AIM: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Chunggan extract (CGX), a modified traditional Chinese hepatotherapeutic herbal, on the dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced chronic liver injury model in rats. METHODS: Liver i...AIM: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Chunggan extract (CGX), a modified traditional Chinese hepatotherapeutic herbal, on the dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced chronic liver injury model in rats. METHODS: Liver injuries were induced in Wistar rats by injection of DMN (ip, 10 mg/mL per kg) for 3 consecutive days per week for 4 wk. The rats were administered with CGX (po, 100 or 200 mg/kg per day) or distilled water as a control daily for 4 wk starting from the 15th d of the DMN treatment. Biochemical parameters (serum albumin, bilirubin, ALP, AST and ALT), lipid peroxides, hydroxyproline, as well as histological changes in liver tissues were analyzed. In addition, gene expression of TNF-α, TGF-b, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, PDGF-b, and MMP-2, all of which are known to be associated with liver fibrosis, were analyzed using real-time PCR. RESULTS: CGX administration restored the spleen weight to normal after having been increased by DMN treatment. Biochemical analysis of the serum demonstrated that CGX significantly decreased the serum level of ALP (P < 0.05), ALT (P < 0.01), and AST (P < 0.01) that had been elevated by DMN treatment. CGX administration moderately lowered lipid peroxide production and markedly lowered hydroxyproline generation caused by DMN treatment in accordance with histopathological examination. DMN treatment induced a highly up-regulated expression of TNF-α, TGF-b, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, PDGF-b, and MMP-2. Of these, the gene expression encoding PDGF-b and MMP-2 was still further enhanced 2 wk after secession of the 4-wk DMN treatment, and was remarkably ameliorated by CGX administration. CONCLUSION: CGX exhibits hepatotherapeutic proper- ties against chronic hepatocellular destruction and consequential liver fibrosis.展开更多
AIM: To evaluate protective effects of Chunggan extract(CGX), a traditional herbal formula, under 4 wk of alcohol consumption-induced liver injury. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley Rats were orally administered 30% ethano...AIM: To evaluate protective effects of Chunggan extract(CGX), a traditional herbal formula, under 4 wk of alcohol consumption-induced liver injury. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley Rats were orally administered 30% ethanol daily for 4 wk with or without CGX. The pharmaceutical properties were assessed through liver enzymes, histopathology, fibrogenic cytokines, and alcohol metabolism in hepatic tissues as well as by in vitro experiment using HSC-T6 cells. RESULTS: Four weeks of alcohol consumption notably increased liver enzymes and malondialdehyde levels in serum and hepatic tissue. CGX not only prevented the collagen deposition determined by histopathology and hydroxyproline content, but also normalized transforming growth factor-beta, platelet-derived growth factorbeta and connective tissue growth factor at the gene expression and protein levels in liver tissue. Moreover, CGX treatment also significantly normalized the abnormal changes in gene expression profiles of extracellular matrix proteins, matrix metalloproteinase and their inhibitors, alcohol metabolism, and inflammatory reactions. In the acetaldehyde-stimulated HSC-T6 cells, CGX considerably inhibited collagen production and normalized fibrogenic cytokines in both gene expression and protein levels. CONCLUSION: The present study evidenced that CGX has hepatoprotective properties via modulation of fibrogenic cytokines and alcohol metabolism in alcoholic liver injury.展开更多
AIM: To evaluate the pharmaceutical safety of a Chinese herbal formula, Chunggan extract (CGX), traditionally prescribed as a hepatotherapeutic drug via systemic acute and subacute toxicological study. METHODS: Twenty...AIM: To evaluate the pharmaceutical safety of a Chinese herbal formula, Chunggan extract (CGX), traditionally prescribed as a hepatotherapeutic drug via systemic acute and subacute toxicological study. METHODS: Twenty male dogs and 20 female dogs were fed doses 50 times and 4 times greater than the clinically-recommended drug dosages in an acute and a subacute toxicological study, respectively. Adverse effects were examined by comparing the differences between normal and drug-administered groups using clinical signs, necropsies, histopathologic findings, haematology, urinalysis, and biochemical analysis. RESULTS: In the acute study no change in the body weight, diarrhoea, apetite, mortality rate and histopa- thology of major organs was observed in male or female dogs with a single administration of CGX at 5 g/kg. No drug-induced abnormalities at analysis of histopathology, haematology, urinalysis, and biochemistry were found with any dose of this drug. CONCLUSION: CGX is supposed to be very safe when used in a clinical application with a wide therapeutic index.展开更多
