1种凉茶饮料预防饮食诱导“上火”功效的人体观察

Clinical Investigation of the Preventive Effects of an Herbal Tea on Diet-induced Shang-huo

凉茶,传统上被认为有"降火"的功效,近年来为海内外华人社群所广泛饮用,但其临床功效和生理、生化机理尚未得以验证和阐明。本文以1种广式凉茶为样本,以4名志愿者摄入烧烤食品作为热性饮食诱导的"上火"模型,通过考察志愿者血液多项指标,评价"上火"与这些指标的关联性以及凉茶的预防上火作用。试验结果表明,热性饮食诱导造成了口干、咽痛等典型上火症状,同时上调了白细胞数(平均升高26.2%)、嗜中性粒细胞数(平均升高36.3%)及其比率,提高了血浆内毒素(平均升23.8pg/mL)和5-羟色胺水平(平均升高21.5ng/mL)。凉茶干预能改善热性饮食对血液指标的多种影响,下调白细胞数和嗜中性粒细胞数增幅,抑制内毒素的上升(平均升高6.4pg/mL),降低5-羟色胺水平(平均下降119.3ng/mL),并显著提升血清褪黑素水平。凉茶的作用可能与减少5-羟色胺合成分泌或加快其转化成褪黑素,降低肠道炎症反应,减少内毒素的摄入等有关。

Herbal tea has been widely used to prevent Shang-huo（rising fire） in China and Chinese communities abroad, although its clinical efficacy and physiological/biochemical mechanism have not yet been illuminated. This study used the roasted meat and deep-fried chips to induce the Shang-huo symptoms in 4 volunteers. A Canton-style herbal tea was employed to investigate its Shang-huo preventing effects, by evaluating the changes in blood cell counts and ratios, lymphocytes counts and ratios, and inflammation mediators. The levels of endotoxin, serotonin and melatonin in blood were accessed. The‘hot’ diet induced some typical Shang-huo symptoms, i.e. thirstiness and throat pain, while up-regulating the number of white blood cells （26.2%）, neutrophils （36.3%） and its ratio, and the levels of endotoxin （23.8 pg/mL） and serotonin（21.5 ng/mL）. The herbal tea removed the Shang-huo symptoms while down-regulated the diet-induced rise in cell counts and inflammation mediators, which implied the preventive effects of herbal tea on Shang-huo. With the herbal tea, the increase of endotoxin was eliminated to 6.4 pg/mL, and the serotonin was reduced by 119.3 ng/mL. Furthermore, the herbal tea notably increased the concentration of serum melatonin. The effects of the herbal tea may attribute to several biochemical interactions, namely the inhibiting synthesis/secretion of serotonin, or increasing the conversion of serotonin to melatonin, easing the inflammation in gastrointestinal track and the reduction of endotoxin intake.