补肾药改善老年肾上腺皮质功能的临床与实验研究

Therapeutic Research of the Kidney-Tonifying Herbs on the Aged Adrenocortical Function

53例老年人与18例青年人的清晨血浆或唾液皮质醇浓度,以及青、老龄鼠的血浆皮质酮浓度之间均未见明显差异。但在采用 Cortrosyn 负荷试验时,老年人的唾液皮质醇或老龄鼠肾上腺皮质细胞体外培养的皮质酮增长值均明显低于青年人及青龄鼠,说明老年人或鼠肾上腺皮质储备功能都有减退。老年人及老龄鼠经温肾益气药治疗后,其Cortrosyn 试验增长值较对照组均有明显提高,说明补肾药具有明显改善肾上腺皮质老年性变化的作用。

The authors have observed the aging change of the adrenocortical function and the effect of the Kidney-tonifying herbs on such a change.The result showed that there was no statistlcal.difference in the plasma cortisol levels between the aged and the young persons,and so was in the plasma corticosterone levels between the aged and the young rats.As the circulating steroids level depends on the balance of the secretion ability of the adrenal cortex and the peripheral degradation rate of the hormone,the authors measured the corticosterone concentration of the culture solution of the adrenocortical cells in vitro of the rats with different age to observe the secretion ability of the adrenocorticat cell exclusively.The result showed that the corticosterone concentration was signifi- cantly lower in the culture solution of the adrenocortical cell of the aged rats than that of the young rats,which suggests that the secretion ability of the adrenal cortex declines with aging.In addition, the authors determined the reserve power of the adrenal cortex with different age and found that the increased multiple of the salivary cortisol concentration 60 minutes after the stimulation of ACTH analogue was markedly lower in the aged persons than that in the young persons.The response of the cultured adrenocortical cells to secret corticosterone to the stimulation of ACTH analogue was also significantly lower in the aged rats than that in the young rats,which suggests that the reserve power of the adrenal cortex was also decreased with aging.After giving the Ktdney-tonifying and Qi(气)-invigorating herbs to the aged persons and the Kidney-warming mixture or the extract of Epimedium alone to the aged rats,the authors found that the reserve power of their adrenal cortex was improved markedly.In another experiment,the authors found that these medicine showed a protection effect on the adrenocortical cell of the rats from the suppression of the exogenous steroids.