Screening of Epstein-Barr Virus Early Antigen Expression Inducers from Chinese Medicinal Herbs and Plants

Ether extrilcls of 1693 Chinesc medicinal herbs and plilnts from 268 families werestudied for the induction of Epstcin-Barr viral (EBV ) early antigcn (EA ) expression in theRaji cell line. Fifty-two from 18 families were found to have inducing activity. Twenty-fiveand seven of them were from Euphorbiaccae and Thymclaeaceae, respectively. Some ofthem, such as Croton tiglium, Euphorbia kansui, Daphnc genkwa, Wikstrocmia chamacdaphen, Wikstroemia indica, Prunus mandshurica Koehne and Achyranthes bidentata arecommonly used drugs. The significance of these herbs in the activation of EBV in vivo andtheir relation to the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were discussed.

The Influence of Chinese Medicinal Herb on Chicken Immune Organs and Small Intestinal Mucosa Immune Organization

[Objective] The aim was to explore the mechanism of Chinese medicinal herb to enhance the body＇s immune. [Method] The quantitative distribution of immunocytes in chicken small intestinal mucosa lymphoid tissue-secretory type immune globulin cell A were dynamic observed to research chicken immune organ growth with histology conventional slice technology and immunohistochemistry dye. 1 day age healthy roosters were divided into 3 groups： the group 3 was control group. 1% and 0.5% concentration of Chinese herbal medicine immunopotentiator drinking water were added in the group 1 and 2 in continuous 60 d. The immune organ index was determined every 12 d and the histotomy of chicken small intes- tine in group control and 1% were taken for histological observation on day 24, 36 and 48. [ Result] Treatment group immune organ index was significantly higher than that of the control group and 1% group of small intestinal villus inherent intraformational immune cells number significantly increased （P〈0.01） compared with controls. Day 36 age group and day 48 group immune cells were higher than day 24 group of cell number （P〈 0.01 ）. [ Conclusionl Chinese medicinal herb had obvious role in promoting chicken immune organ growth and obvious influence on the quantity change of the intestinal mucosal immune cells.

Antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective effect of 10 medicinal herbs on CCl4-induced liver injury in mice

BACKGROUND Many natural products confer health benefits against diverse diseases through their antioxidant activities.Carbon tetrachloride(CCl4)is often used in animal experiments to study the effects of substances on liver injury and the related mechanisms of action,among which oxidative stress is a major pathogenic factor.AIM To compare antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of ten herbs and identify and quantify phytochemicals for the one with strongest hepatoprotection.METHODS The antioxidant activity of ten medicinal herbs was determined by both ferricreducing antioxidant power and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assays.The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by Folin–Ciocalteu method and aluminum chloride colorimetry,respectively.Their effects on CCl4-induced oxidative liver injury were evaluated and compared in a mouse model by administrating each water extract(0.15 g/mL,10 mL/kg)once per day for seven consecutive days and a dose of CCl4 solution in olive oil(8%,v/v,10 mL/kg).The herb with the strongest hepatoprotective performance was analyzed for the detailed bioactive components by using high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization source-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry.RESULTS The results revealed that all tested herbs attenuated CCl4-induced oxidative liver injury;each resulted in significant decreases in levels of serum alanine transaminase,aspartate transaminase,alkaline phosphatase,and triacylglycerols.In addition,most herbs restored hepatic superoxide dismutase and catalase activities,glutathione levels,and reduced malondialdehyde levels.Sanguisorba officinalis(S.officinalis)L.,Coptis chinensis Franch.,and Pueraria lobata(Willd.)Ohwi root were the three most effective herbs,and S.officinalis L.exhibited the strongest hepatoprotective effect.Nine active components were identified in S.officinalis L.Gallic acid and(+)-catechin were quantified(7.86±0.45 mg/g and 8.19±0.57 mg/g dried weight,respectively).Furthermore,the tested herbs displayed a range of in vitro antioxidant activities proportional to their phenolic content;the strongest activities were also found for S.officinalis L.CONCLUSION This study is of value to assist the selection of more effective natural products for direct consumption and the development of nutraceuticals or therapeutics to manage oxidative stress-related diseases.

