Historical and pharmacological studies on rehmannia root processing- Trends in usage and comparison of the immunostimulatory effects of its products with or without steam processing and pretreatment with liquor.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The dried root of Rehmannia glutinosa (RR) is a crude drug used in traditional Japanese Kampo medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Sometimes, the crude drug is subjected to additional processing before use. AIM OF THE STUDY: To determine the effects of steam processing and pretreatment with liquor of RR through historical investigation, analytical chemistry, and pharmacological experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We inspected TCM literature from the Later Han Dynasty to the present day. Dried RR steamed for 3, 6, 9, or 12 h (steamed RRs, SRRs), dried RR soaked in yellow rice wine (liquor) (liquor-RR), and dried RR steamed for 6 h pretreated with liquor (liquor-SRR) were prepared. These samples were extracted using boiling water, and the inducible effects of the extracts on granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) secretion in cultured enterocytes and the content of their marker compounds were evaluated by using HPLC. RESULTS: The effect of processing using both steaming and the pretreatment using liquor described in TCM literature over different eras was to enhance the warming effect and tonifying qi (energy) of RR. We found that SRR, processed by pretreatment with liquor, became mainstream since the Qing Dynasty. In SRR, stachyose content was decreased and fructose and manninotriose contents were increased with steaming time. However, the content of these compounds was not altered by pretreatment with liquor. RR extract induced G-CSF secretion in cultured enterocytes; moreover, the SRR extract steamed for more than 6 h had significantly stronger effects than that RR. Pretreatment with liquor did not cause any significant differences in the effects of RR or SRR. CONCLUSIONS: The aim of processing for RR by both steaming and pretreatment with liquor in TCM literature over different eras was to enhance the tonifying effect on qi and its immunostimulatory effect. Although the effect of RR on the induction of G-CSF secretion in intestinal epithelial cells was enhanced by steaming, this enhancement was not enhanced by the pretreatment with liquor. These results provide scientific support for steaming, but could not elucidate a reason for pretreatment with liquor in TCM theory.

Ryoan Imamura and his Iji Keigen (1862) -Public Disclosure of the Prescription of "Mafutsusan" -.

In 1846, Ryoan Imamura joined the Gassuido school in Osaka, which was a branch of the Shunrinken school in Hirayama, Kishu. At that time the Gassuido school was presided by Nanyo Hanaoka, the son-in-law of Sei- shu Hanaoka. It remains unknown how long Imamura studied surgery at the school. In 1862, Imamura published a book titled Iji Keigen, wherein he disclosed the prescription of "Mafutsusan". Every disciple of the Hanaoka's schools was sternly asked not to leak the secrets of the prescription. In the background of his divulgence, there may have been the circumstances in which he had a deliberate intension to insist on the significance of traditional Kampo medicine, coping with emerging Western medicine.

Vaccination and the politics of medical knowledge in nineteenth-century Japan.

The adoption of the cowpox vaccine in nineteenth-century Japan has often been seen as a more straightforward development than its introduction to other non-Western countries. However, the research leading to this conclusion has been based primarily on sources written by Japanese practitioners of Westernstylemedicine (ranpoˉ), while the perspectives of Chinese-style (kanpoˉ) practitioners,who were more numerous than ranpoˉ practitioners but less likely to have shown immediate enthusiasm for vaccination, have been largely neglected. Kanpoˉdoctors typically learned about vaccination from Chinese rather than European sources and often held an ambivalent attitude toward the vaccine's foreign origins.This article develops an analysis of kanpoˉ writings on vaccination and suggests that skepticism about the vaccine remained widespread for at least a decade after its initial arrival in Japan, providing new insights into both the initial opposition and the subsequent acceptance of the technique.

Treating emotion-related disorders in Japanese traditional medicine: language, patients and doctors.

