In vitro antidiabetic activities of five medicinal herbs used in Chinese medicinal formulae

Fructus Corni, Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis, Poria, Rhizoma Alismatis and Rhizoma Dioscoreae are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for diabetes treatment. They are also the component herbs of an antidiabetic foot ulcer formula with demonstrated clinical efficacy. Although some of these herbal extracts were previously shown to possess in vivo antidiabetic effects (i.e. lowering blood glucose levels), the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The objective of this study is to investigate the possible antidiabetic mechanisms of these individual herbs, using a systematic study platform which includes four in vitro tissue models: glucose absorption into intestinal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV), gluconeogenesis by rat hepatoma cell line H4IIE, glucose uptake by human skin fibroblasts cell line Hs68 and mouse adipocytes 3T3-L1. All tested herbs showed significant in vitro antidiabetic effects in at least two models. Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis, Poria, Rhizoma Alismatis and Rhizoma Dioscoreae showed significant inhibitory effects in the BBMV glucose uptake assay. All tested herbs showed significant stimulatory effects to the glucose uptake of Hs68 and 3T3-L1 cells, except Poria and Rhizoma Dioscoreae which were not effective to Hs68 and 3T3-L1 respectively. However, none of the tested herbs inhibited hepatic gluconeogenesis. In conclusion, the five herbs exhibited distinct antidiabetic mechanisms in vitro and hence our investigations provided scientific evidence to support the traditional usage of these herbs for diabetic treatment in medicinal formulae.     

Common traditional Chinese medicinal herbs for dysmenorrhea

Dysmenorrhea is painful menstrual cramps, which negatively impacts the quality of life of those diagnosed. The paper reviews traditional Chinese medicine's treatment of dysmenorrhea through the use of combination-herbal-formula therapeutics. These herbal treatments are effective for dysmenorrhea with minimal side effects. Pharmacological studies suggest Chinese herbal dysmenorrhea therapies likely decrease prostaglandin levels, modulate nitric oxide, increase plasma beta-endorphin (beta-EP) levels, block calcium-channels and improve microcirculation. Conventional therapy for dysmenorrhea, which usually includes non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), provides symptomatic relief but has increasing adverse effects with long-term use. Therefore, Chinese herbal medicines, including simple herbal and combination formulas, are perhaps the ideal therapeutics of choice.     

In vitro antioxidation activity and genoprotective effect of selected Chinese medicinal herbs

Some traditional Chinese medicinal seeds and fruits are well known for their antioxidant properties. This research aims to investigate whether Fructus Lycii, Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis, Fructus Ligustri Lucidi and Semen Cuscutae protect DNA from oxidant challenge by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). The standard comet assay was used to assess the genoprotective effect of these medicinal herbs. Blood was taken from three healthy adults, aged from 36 to 42. Lymphocytes were isolated and treated with different concentrations of aqueous herbal extracts, while controls were treated with phosphate buffered saline. The lymphocytes were stressed with 50 μM H(2)O(2). Treated cells were embedded in agarose and layered on slides. These sandwiched lymphocytes were lysed and afterwards subjected to an electric field in an alkaline environment. Damaged DNA was pulled out from the nucleus towards the positive electrode as a comet tail; its density was related to the degree of DNA damage. Finally, the slides were stained with fluorescence dye and tails were visually scored for 100 cells. The experiment was repeated three times and DNA damage in treated cells was compared to the controls. There was no statistical difference in DNA damage among the herb treated cells and untreated cells in the comet assay. Our data demonstrated that the selected medicinal herbs did not show in vitro DNA protection in the comet assay against oxidant challenge.     

In vitro antiviral activities of Chinese medicinal herbs against duck hepatitis B virus

Fifty-six different Chinese medicinal herbs from 29 families were evaluated for their antiviral activities against duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) in vitro. The DHBV DNA level in primary duck hepatocyte cultures was monitored by dot blot hybridization and the cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT assay. Anti-DHBV activities were found more strongly in the aqueous extracts of Ardisia chinensis and Pithecellobium clypearia with selective indices of 2.6 and >2.7, respectively, which were comparable to that of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine. Further research on the isolation of the active antiviral phytochemicals from these herbs may provide alternative options for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.     

Comparative in vitro antimicrobial activity of Chinese medicinal herbs

Eighteen herbs used in the treatment of infectious diseases in traditional Chinese medicine were evaluated for in vitro activity against ten microbial pathogens. Lyophilized teas were tested by the agar dilution technique at 100-1600 micrograms/ml. Eleven of the preparations were active against at least one microorganism and six of these were active against at least three of the test isolates. Huangqin (Scutellaria sp.) and Huanglian (Coptis sp.) were each active against five of the isolates. Huangqin inhibited Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris at 200 micrograms/ml. Huangqin alone showed strong activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis (less than or equal to 100 micrograms/ml) and Candida albicans (200 micrograms/ml). The antimicrobial activity of various teas, prepared with equal weights of herbs, could be compared against a particular pathogen by considering both the percentage of water-soluble material in the herbs and the minimum inhibitory concentrations of the filtered, lyophilized decoctions.     

