Recent Herbal Abstracts on Medline

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1: Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2004; 57(3): 144-148. Epub 2003 Dec 30. Treatment

of Climacteric Symptoms with Herbal Formulas of TCM. Pan B, Kato Y,

Sengoku K, Takuma N, Niizeki N, Ishikawa M. Department of Obstetrics and

Gynecology, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan. Hormone

replacement therapy (HRT) is not successful or is contraindicated for the

treatment of climacteric symptoms in some patients. To investigate whether

certain herbal formulas of TCM (Kampo in Japanese) could be used as an

alternative treatment, a longitudinal 'before and after' comparative study was

carried out in 18 Japanese women, and the results were compared with those

of 16 women who underwent HRT. Kampo improved all the climacteric

symptoms. In contrast, improvement of cold limbs, sleeping disorders, shoulder

stiffness/lumbago, and fatigue in the HRT group was either not significant or of

limited extent. In addition, the serum level of estradiol in postmenopausal

women was raised by the combined use of two Kampo formulas. These results

suggest that Kampo may be considered an alternative to HRT for the treatment

of climacteric symptoms, but vigorous monitoring for potential side effects of

increased estrogen levels in some postmenopausal patients is needed.

Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel PMID: 14707474 [PubMed - as supplied

by publisher]

 

2: J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Jan 14; 52(1): 21-5. A new test method for the

evaluation of total antioxidant activity of herbal products. Zaporozhets OA,

Krushynska OA, Lipkovska NA, Barvinchenko VN. Analytical Chemistry

Department, Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Volodymyrska

strasse, 64, 01033 Kyiv, Ukraine, and Institute of Surface Chemistry, National

Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, General Naumov strasse, 17, 03680 Kyiv,

Ukraine. A new test method for measuring the antioxidant power of herbal

products, based on solid-phase spectrophotometry using tetrabenzo-

[b,f,j,n][1,5,9,13]-tetraazacyclohexadecine-Cu(II) complex immobilized on silica

gel, is proposed. The absorbance of the modified sorbent (lambda(max) = 712

nm) increases proportionally to the total antioxidant activity of the sample

solution. The method represents an attractive alternative to the mostly used

radical scavenging capacity assays, because they generally require complex

long-lasting stages to be carried out. The proposed test method is simple

( " drop and measure " procedure is applied), rapid (10 min/sample), requires only

the monitoring of time and absorbance, and provides good statistical

parameters (s®</= 0.2). The method was approved in the analysis of the most

popular herbal beverages (black and green teas) and drugs (Echinacea

products). The results obtained were compared with the content of total

flavonoids and tannins of teas and total caffeic acid derivatives of Echinacea,

determined spectrophotometrically. PMID: 14709008 [PubMed - in process]

 

3: Biol Pharm Bull. 2004 Jan; 27(1): 29-33. The immune-enhancing effect of

the herbal combination bouum-myunyuk-dan. Jeong HJ, Chung HS, An HJ, Seo

SW, Kim TG, Won JH, Shin JY, Ahn KS, Kim HM. Department of

Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University. The herbal

formulation Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan (BMD) has long been used for various

diseases. It has been shown to have antimicrobial and anti viral activity

clinically. However, it is still unclear how BMD exerts these effects in

experimental models. In this study, we investigated the effect of BMD on the

production of cytokines in a human T cell line, MOLT-4 cells, and in mouse

peritoneal macrophages. As a result, BMD significantly increased the viability

and proliferation of splenocytes (p<0.05) and also significantly increased

interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 production compared with media control (about 2.7-

fold for IL-2 and 6.7-fold for IL-4, p<0.05) after 24 h. BMD increased the

interferon (IFN)-gamma production by 3.7-fold but there were no significant

differences compared with controls. Maximal effective concentrations of BMD

were 1 mg/ml for IL-2 and IL-4 and 0.1 mg/ml for IFN-gamma. In addition, BMD

(0.01 mg/ml) increased the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and

IL-12 in mouse peritoneal macrophages (by 2.7-fold for TNF-alpha and 42.5-fold

for IL-12, p<0.05). In conclusion, these data indicate that BMD may have an

immune-enhancing effect through the production of various cytokines. PMID:

14709894 [PubMed - in process]

 

