Guest guest Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 On another list, we've been discussing whether Chai Hu (Saikosaponins) affect COX-2 or not... have you guys discussed this before? B Brian Benjamin Carter Editor, The Pulse of Oriental Medicine Columnist, Acupuncture Today The PULSE of Oriental Medicine: Alternative Medicine You Can Understand http://www.pulsemed.org/ The General Public's Guide to Chinese Medicine since 1999... 8 Experts, 110+ Articles, 136,000+ readers.... Our free e-zine BEING WELL keeps you up to date with the latest greatest PULSE articles. Sign up NOW. Send a blank email to: beingwellnewsletter- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 On another list, we've been discussing whetherChai Hu (Saikosaponins) affect COX-2 or not...have you guys discussed this before?BBrian Benjamin Carter Brian here's some Medline abstracts based on a number of search protocols. Mostly work on this is done in Taiwan it appears. These papers might not specifically address your interests. Your question appears to be whether Chai Hu or formulas with Chai Hu would reduce inflammation or inflammation that arises from stress. The broad answer would seem to be yes. Whether Chai Hu extracts act specifically on cyclooxygenase enzymes, as cortisol would, to reduce prostaglandin and leukotriene formation is hinted at in the first paper. However, it seems according to the second paper the effect is more globally on the liver which as you know produces many somatomedins during sleep to perform tissue growth and repair throughout the body. Emmanuel Segmen Effects of sphondin, isolated from Heracleum laciniatum, on IL-1beta-induced cyclooxygenase-2 expression in human pulmonary epithelial cells. Life Sci 2002 Nov 29;72(2):199-213 (ISSN: 0024-3205) Yang LL; Liang YC; Chang CW; Lee WS; Kuo CT; Wang CC; Lee HM; Lin CH Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy Science, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. Recently, under large-scale screening experiments, we found that sphondin, a furanocoumarin derivative isolated from Heracleum laciniatum, possessed an inhibitory effect on IL-1beta-induced increase in the level of COX-2 protein and PGE(2) release in A549 cells. Accordingly, we examined in the present study the action mechanism of sphondin on the inhibition of IL-1beta-induced COX-2 protein expression and PGE(2) release in a human pulmonary epithelial cell line (A549). Pretreatment of cells with sphondin (10-50 microM) concentration-dependently attenuated IL-1beta-induced COX-2 protein expression and PGE(2) release. The IL-1beta-induced increase in COX-2 mRNA expression was also attenuated by sphondin (50 microM). The selective COX-2 inhibitor, NS-398 (0.01-1 microM), inhibited the activity of the COX-2 enzyme in a concentration-dependent manner, while sphondin (10-50 microM) had no effect. Sphondin (50 microM) did not affect the IL-1beta-induced activations of p44/42 MAPK, p38 MAPK, and JNK. Treatment of cells with sphondin (50 microM) or the NF-kappaB inhibitor, PDTC (50 microM) partially inhibited IL-1beta-induced degradation of IkappaB-alpha in the cytosol and translocation of p65 NF-kappaB from the cytosol to the nucleus. Furthermore, IL-1beta-induced NF-kappaB-specific DNA-protein complex formation in the nucleus was partially inhibited by sphondin (50 microM) or PDTC (50 microM). Taken together, we demonstrate that sphondin inhibits IL-1beta-induced PGE(2) release in A549 cells; this inhibition is mediated by suppressing of COX-2 expression, rather than by inhibiting COX-2 enzyme activity. The inhibitory mechanism of sphondin on IL-1beta-induced COX-2 expression may be, at least in part, through suppression of NF-kappaB activity. We conclude that sphondin may have the therapeutic potential as an anti-inflammatory drug on airway inflammation. Evaluation of root quality of Bupleurum species by TLC scanner and the liver protective effects of "xiao-chai-hu-tang" prepared using three different Bupleurum species. J Ethnopharmacol 1991 Sep;34(2-3):155-65 (ISSN: 0378-8741) Yen MH; Lin CC; Chuang CH; Liu SY School of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China. A simple and quick quantitative analysis of saikosaponins a, c and d, the major bioactive principles contained in Bupleurum species, by TLC scanner is described. Results with Bupleurum kaoi, the species native to Taiwan, showed that the roots, rhizomes and aerial parts (leaves and stem) have greater quantities of saikosaponins than cultivated B. falcatum var. komarowi and imported B. chinense. The liver protective effects of water extracts of "Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang" (XCHT), a mixture of seven crude drugs, prepared using roots of the three different Bupleurum species and aerial parts of B. kaoi and B. falcatum var. komarowi, were evaluated using CCl4-induced toxicity in rats. The acute increase of serum transaminase (SGOT and SGPT) levels caused by CCl4 administration (3.0 ml/kg, s.c.) was dramatically reduced when treated with XCHT prepared with the roots of B. kaoi. The histological metamorphoses such as fatty changes, ballooning degeneration, cell necrosis and lymphocyte and Kupffer cell increases around the central vein, were clearly decreased by XCHT prepared with B. kaoi. Furthermore, water extracts of aerial parts of both B. kaoi and cultivated B. falcatum var. komarowi decreased SGOT and SGPT levels and moderately reduced the pathological changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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