Effects of the Chinese Medicinal Herb Com plex Additives on Non-specific Immunity of Amursturgeon( Acipenser schrencki Brandt)

This study was to investigate the effects of aqueous decotion from three Chinese medicinal herb additives （ Cyrtomium fortunei, prescription I and prescription II） on non-specific immunity of 1 ＋ age old Amur sturgeon （Acipenser schrencki Brandt） by oral perfusion. Cyrtomiumfortunei, prescription I and prescription II were orally given to 15 fishes for each experimental group once a day, with the concentration of 9,175 and 36 g/S0 kg body weight, respectively. The administration was lasted for 14 days. Meanwhile, distilled water was orally given as the control. After the experiment, some of the experimental fishes were stimulated with high temperature （30 ℃ ） for two hours. Sampling was performed from fishes treated at 22 ℃ and 30 ℃ for measuring the protein content in the serum, phagocytic activity of leucocytes and the activity of the lysozyme in six tissues. The results indicated that Cyrtomiumfortunei and prescription II could help to enhance the content of various proteins and the phagocytic activity of leucocytes. There was no significant change in the effects between these two additives at either the normal temperature or high temperature. Prescription I did not show an obvious effect on the immunity of fishes at the normal temperature, but it did in promo- ting high-efficiency response and improving immunoregulation of fish shocked by some stimuli.

ANALYSIS OF VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS OF CHINESE MEDICINAL HERBS BY FLASH DISTILLATION/CAPILLARY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY

In present work,the volatile constituents of Curcuma longa L.,A.lancea (Thunb.) DC.,Foeniculum vulgare Mill,and Cinnamomun cassia Presl.have been analyzed by flash distillation/capillary gas chro-matography/mass spectrometry.The results are consistent with those obtained by conventional steam distillation extraction method.The optimum condition of flash distillation has been studied.The experimental results showed that this new technique proved to be a simple,rapid and efficient tool for microanalysis of volatile constituents of Chinese medicinal herbs.

Treatment of Retinal Vein Obstruction with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicinal Herbs

We have treated thirty-two cases (52 eyes) of retinal vein obstruction by acupuncture and oral administration of Huo Xue Ming Mu Decoction. The total effective rate of 90.38% demonstrated that the treatment was definitely effective.

China Beijing Tongrentang Holdings Corp.Beijing Tongrentang Chinese Medicinal Herb Refinery

Beijing Tongrentang was founed byMr. Le Zunyu in the eighth year of the reignof Emperor Qianlong (1669) in Qing Dynasty.Le Zunyu once served as an official in chargeof documents and archives for the imperialhospital for the Qing imperial palace. Takingthe advantage of his position, he collectednumerous proven prescriptions and folkrecipes as well as secret prescriptions of afamily handed down from generation togeneration, and prepared ready-made herbalcompounds. With unique recipes, carefully-chosen ingredients, fine technology andconspicuously curative effect of such ready-made herbal compounds, BeijingTongrentang thus established itself areputation. In 1952, under the leadership of LeSongsheng, descendant of the Le family andformer manager of Tongrentang, thecountry’ s first medicinal herb tablet producer,Beijing Tongrentang Chinese Medicinal HerbRefinery, was set up. With the developmentin the past four decades, the refinery hasbecome one of the core enterprises underBeijing Tongrentang Group

COMBINED TREATMENT OF 200 CASES OF PERIPHERY FACIAL PARALYSIS WITH ACUPUNCTURE AND CHINESE MEDICINAL HERBS

In the present study, 200 cases of periphery facial paralysis were treated with combined therapies of handle needle, electroacupuncture (EA), electronic moxibustion and oral administration of Supplemented Qianzheng San. After treatment, of the 200 cases, 176 were cured, 15 had marked improvement and 9 had improvement. Two groups of acupoints were chosen and used alternately for keeping the excitement of acupoints, preventing acupoint fatigue and raising the therapeutic effect. In the acute stage of periphery facial palsy, acupuncture treatment was performed using shallow needling, mild manipulation and no needling penetration. In the convalescence stage and sequela stage, penetration needling was adopted and stronger stimulation given. During acute period and when facial muscular spasm appeared, EA stimulation was not suitable for facial acupoints. Over use of vision should be avoided.

Study on Early Application of Chinese Medicinal Herbs after Total Gastrectomy

Objective: To evaluate the effect of Chinese medicinal herbs on digestive function, nutritional status, immune function and complication rate in patients after total gastrectomy. Methods: Thirty-nine patients performed total gastrectomy were divided into two groups and had their small intestine intubated for administering medicine postoperatively. Twenty-one of them belonged to the treated group and had Chinese medicinal herbs dripped into their small intestine intraluminally during the early postoperative stage, while the 18 cases in the control group were dripped with 0.9% sodium chloride. Results: The digestive function of the treated group recovered rapidly, and the nutritional status and immune function improved markedly as compared with those of the control group (P<0.01-0.05). Conclusion: Early application of Chinese medicinal herbs after total gastrectomy could promote the digestive function to recover to normal, and improve the nutritional status and immune function. And occurrence of complication was reduced.