中药与蒙药药性理论的比较研究

通过对中药与蒙药的药性理论进行比较研究,揭示了两种药物学体系的异同,以期相互借鉴,优势互补,拓展天然药物的临床应用,从而促进民族传统医药事业的发展。     

马来西亚草药与中国相应传统药物的比较研究

从马来西亚当地草药专著中共收集到马来西亚草药568味,对其草药名称、拉丁学名、科属来源、功效、主治、药用部位及在中国的地域分布情况进行汇总分析,并将其与中国相应传统药物进行比较研究.统计发现,马来西亚草药来源于147个科和445个属,功效以“清热解毒(55.11％)、活血疗伤(23.42％)”等为主,用法多为“内服或外...     

低空遥感技术在中药资源可持续利用中的应用探讨

中药资源可持续利用和多样性保护已成为当前中药研究的重要领域,方法学研究是其中的关键,作者对低空遥感技术体系、设备、影像处理等方面进行了分析,并对其在中药资源可持续利用中的应用进行了展望。     

Evaluation of oriental medicinal herbs for estrogenic and antiproliferative activities

Herb extracts commercially used in Asia were screened for their estrogenic activity with a recombinant yeast system with both a human estrogen receptor (ER) expression plasmid and a reporter plasmid. Pueraria lobata (flower) had the highest estrogenic relative potency (RP, 17-estradiol = 1.00) (7.8e-3) (RP for + control), followed by Amomum xanthioides (1.3e-3), Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Zingiber officinale, Rheum palmatum, Curcuma aromatica, Eriobotrya japonica, Sophora flavescens, Anemarrhena asphodeloides, Polygonum multiflorum and Pueraria lobata (root) (9.5e-4-1.0e-4), and Prunus persica, Lycoppus lucidus and Adenophora stricta (9.0e-5-8.0e-5). In the antiproliferative assay, five human cancer cell lines representing different tissues (breast, lung and ovary) were used. Eriobotrya japonica showed strong cytotoxicity in ER-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231), cervix epitheloid (HeLa) and lung (A549) carcinoma cell lines.     

In vitro screening for the tumoricidal properties of international medicinal herbs

There is growing use of anticancer complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) worldwide. The purpose of the current study is to assess a sizeable variety of natural and plant sources of diverse origin, to ascertain prospective research directives for cancer treatment and potential new chemotherapy drug sources. In this study, 374 natural extracts (10 microg/mL-5 mg/mL) were evaluated for dose-dependent tumoricidal effects using immortal neuroblastoma of spontaneous malignant origin. The findings indicate no pattern of tumoricidal effects by diverse plants with similar families/genus under the classes Pinopsida, Equisetopsida, Lycopodiosida, Filicosida, Liliopsida Monocotyledons or Magnoliopsida Dicotyledons. The results indicate that many of the most commonly used CAMs exhibited relatively weak tumoricidal effects including cats claw, astragalus, ginseng, echinacea, mistletoe, milk thistle, slippery elm, cayenne, chamomile, don quai, meadowsweet, motherwort and shepherd's purse. The data demonstrate that the most potent plant extracts were randomly dispersed within the plantae kingdom (LC(50) = 31-490 microg/mL) in order of the lowest LC(50) Dioscorea villosa (Dioscoreaceae) > Sanguinaria canadensis (Papaveraceae) > Dipsacus asper (Dipsacaceae) > Populus balsamifera (Salicaceae) > Boswellia carteri (Burseraceae) > Cyamopsis psoralioides (Fabaceae) > Rhamnus cathartica (Rhamnaceae) > Larrea tridentate (Zygophyllaceae) > Dichroa febrifuga (Hydrangeaceae) > Batschia canescens (Boraginaceae) > Kochia scoparia (Chenopodiaceae) > Solanum xanthocarpum (Solanaceae) > Opoponax chironium (Umbelliferae) > Caulophyllum thalictroides (Berberidaceae) > Dryopteris crassirhizoma (Dryopteridaceae) > Garcinia cambogia (Clusiaceae) > Vitex agnus-castus (Verbenaceae) > Calamus draco (Arecaceae). These findings show tumoricidal effect by extracts of wild yam root, bloodroot, teasel root, bakuchi seed, dichroa root, kanta kari, garcinia fruit, mace, dragons blood and the biblically referenced herbs: balm of gilead bud, frankincense and myrrh gum.