Studies of the combined use of steroid and Shosaikoto, one of the kampohozai (Chinese traditional medicine), on pituitary adrenocortical axis function and immune responses.

Abstract

The combined effects of Shosaikoto, one of the Kampohozai (Chinese traditional medicine), and prednisolone were examined for suppressive actions on pituitary adrenocortical axis function and immune response induced by prednisolone using rats and mice. The administration of Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o., for 45 d showed a tendency to increase adrenal weight. By the combined use of Shosaikoto, 0.12 and 1.2 g/kg p.o., and prednisolone, 0.016 g/kg p.o., for 45 d, the decrease of adrenal weight induced by the treatment with prednisolone was restored. The administration of Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o., elevated the blood corticosterone level. In the case of combined use, Shosaikoto, 0.12 and 1.2 g/kg p.o., inhibited the decrease of blood corticosterone level induced by the treatment with prednisolone, 0.004 g/kg p.o., and Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o., inhibited the decrease of blood corticosterone level induced by the treatment with prednisolone, 0.016 g/kg p.o. On the other hand, the administration of Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o., for 7 d reduced the number of hemolytic plaque forming cells (HPFC) in spleen cells. But, Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o., administered for 7 d inhibited the decrease of the number of HPFC induced by the treatment with prednisolone, 0.01 and 0.03 g/kg s.c., for 3 d. Furthermore, Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o., restored the number of rosette forming cell (RFC) which decreased by prednisolone, 0.03 g/kg s.c. The decrease of 7S HA titer of the serum by the treatment with prednisolone, 0.01 g/kg s.c., was also inhibited by the combination with Shosaikoto, 1.2 g/kg p.o.

Biological response modifiers and infectious diseases: Actual and potential therapeutic agents

“…Active components seem to be found in crude herbal components such as Bupleuri radix and Angelica radix. The former contains pharmacologically active glycosides with anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties similar to corticosteroids [215]. These and other preparations are being actively investigated and tested in Japan for their therapeutic potential in cancer and the infectious diseases.…”

Saikosaponin-d attenuates the development of liver fibrosis by preventing hepatocyte injuryThis paper is one of a selection of papers in this Special Issue, entitled International Symposium on Recent Advances in Molecular, Clinical, and Social Medicine, and has undergone the Journal's usual peer-review process.

“…It has been demonstrated that SSd has an anti-inflammatory effect (Bermejo Benito et al 1998;Bu et al 2000;Liang and Cui 1998). It can increase serum concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone (Iwama et al 1986;Nose et al 1989), and it can also elevate corticotropin-releasing factor mRNA levels in the hypothalamus (Dobashi et al 1995); moreover, it can activate the phagocytosis of macrophages (Ushio and Abe 1991a;Ushio et al 1991b), modulate T lymphocyte function (Kato et al 1994), and upregulate interleukin (IL)-2/IL-4 production in thymocytes (Kato et al 1995;Kato et al 1994). However, the molecular mechanisms involved in therapeutic effects of SSd on liver fibrosis and cirrhosis remain to be determined.…”

Separation and isolation methods for analysis of the active principles of Sho-saiko-to (SST) oriental medicine

“…Many experimental reports have demonstrated the pharmacological actions of SST. SST has anti-inflammatory [6][7][8][9], immunomodulating [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], and anti-oxidant effects [18][19][20][21], and it inhibits the progression or worsening of hepatic fibrosis [22][23][24], hepatitis [25][26][27][28][29], tumors [30][31][32][33], gastric injury [34], lung injury [35,36] and HIV proliferation/activity [37][38][39]. However, although many compounds with biological activities have been isolated and identified from the constituent herbs of SST, the active compounds responsible for each effect of SST described above have not been elucidated.…”