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia （AIHA） isuncommon but prospective fatal condition with anincidence rate of 1-3 per 100,000 persons.（1,2） AIHA ischaracterized by autoantibodies with specificity againstred blood cell （...Autoimmune hemolytic anemia （AIHA） isuncommon but prospective fatal condition with anincidence rate of 1-3 per 100,000 persons.（1,2） AIHA ischaracterized by autoantibodies with specificity againstred blood cell （RBC） antigens leading to an increasedremoval of red cells from blood circulation.（1,3） AIHAresponds well to steroids, but most patients remainsteroid-dependent, and many cases require second-line treatment. Currently, splenectomy can be regardedas the most effective and best-evaluated second-linetherapy, but there are still only limited data on long-term efficacy and adverse effects. The monoclonalanti-CD20 antibody rituximab, another second-linetherapy, is effective only in short-term and not forlong-term. The efficacy of other immunosuppressantis poorly evaluated.（4） Accordingly, AIHA patients whoare refractory to conventional therapies still needalternative treatment.展开更多
Objective:The objective of this study is to systematically review and analyze the efficacy of acupuncture for pain caused by primary liver cancer(PLC).Materials and Methods:We searched databases,including PubMed,Medli...Objective:The objective of this study is to systematically review and analyze the efficacy of acupuncture for pain caused by primary liver cancer(PLC).Materials and Methods:We searched databases,including PubMed,Medline,Embase,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database(VIP),Wanfang,and SinoMed/Chinese Biomedical Database(CBM),and retrieved randomized controlled trials(RCTs)that used acupuncture as the primary intervention to treat pain caused by PLC.Two investigators then screened the articles,extracted and pooled data,and evaluated the risk of bias of the included articles according to the Cochrane Handbook.RevMan5.3 was used for the meta-analysis of eligible RCTs.Results:A total of 145 articles were retrieved;after screening,8 RCTs involving 496 patients were eventually included in this meta-analysis.The results showed that acupuncture effectively improved cancer pain and was superior to Western medicine.Moreover,acupuncture was fast-acting for pain relief,prolonged the relief,and prevented relapse.Its adverse reaction rate was also significantly lower than that of Western medicine.No significant difference was observed in Visual Analog Scale score between acupuncture and Western medicine.Conclusion:Acupuncture relieves pain caused by liver cancer and can be used as an adjunct and alternative therapy for drug treatment.The existing research evidence is not yet objective or comprehensive,and more rigorous clinical trials are needed to validate the results.展开更多
基金Supported by the Oriental Medicine R and D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea, No. B050018
文摘AIM: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Chunggan extract (CGX), a modified traditional Chinese hepatotherapeutic herbal, on the dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced chronic liver injury model in rats. METHODS: Liver injuries were induced in Wistar rats by injection of DMN (ip, 10 mg/mL per kg) for 3 consecutive days per week for 4 wk. The rats were administered with CGX (po, 100 or 200 mg/kg per day) or distilled water as a control daily for 4 wk starting from the 15th d of the DMN treatment. Biochemical parameters (serum albumin, bilirubin, ALP, AST and ALT), lipid peroxides, hydroxyproline, as well as histological changes in liver tissues were analyzed. In addition, gene expression of TNF-α, TGF-b, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, PDGF-b, and MMP-2, all of which are known to be associated with liver fibrosis, were analyzed using real-time PCR. RESULTS: CGX administration restored the spleen weight to normal after having been increased by DMN treatment. Biochemical analysis of the serum demonstrated that CGX significantly decreased the serum level of ALP (P < 0.05), ALT (P < 0.01), and AST (P < 0.01) that had been elevated by DMN treatment. CGX administration moderately lowered lipid peroxide production and markedly lowered hydroxyproline generation caused by DMN treatment in accordance with histopathological examination. DMN treatment induced a highly up-regulated expression of TNF-α, TGF-b, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, PDGF-b, and MMP-2. Of these, the gene expression encoding PDGF-b and MMP-2 was still further enhanced 2 wk after secession of the 4-wk DMN treatment, and was remarkably ameliorated by CGX administration. CONCLUSION: CGX exhibits hepatotherapeutic proper- ties against chronic hepatocellular destruction and consequential liver fibrosis.