4: Br J Cancer. 2004 Jan 12; 90(1): 65-9. Phase II study of viscum fraxini-2

in

patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Mabed M, El-Helw L,

Shamaa S. 1Hematology and Medical Oncology Unit, Faculty of Medicine,

Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one

of the most common cancers worldwide. Although a wide range of therapeutic

options is available, the efficacy of these methods and the prognosis of

patients

with HCC remain very poor. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy

and safety of viscum fraxini-2 in patients with chemotherapy-naive, advanced

hepatocellular carcinoma. 23 patients with unrespectable HCC who had

received no prior systemic chemotherapy with objectively measurable tumors

were enrolled on this study. The mistletoe preparation for the study is an

aqueous injectable solution. It contains one milliliter of viscum fraxini in

dilution

stage-2 (15 mg extract of 20 mg mistletoe herb from ash tree, diluted in di-

natrium-mono-hydrogen phosphate, ascorbic acid and water) which is

equivalent to 10 000 ng/ml injection ampoules. 2 ampoules of viscum fraxini-2

were administered subcutaneously once weekly. As assessed by conventional

imaging criteria, 3 (13.1%) patients have achieved complete response, 2 (8.1%)

patients have achieved a partial response. 9 (39.1%) had progressive disease

while 9 (39.1%) patients didn't have evaluation of response due to early death.

The median overall survival time for all patients was 5 months (range 2-38

months), for those who achieved a CR was 29 months (range 12-38 months)

and, for those who achieved a PR was 6.5 months (range 6-7 months). The

median progression free survival for all patients was 2 months (range 1-38

months), for those who achieved a CR, it was 29 months (range 8-38 months)

and for those who achieved a partial response, it was 5 months (range 4-6

months). No hematologic toxicity has been encountered. The spectrum of non-

hematologic toxicity was mild. The WHO toxicity criteria grade 3-4 were 34.8%

drug related fever, 13.1% erthyma at injection site and 17.4% pain at the site

of

injection. No drug related discontinuation or toxic deaths have occurred.

Viscum fraxini-2 seems to be particularly promising in patients with advanced

HCC, it shows antitumor activity and low toxicity profile. Further studies in

combination with other active agents are clearly warranted. British Journal of

Cancer (2004) 90, 65-69. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6601463 www.bjcancer.com PMID:

14710208 [PubMed - in process]

 

5: Biol Reprod. 2004 Jan 7 [Epub ahead of print] Upregulation of Steroidogenic

Enzymes and Ovarian 17{beta}-Estradiol in Human Granulosa-Lutein Cells by

Cordyceps sinensis Mycelium. Huang BM, Hsiao KY, Chuang PC, Wu MH,

Pan HA, Tsai SJ. There is increasing evidence that 17beta-estradiol (E2)

directly influences the quality of maturing oocytes and thus the outcome of

assisted reproduction treatment. Although Cordyceps sinensis (CS) mycelium,

a Chinese herbal medicine, is believed to enhance libido and fertility in both

sexes, the mechanism of its effect in women has not been determined. The aim

of the present study was to evaluate the effects of CS on steroidogenic enzyme

expression and E2 biosynthesis in human granulosa-lutein cells (GLC). We

found that CS induced E2 production by GLC in a dose- and time-dependent

manner and that 3 h treatment with CS induced increased levels of mRNAs

coding for the P450 side chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), 3beta-

hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD), and aromatase. Western blot

analysis demonstrated that, after treatment with CS for 3 h, protein levels of

steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and aromatase were upregulated

while P450scc and 3beta-HSD levels showed no substantial change. New

protein synthesis was required for CS-induced E2 production, since it was

abrogated by cycloheximide pretreatment. Addition of 22®-

hydroxycholesterol, thus bypassing the need for StAR protein, did not induce

as much level E2 production as CS treatment, indicating that upregulation of

StAR protein was not the only factor contributing to CS-induced

steroidogenesis. Cotreatment of GLCs with CS and aminoglutethimide, an

aromatase inhibitor, completely abolished CS-induced E2 production. In

conclusion, treatment of GLCs with CS results in increased E2 production due,

at least in part, to increased StAR and aromatase expression. These data may

help in the development of treatment regimens to improve the success rate of in

vitro fertilization. PMID: 14711788 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

 

 

 

 

 

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