ABSTRACT
Objective:To seed for stable time window of the integrated disease-syndrome animal model based on the counterevidence from Chinese medicinal prescriptions， and to verify syndrome stability and reliability. Method:A model of depression was established by exposing rats to chronic unpredictable mild stress （CUMS）， followed by body weight measurement， sugar water test， behavioral test， and brain 5-hydroxytryptamine（5-HT） detection. The identification of liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome was conducted after the equivalent transformation of human clinical symptoms into macroscopic representations of rats. Based on the dynamically collected macroscopic representation scale， Xiaoyaosan was used to reversely verify the stability and reliability of the integrated disease-syndrome animal model of depression due to liver depression and spleen deficiency. Result:The sugar water consumption and the number of crossings and the total movement distance in the open field test of 16-week-old rats in the CUMS （eight weeks of CUMS） group were significantly lower than those in the normal group （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. According to the immunohistochemical results， the 5-HT content in hippocampal area CA2 of rats in the CUMS group was also significantly lowered as compared with that in the normal group（<italic>P</italic><0.05），which indicated that depression was successfully modeled. The liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome was present in 14-week-old rats （six weeks after CUMS）of the CUMS group， and the number of rats experiencing the liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome reached the peak in the 16th week （eight weeks after CUMS），accounting for 70% of the total number. Thereafter， the number decreased gradually. The syndrome scores of the 14-， 16-， 18-， 20-， and 22-week-old rats in the Xiaoyaosan group were reduced by 66.6%， 70.7%， 54.8%， 50.4%， and 44.8%， which were graded as effective， marked effective， effective， effective， and effective， respectively. Conclusion:The age of 14-16 weeks（six to eight weeks after CUMS） is considered the stable and reliable time window for depression due to liver depression and spleen deficiency.
ABSTRACT
Elaphurus davidianus( Milu),a rare animal unique to China,has been used as medicine for more than a thousand years,but the extinction of Milu in modern times resulted in the unavailability of related medical products. Today,the reintroduction of Milu population makes it possible to restore its medicinal usage. The resource reserves of Cervi Cornu,the natural shedding product from Milu,are increasing with the expansion of the population,allowing it to be fully utilized in the medical field. Mijiao Pills,first recorded in Important Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergency( Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang) by Sun Simiao in the Tang Dynasty,is the first Chinese medicinal prescription with Cervi Cornu as the sovereign medicinal,which is effective in tonifying. Its composition,preparation,efficacy and indications,and administration are described in detail in the Important Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergency,which however,have changed significantly over the thousands of years,seriously affecting the clinical application of this classical prescription and related product development. Therefore,the key information of this prescription should be systematically collated and summarized. According to the principles of textual research on key information in ancient classical prescriptions promulgated by relevant authorities,this paper reviewed ancient Chinese medical books of the past dynasties,modern literature,as well as the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China( 2020 Version) to figure out such key information as the source,historical evolution,original plants and animals and their processing,dosage,preparation,and usage of Mijiao Pills. This paper aimed to provide a basis for the clinical application of Mijiao Pills and subsequent product development,thus facilitating the development and utilization of this precious medicinal animal resource.
Subject(s)
Humans , Books , China , Cornus , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , PrescriptionsABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription is the main therapies for disease prevention and treatment in Chinese medicine. Following the guidance of the theory of TCM and developing drug by composing prescriptions of TCM materials and pieces, it is a traditional application mode of TCM, and still widely used in clinic. TCM prescription has theoretical advantages and rich clinical application experience in dealing with multi-factor complex diseases, but scientific research is relatively weak. The lack of scientific cognition of the effective substances and mechanism of Chinese medicine leads to insufficient understanding of the efficacy regularity, which affects the stability of effect and hinders the improvement of quality of Chinese medicinal products. Component-based Chinese medicine (CCM) is an innovation based on inheritance, which breaks through the tradition of experience-based prescription and realize the transformation of compatibility from herbal pieces to components. CCM is an important achievement during the research process of modernization of Chinese medicine. Under the support of three national "973" projects, in order to reveal the scientific connotation of the prescription compatibility theory and develop innovative Chinese drugs, we have launched theoretical innovation and technological innovation around the "two relatively clear", and opened up the research field of CCM. CCM is an innovation based on inheritance, breaking through the tradition of experience based prescription, and realizing the transformation from compatibility of herbal pieces to component compatibility, which is an important achievement of the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. In the past more than 10 years, with the deepening of research and the expansion of application, the theory and methods of CCM and efficacy-oriented compatibility have been continuously improved. The value of CCM is not only in developing new drug, more important is to build a communication bridge between traditional Chinese medicine and modern science and construct the system of key technologies which meet the need of innovation and development of TCM. This paper focused on the research progress, related concepts and technology development of CCM, as well as its application prospect in the theory research of Chinese medicine, development of innovative Chinese drugs, secondary development of Chinese patent medicine and upgrading of pharmaceutical technology.
ABSTRACT
Liuwei Dihuang decoction（LW），a classical traditional Chinese medicinal prescription with the effect of “nourishing Kidney-Yin”，consists of six herbs including Rehmannia glutinosa (Shudi),Cornus officinalis(Shauzhuyu)，Dioscorea opposita(Shanyao)，Alisma orientale(Zexie)，Porie cocos（Fuling）and Paeonia suffruticosa（Mudanpi）．It has long been used clinically in the treatments of many kinds of diseases with the sign of “Kidney-Yin deficiency”，such as cancer，diabetes，autoimmue diseases，menopausal syndrome in traditional Chinese medical treatments．The effectiveness of it has been well documented during the long-term clinical practices．In our study，the effects and the possible active mechanisms of LW on learning and memory ，neuroendocrine and immune functions were studies from the angle of neuroendocrine immunomodulation（NIM）network ．In chemical fractionation and purification of the immunoactive fractions or components contained in LW，the method of a close collaboration between pharmacological and chemical studies was employed．The chemical fractionation was begun from the decoction and guided by pharmacological activity evaluation．The results showed that oral administration of LW significantly improved learning and memory abilities in several kinds of model animals such as senescence accelerated mice (SAM)，chronic hanging stress-loaded mice and corticosterone-treated mice and the mechanism studies suggested that the effects were achieved through several ways．LW significantly decreased the plasma level of corticosterone in SAM-prone/8 (SAMP8) ，a substrain of SAM．SAMP8 showed a marked elevation of plasma level of corticosterone with advancing age in comparison with SAMR1 ，a substrain of senescence resistant of SAM．LW also significantly improved the secretion of testosterone by primary cultured testis cells from SAMP8．The immunopharmacological studies showed that oral administration of LW not only improved the immune functions in several immunodeficient model animals such as cyclophospharmide-treated mice and SAMP8，but also modulated or corrected the imbalance of immune functions manifested in autoimmune model animals includig adjuvant arthritis rats and campylobacter jejuni primed mice．Under the guidance of activity evaluation，several immunoactive fractions and pure compounds were obtained from the decoction．The effects of some fractions and compounds were studied and the results showed that they possessed potential immunopharmacological effects．The preliminary study suggested that LW possessed wide pharmacological effects and the basic effect of LW，we postulate，is modulation the balance of NIM network disturbed in many pathological conditions．It is also suggested that our method employed in the study of LW is an effective and practicable way in modern studies of tradltional Chinese medicinal prescriptions．