A system for reporting and evaluating adverse drug reactions of herbal medicine in Taiwan from 1998 to 2016.

The Taiwan Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting System for Herbal Medicine (TADRRS-HM) has systematically documented suspected adverse events from adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports from 1998 (prior to its formal establishment in 2001) and evaluates safety profiles of herbal medicines. This article describes findings from 2079 ADR reports filed between 1998 and 2016: 941 reports involved single herbs and 87 involved folk herbals; 842 were generated from clinical trials, while 209 ADR reports involving foods, health foods, dietary supplement foods and herbal cuisine were grouped as Other. Severity assessments using the Modified Hartwig and Siegel scale classified 72.4% of ADRs as mild, 17.4% as moderate and 6.5% as severe. System Organ Class classification of the ADRs identified gastrointestinal system disorders as the most common (33.4%), followed by skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders (21.2%). The TADRRS-HM records indicate that herbal medicines may cause a wide range of ADRs. Aconiti Radix, Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang, and Datura suaveolens were the most commonly reported single herb, herbal formula, and folk herbal, respectively. The data indicate that herbal medicines may cause a wide range of ADRs. This system will confer long-term benefits for the development of Taiwan's herbal medicines adverse reaction database and facilitate epidemiological analysis.

Hypouricemic effect and regulatory effects on autonomic function of Shao-Yao Gan-Cao Tang, a Chinese herbal prescription, in asymptomatic hyperuricemic vegetarians.

Shao-yao Gan-Cao Tang (SYGCT) is a popular Chinese herbal prescription which is composed of Paeoniae Radix and Glycyrrhizae Radix. The uric acid-lowering effects and regulatory effects on autonomic functions of SYGCT in vegetarians with asymptomatic hyperuricemia were evaluated in the present study. All the hyperuricemic vegetarians in experimental group and the normal healthy subjects in control group were administered SYGCT three times daily for 4 weeks. The blood levels of uric acid and general autonomic system function examinations were performed at baseline and after 4-week treatment. The activities of autonomic function were evaluated by a modified method from Wenger's analyses of autonomic variables. After 4-week treatment of SYGCT, a significant reduction of serum uric acid levels was found in the hyperuricemic vegetarians. SYGCT could increase the sympathetic activities of the hyperuricemic vegetarians with deficient-syndrome, but had no significant effects in the excess-syndrome subjects.

Antacid effects of Chinese herbal prescriptions assessed by a modified artificial stomach model.

AIM: To assess the antacid effects of the tonic Chinese herbal prescriptions, si-jun-zi-tang (SJZT) and shen-ling-bai-zhu-san (SLBZS). METHODS: Decoctions of the tonic Chinese herbal prescriptions, SJZT and SLBZS, were prepared according to Chinese original documents. The pH of the prescription decoctions and their neutralizing effects on artificial gastric acids were determined and compared with water and the active controls, sodium bicarbonate and colloidal aluminum phosphate. A modified model of Vatier's artificial stomach was used to determine the duration of consistent neutralization effect on artificial gastric acids. The neutralization capacity in vitro was determined with the titration method of Fordtran's model. RESULTS: The results showed that both SJZT and SLBZS have antacid effects in vitro. Compared with the water group, SJZT and SLBZS were found to possess significant gastric acid neutralizing effects. The duration for consistent neutralization of SLBZS was significantly longer than that of water. Also, SLBZS and SJZT exhibited significant antacid capacities compared to water. CONCLUSION: SJZT and SLBZS were consistently active in the artificial stomach model and are suggested to have antacid effects similar to the active control drugs.

Effectiveness of Taiwanese traditional herbal diet for pain management in terminal cancer patients.

In addition to modern medicinal therapy, many cancer patients in Taiwan are treated regularly with herbal medicines or prescribed a traditional herbal diet. In this paper, the effect of a Taiwanese traditional herbal diet (TTHD) on pain in terminal cancer patients was investigated. A total of 2,466 patients diagnosed with a variety of cancers were included. The most common patient-reported symptoms included troublesome pain (79.2%), weakness (69.0%), anorexia (46.4%), fever (36.5%), dyspnea (31.1%), and leg edema (30.9%). The 2,466 terminal cancer patients included in the study were randomly divided into three groups. The TTHD group (n=1044; 42.3%) were given the TTHD consisting of analgesic herbs (paeony root: licorice root=1:1) and a Taiwanese tonic vegetable soup (Lilii bulbus, Nelumbo seed, and Jujube fruit). The remaining patients were divided into a reference group, given the regular hospital diet, (n=909, 36.9%) and a control group, given the Taiwanese tonic vegetable soup without analgesic herbs, (n=513, 20.8%). All patients maintained their assigned diets for one week. A verbal numerical scale was used to assess pain. Results revealed that the patients given TTHD reported enhanced pain relief (p<0.05) compared to the reference and control groups. We found that TTHD could alleviate the pain among terminal cancer patients thereby supporting the supposition that Eastern and Western medicines can be effectively co-administered to enhance terminal patient's quality of life. Further research is warranted.