This paper analyses how the conceptual and therapeutic formation of Japanese traditional medicine (Kampo) has been socially constructed through interactions with popular interpretations of illness. Taking the example of emotion-related disorders, this paper focuses on the changing meaning of constraint (utsu) in Kampo medicine. Utsu was once a name for one of the most frequently cited emotion-related disorders and pathological concerns during the Edo period. With the spread of Western medicine in the Meiji period, neurasthenia replaced utsu as the dominant emotion-related disorder in Japanese society. As a result, post-Meiji doctors developed other conceptual tools and strategies to respond to these new disease categories, innovations that continue to influence contemporary practitioners. I begin this history by focusing on Wada Tokaku, a Japanese doctor of the Edo period who developed a unique theory and treatment strategy for utsu. Secondly, I examine. Yomuto Kyushin and Mori Dohaku, Kampo doctors of the early twentieth century, who privileged neurasthenia over utsu in their medical practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of the flexibility and complexity of Kampo medicine, how its theory and practices have been influenced by cross-cultural changes in medicine and society, while incorporating the popular experience of illness as well.

Traditional Japanese medicine, Kampo: its history and current status.

Traditional Japanese medicine, Kampo, is used by over 80% of medical doctors in Japan. Owing to its high quality and safety, Kampo has been integrated into modern medicine, and there are 345 randomized controlled trials using Kampo in Japan as of 2010. Although there are a number of articles in top journals about basic science research, we can find only small numbers of high-quality clinical evidence. Since undergraduate education on Kampo has been established, integrative approach with the balanced combination of modern medicine and Kampo is expected to generate good clinical evidence in the near future.

[The origination of surgery (Kinso treatment) in Japan].

From the Nara period through to the end of the Heian and early Kamakura periods, the population of Japan grew by 50% thanks to increases in rice cultivation. Such expanded food production resulted in changes in the social structure providing opportunities to those in control of armed forces to become local feudal lords. Many wars fought in the process necessitated the development of treatment methods for Kinso (wounds caused by swords, spears, and similar weapons), to which Jinsoes (Buddhist monks/doctors that accompanied troops) attended, making extensive use of herbal medicine that had been developed by the people of the time. Many war commanders brought Jinsoes to battle fields, which became a custom during the Sengoku (warring) period. As many of the Jinsoes were well educated, they also served as entertainers to the commanders through their knowledge in Go or Renga (a game involving popular poetical verses). Their talents and training eventually resulted in many of the so called traditional arts including Noh, Kabuki, tea ceremony and earthenware production.

Traditional Chinese medicine and Kampo: a review from the distant past for the future.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complete system of healing that developed in China about 3000 years ago, and includes herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion and massage, etc. In recent decades the use of TCM has become more popular in China and throughout the world. Traditional Japanese medicine has been used for 1500 years and includes Kampo-yaku (herbal medicine), acupuncture and acupressure. Kampo is now widely practised in Japan and is fully integrated into the modern health-care system. Kampo is based on TCM but has been adapted to Japanese culture. In this paper we review the history and characteristics of TCM and traditional Japanese medicine, i.e. the selection of traditional Chinese herbal medicine treatments based on differential diagnosis, and treatment formulations specific for the 'Sho' (the patient's symptoms at a given moment) of Japanese Kampo--and look at the prospects for these forms of medicine.

[Use of crude drugs in "PiWeiLun" in comparison to those used in "NeiWaiShangBianHuoLun".].

PiWeiLun (Hi-i-ron in Japanese) is a traditional Chinese medical formulary written in the 13th century that discusses endogenous disease. For curing endogenous diseases (Naisho) caused by functional deficiency of pi- and wei qi (Hi-I-Ki-Kyo), PiWeiLun was recommended for QingShuYiQi-Tang (Seisho-ekki-to), Ban-XiaBaiZhuTianMaTang (Hange-byakuju-tsu-tenma-to) and BuZhongYiQiTang (Ho-chu-ekki-to), which are described in NeiWaiShangBianHuoLun (Naigaisho-benwa-ku-ron).A characteristic of PiWeiLun is that it discusses combining the use of Phellodendri Cortex with sweet Qi-tonics (Hoki-yaku) as Ginseng and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizome for improving false heat syndrome (Kyo-netsu) due to yin-deficiency (In-kyo). In PiWeiLun Cimicifugae Rhizome, Angelicae Radux and Atractylodes Rhizome are more frequently used than in NeiWaiShangBianHuoLun.The use of drugs presented in PiWeiLun may be useful to devise new crude drug formulations good for modern deficiency syndrome experienced by persons having post-operative complications.