山海螺本草考证与临床研究进展简

目的：考证山海螺文献记载,综述其临床研究进展。方法：通过查阅古今文献,考证历代本草学对山海螺的记述,汇总其功效报道。结果：山海螺别名有：羊乳（根）、四叶参、奶党、奶树、白河车等,古代本草著作中作为＂羊乳＂的一种,山海螺为肺经药,兼入肝、脾经,是治疗气虚伴有阴津亏乏、痰结肿疡的良药,有扶正之功,无恋邪之弊,补中可清,清中有宣,润而不腻。结论：中医临床应用山海螺有悠久历史,其功效不断被发掘和完善,特别是治疗肿瘤疾患方面具有广阔应用和开发前景。     

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database

Abstract

Well-documented, up-to-date, scientific information regarding the use of herbal medicines can be difficult to find. This article reviews the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Web sites. The Web sites contain a large database of information regarding herbal medicines.     

Clinical and causality assessment in herbal hepatotoxicity

Introduction: Herbal hepatotoxicity represents a poorly understood, neglected and multifaceted disease with numerous confounding variables and missing established causality in the majority of cases. This review discusses overt shortcomings in its clinical and causality assessment and suggests improvements.

Areas covered: A selective literature search of PubMed using the terms herbal hepatotoxicity, herb-induced liver injury, drug hepatotoxicity and drug-induced liver injury was performed to identify published case reports, spontaneous case reports, case series and review articles regarding hepatotoxicity due to herbs, herbal drugs and herbal dietary supplements. Covered areas focused on confounding variables related to the documentation of the herbal product and the clinical course, hepatotoxicity and reexposure criteria, temporal association, comedication and alternative causes with special attention to preexisting diseases of the liver, bile ducts and the pancreas. Of particular interest were recent discussions of approaches designed and validated for hepatotoxicity causality, such as the scale of CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences).

Expert opinion: The authors call for substantial improvements in data quality of herbal products and case characteristics and strongly recommend using the CIOMS scale to assess causality in suspected herbal hepatotoxicity.     

Hermeneutic reading of classic texts

The purpose of this article is to broaden the understandinfg of the hermeneutic reading of classic texts. The aim is to show how the choice of a specific scientific tradition in conjunction with a methodological approach creates the foundation that clarifies the actual realization of the reading. This hermeneutic reading of classic texts is inspired by Gadamer's notion that it is the researcher's own research tradition and a clearly formulated theoretical fundamental order that shape the researcher's attitude towards texts and create the starting point that guides all reading, uncovering and interpretation. The researcher's ethical position originates in a will to openness towards what is different in the text and which constantly sets the researcher's preunderstanding and research tradition in movement. It is the researcher's attitude towards the text that allows the text to address, touch and arouse wonder. Through a flexible, lingering and repeated reading of classic texts, what is different emerges with a timeless value. The reading of classic texts is an act that may rediscover and create understanding for essential dimensions and of human beings' reality on a deeper level. The hermeneutic reading of classic texts thus brings to light constantly new possibilities of uncovering for a new envisioning and interpretation for a new understanding of the essential concepts and phenomena within caring science.     

In vivo antimalarial activity and toxicological effects of methanolic extract of Cocos nucifera (Dwarf red variety) husk fibre

OBJECTIVE: Phytochemical constituents as well as antimalarial and toxicity potentials of the methanolic extract of the husk fi bre of Dwarf Red variety of Cocos nucifera were evaluated in this study.METHODS: The dried powdered husk fi bre was exhaustively extracted with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol successively and the methanolic extract was screened for fl avonoids, phenolics, tannins, alkaloids, steroids, triterpenes, phlobatannins, anthraquinones and glycosides. A 4-day suppressive antimalarial test was carried out using Plasmodium berghei NK65-infected mice, to which the extract was administered at doses of 31.25, 62.5, 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight(BW). Toxicity of the extract was evaluated in rats using selected hematological parameters and organ function indices after orally administering doses of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg BW for 14 d.RESULTS: Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenolics, saponins, glycosides, steroids and anthraquinones in the extract. Moreover, the extract reduced parasitemia by 39.2% and 45.8% at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg BW respectively on day 8 post-inoculation. Various hematological parameters evaluated were not significantly altered(P0.05) at all doses of the extract, except red blood cell count which was signifi cantly elevated(P0.05) at 100 mg/kg BW. The extract significantly increased(P0.05) urea, creatinine, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and bilirubin concentrations in the serum as well as atherogenic index, while it reduced albumin concentration significantly(P0.05) at higher doses compared to the controls. Alanine aminotransferase activity was reduced in the liver and heart signifi cantly(P0.05) but was increased in the serum signifi cantly(P0.05) at higher doses of the extract compared to the controls.CONCLUSION: The results suggest that methanolic extract of the Dwarf red variety has partial antimalarial activity at higher doses, but is capable of impairing normal kidney and liver function as well as predisposing subjects to cardiovascular diseases.     

Gene Expression Profiling as an Initial Approach for Mechanistic Studies of Toxicity and Tumorigenicity of Herbal Plants and Herbal Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements are consumed by more than 300 million people worldwide, and herbal dietary supplements represent the most rapidly growing portion of this industry. Even though adverse health effects of many herbal dietary supplements have been reported, safety assurances are not being addressed adequately. Toxicological data on the identification of genotoxic and tumorigenic ingredients in many raw herbs are also lacking. Currently, more than 30 herbal dietary supplements and active ingredients have been selected by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) for toxicity and tumorigenicity studies. Due to the complexity of the chemical components present in plant extracts, there are no established methodologies for determining the mechanisms of toxicity (particularly tumorigenicity) induced by herbs, such as Gingko biloba leaf extract (GBE) and other herbal plant extracts. Consequently, the understanding of toxicity of herbal dietary supplements remains limited.

We have proposed that application of DNA microarrays could be a highly practical initial approach for revealing biological pathways and networks associated with toxicity induced by herbal dietary supplements and the generation of hypotheses to address likely mechanisms. The changes in expression of subsets of genes of interest, such as the modulation of drug metabolizing genes, can be analyzed after treatment with an herbal dietary supplement. Although levels of gene expression do not represent fully the levels of protein activities, we propose that subsequent biochemical and genomic experiments based on these initial observations will enable elucidation of the mechanisms leading to toxicity, including tumorigenicity. This review summarizes the current practices of microarray analysis of gene expressions in animals treated with herbal dietary supplements and discusses perspectives for the proposed strategy.     

中药饮片质量追溯体系构建的研究进展

中药的安全有效与人们的生命安全和中医药行业的发展息息相关.中药的使用存在着一定的安全隐患和风险,引起了各界人士的广泛关注.中药饮片由中药材加工而来,其原材料选择和炮制过程对中药的质量和疗效产生重大影响.结合中药饮片的生产加工、销售使用等环节,构建中药饮片质量追溯体系是解决我国中药发展问题的重要手段,也是我国中药产业未来发展的方向.利用现代化信息技术,对中药饮片全链条过程的相关信息进行有效地追踪和记录,实现"来源可知,去向可追,质量可查,责任可究"的目标,大大增加对中药市场的监管力度.本文综述了我国中药饮片质量追溯体系的研究进展,为中药饮片的追溯体系研究提供方向.今后的方向是基于二维码技术,建立中药饮片流通使用的全生命周期闭环研究,完善中药饮片流通追溯体系.     

Garcinia cambogia,Either Alone or in Combination With Green Tea,Causes Moderate to Severe Liver Injury

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