen can exert an immunomodulating effect in alleviating lymphopenia during radiotherapy in NPC patients.

Traditional chinese medicine for the treatment of chronic prostatitis in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.: J Altern Complement Med. 2006 Oct;12(8):763-9 Authors: Chen JX, Hu LS

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine for treating chronic prostatitis (CPT) in China. DESIGN: Electronic medical database from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was searched, language is Chinese; date is from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2003. A total of 108 trials were found, and all studies with words like "randomization" or "quasi-randomization" in their abstracts were included, whether they used blinding or not. Nineteen theses that met the entry criteria were downloaded and fully printed. Four groups were divided: Chinese herbs orally treated group (based on syndrome differentiation), Chinese herbs externally treated group, Chinese herbs orally and externally treated group, and integrated Western with Chinese herbs treated group. RESULTS: All 19 articles that met the entry criteria were clinical trial studies with low quality (Jadad Score <3). The results showed that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may benefit the patients who had CPT. However, from the results of the funnel plots analysis of all four groups of clinical trials that met the inclusion criteria in this systematic review are distant asymmetrical and irregular plots, which indicate that a positive publication bias may exist. There was no obvious evidence indicating that the efficacy of the therapy in the treated groups using TCM was superior to that of the control group (Western medicine treatment group). CONCLUSIONS: All of the four groups in the clinical trials have not provided evidence of evidence-based medicine (EBM) A class (including 1a, 1b, 1c level), failed to prove that the TCM may have beneficial effects for patients with CPT, because of low quality in all the trials and a positive publication bias. Therefore, in light of some positive outcomes, a good design of multicentered, randomized, parallel-controlled and blinding trials is needed in order to make further studies, and deserve further examination for the treatment of CPT with TCM.

Traditional Chinese medicine for Parkinson's disease: a review of Chinese literature.:Behav Pharmacol. 2006 Sep;17(5-6):403-10 Authors: Li Q, Zhao D, Bezard E

Occidental medicine has a given definition for Parkinson's disease and knowledge of Parkinson's disease pathophysiology has led to development of its therapeutic management. Parkinson's disease, however, is likely to have always existed in different parts of the world. Description and management of this neurodegenerative condition could be found in ancient medical systems. Here, we introduce the philosophical concepts of traditional Chinese medicine and the description, classification and understanding of parkinsonian symptoms in traditional Chinese medicine. We have conducted an in-depth review of Chinese literature reporting anti-parkinsonian and anti-dyskinetic efficacy of more than 60 traditional medicines in Parkinson's disease patients. A number of issues, however, plague the relevance of these reports and call for a scientific re-evaluation of these therapies in preclinical models of Parkinson's disease before proposing traditional Chinese medicine-based symptomatic treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Dendritic cells as a pharmacological target of traditional chinese medicine.: Cell Mol Immunol. 2006 Dec;3(6):401-10 Authors: Chen X, Yang L, Howard OM, Oppenheim JJ

Dendritic cells (DCs) represent a heterogeneous population of professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that play a central role in the initiation and regulation of immune responses. There is considerable evidence that DCs can be used as therapeutic targets for pharmacological modulation of immune responses. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long-standing history of using herbal medicine in the treatment of variety of human diseases. Many of the clinical effects of TCM have reportedly been attributed to the up- or down-regulation of immune responses. Accumulating evidence indicates that TCM and its components can interfere with immune responses at the earliest stage by targeting key functions of DCs. Here, we review those published studies of TCM with respect to their effects on immunobiological functions of DCs. Investigations based on both chemical entities derived from TCM as well as TCM herbal mixtures are presented. These studies suggest that various TCM herbal medicines have the capacity to inhibit or promote major functions of DCs, such as differentiation, maturation, cytokine production, survival, antigen uptake and presentation as well as trafficking. These studies have revealed novel biological effects of TCM and documented the utility of this approach to discover novel biological modifier of DC functions derived from natural sources.