[Effect and mechanism of traditional Chinese herbs against Aß expression in brain tissues of mice with Alzheimer's disease].

Objective: To investigate the effects of gastrodin, astragaloside and paeoniflorin from three types of traditional Chinese herbs against on ß-amyloid plaques and memory ability in 5XFAD Alzheimer's disease (AD) transgenic mice. Methods: Seventy 5XFAD mice were randomly divided into seven groups, namely gastrodin-high and gastrodin-low dose groups (GAS-H, GAS-L), astragaloside-high and astragaloside-low dose groups (AST-H, AST-L), and paeoniflorin-high and paeoniflorin-low dose groups (PAE-H, PAE-L), and positive control group. Negative control groups were also established. After being treated for four months, 5XFAD mice were evaluated for memory ability and Aß plaques, and the mechanism were was explored by utilizing cell model (over-expression Aß and ß-secretase). Results: Gastrodin, astragaloside and paeoniflorin enhanced the learning and memory ability of 5XFAD mice, and reduced Aß in the cerebral homogenate and Aß plaques in brain. Compared with the untreated transgenic positive group, Aß plaques was reduced in hippocampus and cortex in the GAS-H group by 70.1% and 81.0%, in the AST-H group by 62.4% and 69.6%, and in the PAE-H group by 57.6% and 66.6% (P<0.01), respectively. Aß was reduced in the cerebral homogenate of all groups. The effects were dose-dependent. In vitro study suggested a dose-dependent effect of gastrodin, astragaloside and paeoniflorin in reducing Aß in cell models. Gastrodin suppressed BACE mRNA level by 32.9% (P<0.01), and suppressed ß-secretase protein level by 47.9% (P<0.01). Conclusions: Three types of Chinese herbs can inhibit ß-amyloid plaques in brain of AD. Gastrodin reduced Aß production and accumulation by inhibiting ß-secretase. Astragaloside and paeoniflorin have no demonstrable effects against ß-secretase.

Randomized phase II trial on mitomycin-C/cisplatin +/- KLT in heavily pretreated advanced breast cancer.

A randomized phase II study using mitomycin (MMC)/cisplatin (DDP) regimen with or without Kanglaite (KLT, a traditional Chinese medicine) as salvage treatment was conducted to exploit KLT's potential effects on patients with advanced breast cancer (ABC). Triweekly regimen consisted of mitomycin (8 mg/m(2)) administered intravenously on day 1, and cisplatin (25 mg/m(2)) intravenously on days 1 to 3. KLT (100 ml) was given intravenously per day on days 1 to 14 every 3 weeks. Between April 2006 and July 2007, 60 patients with a median age of 48 years were randomized into MMC/DDP with or without KLT treatment. In all, the objective response rate (ORR) was 17.5%. There were no significant differences between experimental and control treatments in terms of ORR (14.3% vs. 20.7%, p = 0.730), clinical benefit rates (24.1% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.468), median time to progression (TTP; 3.63 vs. 4.0, p = 0.872), and overall survival (OS; 7.17 vs. not reached, p = 0.120). The median TTP for patients with complete or partial responses was 6.0 months, but only 2.1 months for patients with stable or progressive disease (SD or PD; p = 0.028). While the median OS for patients who obtained clinical benefit from chemotherapy was not reached, that of patients with SD of no more than 6 months or PD was only 7.17 months (p = 0.004). There is no additional benefit when KLT is added to the MMC/DDP doublet in the management of ABC. Patients who obtained clinical benefit from chemotherapy had a longer TTP and OS.

Effective control of blood glucose status and toxicity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats by orally administration of vanadate in an herbal decoction.

Vanadium compounds have been well recognized for hypoglycemic effects, but questions remain on gastrointestinal disturbance and possible tissue vanadium accumulation thus slowing the acceptance of vanadium compounds as diabetic therapeutic agents. Our intestinal permeability and toxicity studies of vanadium compounds have suggested that the co-administration of vanadate with Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge decoction could benefit the therapeutic use of hypoglycemic vanadium compounds. In the present paper, we tested the hypoglycemic effects of vanadate ingested in an aqueous extract of S. Bunge using a streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat model. Oral administration of vanadate in S. Bunge herbal decoction produced a stable (free of hypoglycemic shock) and long-lasting ( approximately 70day) control of blood glucose status. Effective protection of animal organs from hyperglycemic damage was also observed. As expected, the herbal extract significantly alleviated vanadium toxicity, i.e. GI stress and metal accumulation. In addition, the result suggesting that vanadium-induced amelioration of the diabetic state appears to be secondary to the preservation of a functional portion of the pancreatic beta-cells which initially survived STZ-toxicity. These studies provide new insight into the therapeutic treatment of diabetics with vanadium compounds.