Study on the Networks of "Nature-Family-Component" of Chinese Medicinal Herbs Based on Association Rules Mining

Objective： To explore appropriate methods for the research of the theory of Chinese medicine nature property and find the relationship between Nature-Family-Component of Chinese herbs. Methods： From perspective of systems biology, we used Associate Network to identify useful relationships among ＂Nature- Family-Component＂ of Herbs. In this work, Associate Network combines association rules mining method and network construction method to evaluate the complicate relationship among ＂Nature-Family-Component＂ of herbs screened. Results： The results of association rules mining showed that the families had a close relationship with nature properties of herbs. For example, the families of Magnoliaceae, Araceae had a close relationship with hot nature with confidence of 100%, the families of Cucurbitaceae has a close relationship to cold nature with confidence of 90,91%. Moreover, the results of constructed Associate Network implied that herbs belonging to the same families generally had the same natures. In addition, some herbs belonging to different families may also have same natures when they contain the same main components. Conclusion： These results implied that the main components of herbs might affect their natures; the relationships between families and natures were based on the main compounds of herbs.

Research Progress on the Mechanism of Single-Chinese Medicinal Herbs in Treating Diabetes Mellitus

Treating diabetes mellitus （DM） with Chinese medicine （CM） has had a few thousands years of history. Past Chinese medical texts had already recorded numerous medicinal herbs as well as recipes for treating DM and accumulated much clinical experience. In the following article, the prevention of DM using CM in the past 5 years is retrospectively studied, and mainly focuses on the usage of simple Chinese herbal extracts or monomers in terms of cellular as well as molecular biology.

Mixed-method study on medicinal herb collection in relation to wildlife conservation:the case of giant pandas in China

Medicinal herb collection has historical and cultural roots in many rural communities in developing countries.Areas where herb collection occurs may overlap with biodiversity hotspots and crucial habitat of endangered and threatened species.However,impacts of such practices on wildlife are unknown and possibly underestimat­ed,perhaps due to the elusive nature of such activities.We examined this phenomenon in Wolong Nature Re­serve,China,a protected area in the South-Central China biodiversity hotspot that also supports a community of Tibetan,Qiang and Han people who use herb collection as a supplementary source of livelihood.We adopted a participatory approach in which we engaged local people in outlining spatial and temporal dynamics of medici­nal herb collection practices.We found that the overall spatial extent of herb collection increased in the past two decades.We then overlaid herb collection maps with localities of giant panda(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)feces collected over two time points in the reserve.Using a Bayesian parameter estimation,we found evidence for de­clined giant panda occurrence in the areas most recently impacted by emerging medicinal herb collection.Our methodology demonstrates the potential power of integrating participatory approaches with quantitative meth­ods for processes like herb collection that may be difficult to examine empirically.We discuss future directions for improving explanatory power and addressing uncertainty in this type of mixed-method,interdisciplinary re­search.This work has implications for future attempts to understand whether and how prevalent but subtle hu­man activities may affect wildlife conservation.

Photosensitizer Screeningfrom Chinese Medicinal Herbs and Photodynamic Anticancer Studies

Objective: To find new photosensitizers from Chinese medicinal herbs for cancer photodynamic therapy. Methods: The extracts of thirteen herbs were examined: (1) Their fluorescence excitation wave lengths and emission wave lengths; (2) Their fluorescence intensity in living cells and (3) Their distribution and localization in the living cells and the fixed cells both stained in each extract, and responses of cell fluorescence intensity to pH value change. Furthermore, the herb's anticancer photosensitive efficiencies were studied by using BGC823 human stomach cancer cells. Results: Cortex Phellodendri and Rhizoma Coptidis, were found with optimal fluorescence properties as photosensitizers in this test. The latter could remarkably reduce the cell metabolic viability, proliferative ability and increase the cell mortality when the cells exposed to both drugs and luminance but not to drug only. Conclusions: The potential of Chinese medicine as a new kind of photosensitizer and its possibility for using in anticancer photodynamic therapy are existed.

