Myelophil, a mixture of Astragali Radix and Salviae Radix extract, moderates toxic side effects of fluorouracil in mice

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of Myelophil, an extract containing Astragali Radix and Salviae Radix, for reducing complications induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in a gastrointestinal cancer model. METHODS: We injected 5-FU into mice and then administered Myelophil to examine the ability of the drug to treat the side effects of 5-FU in mice. Peripheral blood counts, histological examinations, and colony-forming assays of bone marrow were conducted, followed by swimming tests and assessment of survival times. RESULTS: Myelophil restored red and white blood cells and platelets in blood, and recovered cell density in bone marrow to levels comparable to those observed within the control group. In addition, Myelophil significantly increased colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) and CFU-erythroid (CFU-E) compared to the control group. We confirmed that interleukin-3 gene expression was upregulated by Myelophil in spleen cells. Myelophil administration also doubled the survival rate of mice that were severely myelosuppressed as a result of 5-FU injection at a lethal dose of 70%. Finally, the swimming performance of mice significantly improved as a result of Myelophil treatment. CONCLUSION: These results provide experimentalevidence in support of clinical applications of Myelophil to minimize 5-FU-induced myelosuppression and improve general post-chemotherapy health.

Fatigue severity of patients with idiopathic chronic fatigue compared to healthy subjects

OBJECTIVE:To analyze the fatigue severity of patients with idiopathic chronic fatigue(ICF) and to compare the severity of this group with that of healthy subjects.METHODS:one hundred and nine ICF patients and 98 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study.Fatigue severity was measured using the Korean-translated Chalder fatigue severity questionnaire.All subjects scored each item on a 10-point scale as a self-rating numeric scale(NRS),and additionally rated their feeling of general fatigue by visual analogue scale(VAS).RESULTS:The total NRS scores of patients with ICF was 53 ± 15 compared with 25 ± 14 of healthy subjects(2.4 folds for physical symptoms vs.1.7 folds for mental symptoms respectively).The VAS scores of patients with ICF were 2.7 times as high as those of healthy subjects.CONCLUSION:This report is the first to compare the severity of fatigue between ICF patients and healthy subjects.This study contains reference data applicable for the management of this disorder in field of complementary and alternative medicine.