Anxiolytic effect of aromatherapy massage in patients with breast cancer.

We examined how aromatherapy massage influenced psychologic and immunologic parameters in 12 breast cancer patients in an open semi-comparative trial. We compared the results 1 month before aromatherapy massage as a waiting control period with those during aromatherapy massage treatment and 1 month after the completion of aromatherapy sessions. The patients received a 30 min aromatherapy massage twice a week for 4 weeks (eight times in total). The results showed that anxiety was reduced in one 30 min aromatherapy massage in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test and also reduced in eight sequential aromatherapy massage sessions in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) test. Our results further suggested that aromatherapy massage ameliorated the immunologic state. Further investigations are required to confirm the anxiolytic effect of aromatherapy in breast cancer patients.

Immunological and Psychological Benefits of Aromatherapy Massage.

This preliminary investigation compares peripheral blood cell counts including red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs), CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD16(+) lymphocytes, CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio, hematocrit, humoral parameters including serum interferon-gamma and interleukin-6, salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA). Psychological measures including the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) between recipients (n = 11) of carrier oil massage and aromatherapy massage, which includes sweet almond oil, lavender oil, cypress oil and sweet marjoram oil. Though both STAI and SDS showed a significant reduction (P < 0.01) after treatment with aromatherapy and carrier massage, no difference between the aromatherapy and control massage was observed for STAI and SDS. Aromatherapy, in contrast to control massage, did not significantly reduce RBC count or hematocrit. However, aromatherapy massage showed a significant (P > 0.05) increase in PBLs, possibly due to an increase in CD8(+) and CD16(+) lymphocytes, which had significantly increased post-treatment (P < 0.01). Consequently, the CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio decreased significantly (P < 0.01). The paucity of such differences after carrier oil massage suggests that aromatherapy massage could be beneficial in disease states that require augmentation of CD8(+) lymphocytes. While this study identifies the immunological benefits of aromatherapy massage, there is a need to validate the findings prospectively in a larger cohort of patients.

Panax ginseng induces production of proinflammatory cytokines via toll-like receptor.

Ginseng radix, the dried root of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, has been shown to enhance the ability to resist microbial infections. Proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) are produced by macrophages treated with ginseng radix extract (GRE) in vitro as well as in vivo. However, the molecular mechanisms of the production are still not clear. In the present study, we demonstrated that production of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma was induced by GRE in spleen cells and peritoneal macrophages from C3H/HeN mice but was impaired in C3H/HeJ mice carrying a defective toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) gene. In addition to these cytokines, the expression of IFN-beta and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNAs was also increased in GRE-treated C3H/HeN spleen cells. We investigated the possibility that GRE contains a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-like component. However, GRE induced production of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma in the presence of polymyxin B, an LPS inhibitor. Furthermore, a Limulus amebocyte lysate assay showed that the endotoxin content of GRE was below the threshold level of 1 ng/ml LPS. These results suggest that GRE contains a non-LPS agent that enhances innate immunity through production of proinflammatory cytokines via TLR-4.

Antibacterial effect of Kampo herbal formulation Hochu-ekki-to (Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang) on Helicobacter pylori infection in mice.

Because Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a major cause of gastroduodenal diseases in humans, the eradication of H. pylori using antibiotics is very effective for the treatment of gastroduodenal diseases. However, it has recently been reported that resistance to these antibiotics is developing. In the present study, the antibacterial effect of a Kampo (traditional Japanese medicine) herbal formulation, Hochu-ekki-to (RET; Formula repletionis animalis et supletionis medii), against H. pylori was examined in vitro and in vivo. HET inhibited the growth of antibiotic-resistant strains of H. pylori as well as antibiotic-sensitive strains at a dose of 2.5 mg/ml in vitro. When 1,000 mg/kg of HET was administered orally to C57BL/6 mice for 7 days before or after inoculation with H. pylori, H. pylori in the stomach was significantly reduced in the HET-pre-treatment group compared with the control group. Furthermore, HET in combination with antibiotics completely eradicated the bacteria in mice. The expression of interferon (IFN)-gamma was induced in the gastric mucosa of the mice pre-treated with HET. There were no significant differences between the colonization of H. pylori in the control and HET treatment groups in IFN-gamma gene-deficient mice. These results suggest that the antibacterial effect of HET may be partly due to IFN-gamma induction, and that HET may be clinically useful for treatment of H. pylori infection.