DUCK HEPATITIS B VIRUS MODEL FOR SCREENING OF ANTIVIRAL AGENTS FROM MEDICINAL HERBS

The effects of the extracts of 20 Chinese medicinal herbs and an antiviral drug foscarnet on duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) endogenous DNA polymerase (DNAp) activity were compared. The extracts of P. urinaria showed a dose-dependent inhibition on DHBV DNAp. And those of other herbs showed little inhibition effect. Primary duck hepatocyte (PDH) cultures were used for evaluating effects of the extract of P. urinaria, foscarnet and acyclovir (ACV) on DHBV, and all the drugs or the extracts showed inhibition of DHBV DNA replication. Furthermore, in vivo trials were carried out. Peking ducks infected with LJ-76 strain of DHBV were treated with the extract of P. urinaria or ACV and compared with placebo treated control ducks. The treatment results in the loss or reduction of circulating viral DHBV DNA and DHBsAg.

Screening of Anti-SIV Drugs from Chinese Medicinal Herbs

The inhibitory activities of more than 40 species of Chinese medicinal herbs or their singlechemical components against simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) have been studied. The study revealedthat four species of medicinal herbs and a single chemical component had a more than 50% inhtbition ef-fect on SIV antigen expression. and the inhibitory rate of five other herbs on SIV antigen expression wasbetween 30%-50%. The results suggest Chinese medicinal herbs could inhibit SIV activity.

An Overview of the Use of Medicinal Plants in Regenerative Dentistry

Aim: The oral cavity has the particularity to host multiple hard and soft tissues, in this paper, we will discuss the current therapies that lead to cell differentiation by regenerative therapies and the future alternatives proposed by medicinal plants and all the regenerative potential of these different tissues. Material and Methods: A detailed review of the literature through the various search engines: Scopus, PubMed, google scholar, Cochrane, etc., uses the selected keywords to explore the effect of the regenerative potential of several medicinal plants. Results: Through our research, we have proceeded to sort different medicinal plants, according to their repairing and regenerative potential on the different tissues of the oral cavity. Conclusion: Future studies are conceivable to explore the opportunities and potential provided by medicinal plants in the field of regenerative dentistry.

Anti-tumor effect of coix seed based on the theory of medicinal and food homology

Coix seed is a dry and mature seed of Coix lacryma-jobi L.var.ma-yuen(Roman.)Stapf in the Gramineae family.Coix seed has a sweet,light taste,and a cool nature.Coix seed enters the spleen,stomach,and lung meridians.It has the effects of promoting diuresis and dampness,strengthening the spleen to prevent diarrhea,removing arthralgia,expelling pus,and detoxifying and dispersing nodules.It is used for the treatment of edema,athlete's foot,poor urination,spleen deficiency and diarrhea,dampness and obstruction,lung carbuncle,intestinal carbuncle,verruca,and cancer.The medicinal and health value is high,and it has been included in the list of medicinal and food sources in China,which has a large development and application space.This article reviews the current research achievements in the processing methods and anti-tumor activities of Coix seed and provides examples of its clinical application in ancient and modern times,aiming to provide reference for further research on Coix seed and contribute to its clinical application and development.Through the analysis of the traditional Chinese patent medicines,and simple preparations and related health food of Coix seed queried by Yaozhi.com,the source,function,and dosage form of Coix seed were comprehensively analyzed,with a view of providing a reference for the development of Coix seed medicine and food.

Clinical trial of Butea superba, an alternative herbal treatmentfor erectile dysfunction

Aim: To study the effect of Butea superba on erectile dysfunction (ED) in Thai males. Methods: A 3-month randomized double-blind clinical trial was carried out in volunteers with ED, aged 30 years ~ 70 years, to evaluate the therapeutic effect of the crude preparation of Butea superba tubers on ED. Results: There was a significant upgrading in 4 of the 5 descriptive evaluations of the IIEF-5 questionnaire. Estimation of the sexual record indicated that 82.4 % of the patients exhibited noticeable improvement. Haematology and blood chemistry analysis revealed no apparent change. Conclusion: The plant preparation appears to improve the erectile function in ED patients without apparent toxicity.

A Review of Chinese Herb Medicine Additives on Chicken Growth Performance

Researches showed that many Chinese herb medicines can improve chicken growth performance not only by their pharmacological function, but also by the improvement of antioxidant function, immunity and disease resistance of chicken. The menace to human health and environment has occurred since too much antibiotics have been used as growth-promoting additives in long term in chicken industry. Therefore, research on replacement of antibiotics by Chinese herb medicines as additives for chicken growth is underway. This paper summarized some research results in the topic briefly to provide information for researchers and readers.