基金Supported by Oriental Medicine Research and Develop-ment Project,Ministry of Health and Welfare,South Korea No.HI12C-1920-01001
文摘AIM: To evaluate protective effects of Chunggan extract(CGX), a traditional herbal formula, under 4 wk of alcohol consumption-induced liver injury. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley Rats were orally administered 30% ethanol daily for 4 wk with or without CGX. The pharmaceutical properties were assessed through liver enzymes, histopathology, fibrogenic cytokines, and alcohol metabolism in hepatic tissues as well as by in vitro experiment using HSC-T6 cells. RESULTS: Four weeks of alcohol consumption notably increased liver enzymes and malondialdehyde levels in serum and hepatic tissue. CGX not only prevented the collagen deposition determined by histopathology and hydroxyproline content, but also normalized transforming growth factor-beta, platelet-derived growth factorbeta and connective tissue growth factor at the gene expression and protein levels in liver tissue. Moreover, CGX treatment also significantly normalized the abnormal changes in gene expression profiles of extracellular matrix proteins, matrix metalloproteinase and their inhibitors, alcohol metabolism, and inflammatory reactions. In the acetaldehyde-stimulated HSC-T6 cells, CGX considerably inhibited collagen production and normalized fibrogenic cytokines in both gene expression and protein levels. CONCLUSION: The present study evidenced that CGX has hepatoprotective properties via modulation of fibrogenic cytokines and alcohol metabolism in alcoholic liver injury.
文摘AIM: To evaluate the pharmaceutical safety of a Chinese herbal formula, Chunggan extract (CGX), traditionally prescribed as a hepatotherapeutic drug via systemic acute and subacute toxicological study. METHODS: Twenty male dogs and 20 female dogs were fed doses 50 times and 4 times greater than the clinically-recommended drug dosages in an acute and a subacute toxicological study, respectively. Adverse effects were examined by comparing the differences between normal and drug-administered groups using clinical signs, necropsies, histopathologic findings, haematology, urinalysis, and biochemical analysis. RESULTS: In the acute study no change in the body weight, diarrhoea, apetite, mortality rate and histopa- thology of major organs was observed in male or female dogs with a single administration of CGX at 5 g/kg. No drug-induced abnormalities at analysis of histopathology, haematology, urinalysis, and biochemistry were found with any dose of this drug. CONCLUSION: CGX is supposed to be very safe when used in a clinical application with a wide therapeutic index.
基金Supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science,ICT&Future Planning(No.2006-2005173)
文摘Autoimmune hemolytic anemia （AIHA） isuncommon but prospective fatal condition with anincidence rate of 1-3 per 100,000 persons.（1,2） AIHA ischaracterized by autoantibodies with specificity againstred blood cell （RBC） antigens leading to an increasedremoval of red cells from blood circulation.（1,3） AIHAresponds well to steroids, but most patients remainsteroid-dependent, and many cases require second-line treatment. Currently, splenectomy can be regardedas the most effective and best-evaluated second-linetherapy, but there are still only limited data on long-term efficacy and adverse effects. The monoclonalanti-CD20 antibody rituximab, another second-linetherapy, is effective only in short-term and not forlong-term. The efficacy of other immunosuppressantis poorly evaluated.（4） Accordingly, AIHA patients whoare refractory to conventional therapies still needalternative treatment.
基金supported by Key Project of Chinese National Programs for Fundamental Research and Development(973 Program)(No.2009CB522900,No.2015CB554501)the Project of Three-Year Action Plan for development of traditional Chinese medicine in Shanghai(No.ZY(2018-2020)-CCCX-2004-01)Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Acupuncture and Moxibustion(No.20MC1920500)。
文摘Objective:The objective of this study is to systematically review and analyze the efficacy of acupuncture for pain caused by primary liver cancer(PLC).Materials and Methods:We searched databases,including PubMed,Medline,Embase,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database(VIP),Wanfang,and SinoMed/Chinese Biomedical Database(CBM),and retrieved randomized controlled trials(RCTs)that used acupuncture as the primary intervention to treat pain caused by PLC.Two investigators then screened the articles,extracted and pooled data,and evaluated the risk of bias of the included articles according to the Cochrane Handbook.RevMan5.3 was used for the meta-analysis of eligible RCTs.Results:A total of 145 articles were retrieved;after screening,8 RCTs involving 496 patients were eventually included in this meta-analysis.The results showed that acupuncture effectively improved cancer pain and was superior to Western medicine.Moreover,acupuncture was fast-acting for pain relief,prolonged the relief,and prevented relapse.Its adverse reaction rate was also significantly lower than that of Western medicine.No significant difference was observed in Visual Analog Scale score between acupuncture and Western medicine.Conclusion:Acupuncture relieves pain caused by liver cancer and can be used as an adjunct and alternative therapy for drug treatment.The existing research evidence is not yet objective or comprehensive,and more rigorous clinical trials are needed to validate the results.
