Kampo Medicine “Dai-Kenchu-To” Prevents Bacterial Translocation in Rats

Abstract

Kampo medicine "Dai-kenchu-to" (DKT) has been used for treatment of ileus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of DKT on the bacterial translocation (BT) model in rats. Rats were divided into the following four groups: group 1, receiving only water, and groups 2, 3, and 4, receiving 100, 300, and 1,000 mg/kg/day of DKT. Rats were sacrificed 6 days after the beginning of the fast, and then the mesenteric lymph node was cultured. Inflammatory cytokines, intestinal integrity, and apoptosis were assessed. Incidence of BT in groups 3 (33%) and 4 (16%) was lower than in group 1 (66%). Interferon-gamma expression in groups 2, 3, and 4 was significantly lower than in group 1. Villous height and number of villus in groups 2, 3, and 4 were significantly taller and greater than in group 1. Apoptotic index in groups 2, 3, and 4 was significantly lower than in group 1. This is the first evidence that DKT prevents BT by reducing inflammatory reaction and maintaining intestinal integrity.

Pharmacokinetics of Daikenchuto, a Traditional Japanese Medicine (Kampo) after Single Oral Administration to Healthy Japanese Volunteers

“…Results from a recent clinical pharmacological study have shown that TJ-100 accelerates intestinal transit in healthy humans (Manabe et al, 2010). Furthermore, basic pharmacological studies have suggested that TJ-100 and its ingredients have a wide variety of biological effects, including a prokinetic effect largely attributed to the activity of Zanthoxylum piperitum fruit (Jin et al, 2001;Kawasaki et al, 2007;Tokita et al, 2007a,b), contraction and relaxation of intestinal smooth muscle (Kito and Suzuki, 2006), an increase in intestinal blood flow due to the activity of ginger ingredients (Murata et al, 2002;Kono et al, 2008), an anti-inflammatory effect (Kono et al, 2010), and suppression of bacterial translocation possibly mediated by ginseng ingredients (Yoshikawa et al, 2008).…”

Kampo medicine “Dai-kenchu-to” prevents CPT-11-induced small-intestinal injury in rats

“…5 Injury score. CPT-11 alone caused a significant increase in the injury score, which was significantly lower in the DKT group than in the CPT-11 group (*P \ 0.05) by inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines, including IFN-c, IL-6, and TNF-a, and alleviated intestinal epithelial apoptosis significantly [11]. Although it has not yet been proved that DKT prevents the side effects induced by chemotherapy, it is inexpensive and has few side effects.…”

“…Several studies show that DKT accelerates the gastrointestinal transit [10] and has an anti-inflammatory effect. We reported recently that DKT prevents bacterial translocation by reducing inflammatory reaction and maintaining intestinal integrity [11]. We conducted this study to examine the effect of DKT on CPT-11-induced small-intestinal injury in rats.…”

The effects of the Kampo medicine (Japanese herbal medicine) “Daikenchuto” on the surgical inflammatory response following laparoscopic colorectal resection

“…Recently, other effects of DKT have been reported; it induces increases in intestinal blood flow [12], reduces the blood ammonia level after hepatectomy [13], and has anti-inflammatory effects [14]. We previously reported that DKT prevented BT by maintaining the intestinal barrier integrity through its anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects in a rat BT model [15]. We hypothesized that DKT may also prevent the inflammatory response in postoperative patients.…”