Prophylactic efficacy of traditional herbal medicines against recurrent herpes simplex virus type 1 infection from latently infected ganglia in mice.

Traditional herbal medicines with anti-herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) activity in vivo were examined for their prophylactic effects on recurrent HSV-1 infection in mice. Mice were intradermally infected with HSV-1 in the pinna and recurrent HSV-1 disease was induced by ultraviolet irradiation. Herbal extracts arrested the progression of recurrent HSV-1 disease, reduced the incidence of severe erythema and/or vesicles in the pinna, and/or shortened the period of severe recurrent lesions compared with water-administered mice (P < 0.01 or 0.05). Similarly, the prophylactic treatment of herbal extracts limited the development of recurrent skin lesions induced by stripping with cellophane tape physically. The prophylactic efficacy on recurrence was confirmed by the absence of HSV DNA in the skin lesions. HSV-1 genome was revealed to exist in the trigeminal ganglia but not in the pinna of latently infected mice before stimuli by a nested-polymerase chain reaction assay. After stimuli, HSV-1 genome was detected in both pinna and trigeminal ganglia of latently infected mice administered with water. However, prophylactic treatment decreased the rate of detection of HSV-1 genome in the stimulated pinna. Thus, the herbal extracts exhibited prophylactic efficacy against recurrent HSV-1 disease in mice and modulated the recurrent HSV-1 infection.

Assay for antiviral activity of herbal extracts using their absorbed sera.

We evaluated an antiviral assay procedure using serum obtained from guinea pigs administered 32 herbal extracts. In this assay, 21 of the 32 showed anti-herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) activity in serum. Ten of the 21 exhibited therapeutic anti-HSV-1 activity, and this was consistent with our previous results that 12 of the 32 were effective in murine infection models. Therefore, the serum pharmacological assay procedure was suitable for the selection of possible herbal extracts with biological activity in vivo as a pre-screening method before animal experiments.

Efficacy of traditional herbal medicines in combination with acyclovir against herpes simplex virus type 1 infection in vitro and in vivo.

Traditional herbal medicines have been safely used for the treatment of various human diseases since ancient China. We selected 10 herbal extracts with therapeutic antiherpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) activity. Among these, Geum japonicum Thunb., Rhus javanica L., Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. et Perry, or Terminalia chebula Retzus showed a stronger anti-HSV-1 activity in combination with acyclovir than the other herbal extracts in vitro. When acyclovir and/or a herbal extract were orally administered at doses corresponding to human use, each of the 4 combinations significantly limited the development of skin lesions and/or prolonged the mean survival times of infected mice compared with both acyclovir and the herbal extract alone (P < 0.01 or 0.05). These combinations were not toxic to mice. They reduced virus yields in the brain and skin more strongly than acyclovir alone and exhibited stronger anti-HSV-1 activity in the brain than in the skin, in contrast to acyclovir treatment by itself. Combinations of acyclovir with historically used herbal medicines showed strong combined therapeutic anti-HSV-1 activity in mice, especially reduction of virus yield in the brain.

Effects of dietary vitamin E on clinical course and plasma glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic pyruvic transaminase activities in hereditary hepatitis of LEC rats.

Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rats are autosomal recessive mutants that develop hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Because copper accumulates in the livers of these rats, and some of their clinical and pathological features are similar to those of patients with Wilson's disease, LEC rats are proposed as an animal model of Wilson's disease. It has been thought that unbound copper generates free radicals, which act as hemolytic and hepatocytotoxic agents. To examine the effects of vitamin E as an antioxidant on hereditary hepatitis in LEC rats, we fed 3-week-old rats for 25 weeks either vitamin E-deficient, control, or vitamin E-supplemented diets which contained < 0.01 mg of total tocopherols, 2 mg of d,l-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (2 I.U.), and 58.5 mg of d,l-alpha-tocopheryl nicotinate (50 I.U.), respectively, per 100 mg of feed. In males, body weight loss was first observed in the vitamin E-deficient group, and mean ages at which jaundice occurred were in the order: deficient younger than control younger than supplemented groups. The ages when plasma glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic pyruvic transaminase activities began to increase sharply and peaked followed the same order. Thus, it is likely that free radicals are involved in jaundice and hepatitis in LEC male rats, and they are a model for studying the relationship of copper, free radicals, and hepatitis. Conversely, in females, no apparent differences in clinical and biochemical changes were observed among the three groups. Causes for the discrepancy between the sexes remain to be clarified.

Resection after intraarterial chemotherapy of a hepatoblastoma originating in the caudate lobe.

A rare case of hepatoblastoma originating in the caudate lobe was treated successfully with intraarterial chemotherapy followed by extensive lobectomy of the left side of the liver. Imaging modalities demonstrated a solitary huge tumor, initially inoperable, occupying almost the entire liver in a 4-month-old female infant. Transcatheter intrahepatic arterial chemotherapy with 10 mg doxorubicin, 20 mg cisplatin, and 3 ml Lipiodol, repeated twice at a 1-month interval, led to a remarkable reduction in tumor size and thereby made it resectable. The volume ratio between the intact hepatic parenchyma and the tumor changed from 1:1.70 to 1:0.13, as assessed by serial computed tomography scans, and the patient's initial alpha-fetoprotein level of 223,210 ng/ml declined to 53 ng/ml. The present case is the first in the literature, to our knowledge, of a resected hepatoblastoma in the caudate lobe. Clinical details of the tumor and surgical issues are discussed.

[Centro-median thalamotomy for central pain following stroke --its effectiveness and limits].

Centro-median thalamotomy was performed on 18 patients with central pain caused by cerebrovascular disease. Fourteen were males and four were females. Clinical diagnoses were thalamic pain in 17 cases including cheiro-orale syndrome in one case and phantom limb pain in one case. CT scans were performed on six recent cases. Four cases had a small low density sera in the thalamus. The other two cases had no remarkable findings. The target was 7.5-11.0 nm posterior to the middle point of the intercommissural line, 1.0 mm below-2.0 mm above that line and 5.5-10.0 mm from the midline. Unilateral lesion was made on 15 cases. Postoperatively, five cases had almost completely relief of pain and four cases had partial improvement. The duration of pain relief was, however, less than two months in four cases, and between three and seven months in four cases. One case had a pain free period for seven months. But, then, severe dysesthesia appeared. Six cases had no pain relief by unilateral lesion. Two cases had no pain relief by bilateral lesions. In the remaining case, unilateral lesion was effective for six months. Then lesion of opposite side was made, but the result was unsatisfactory. The durations from the onset of apoplectic attack to the occurrence of pain were between four months and three years in ten effective cases, and within three months in six among eight failed cases. Many surgical and medical treatments have been attempted for central pain. However, ideal method is still not appeared. Centro-median thalamotomy was effective for 56% of the patients with central pain. But in most of the cases, the duration of pain relief is about a half year at the longest. And may be, this is the limit of effectiveness of centro-median thalamotomy for central pain.