Novel exploration of cathartic pharmacology induced by rhubarb / 中国中药杂志

Rhubarb is well-known for its cathartic effect, and this cathartic effect, which is closely correlated with "whter" of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is brought into play in colon. Recent researches about the relation between formation and effects have identified that the anthraquinone glycosides with 1,8-dio-hydroxy and without hydroxyl in the 2, 3, 6, 7 location, such as emodin, rhein, chrysophanol, et al, can bring about fairly obvious effects of "Watery Diarrhea". Aquaporins (AQPs) are expressed abundantly in colonic epithelial cells, and the abnormal expression of AQPs can lead to the less absorption of water in colon and/or the more secretion of intestinal juice, which suggest that AQPs might be one kind of the effector molecules, which some drugs playing pharmacologic actions in colon depend on. This assumption provides a novel field of vision. Is this "Watery Diarrhea" effect induced by rhubarb concerned with the location alteration or the expression change of AQPs. We deduce that the regulative effects of AQPs by rhubarb in colon might provide a new pharmacologic explation about the cathartic effect through the exploration of TCM and Chinese herbal drugs, with TCM theory and the analysis of data about efficiency and pharmacologic researches of rhubarb and the researches of AQPs. This deduction might be used to reveal why rhubarb can bring about multi-efficiency.

Correlations between edema and the immediate and prolonged painful consequences of inflammation: therapeutic implications? / 生理学报

The precise relationship between the degree of pain and the degree of inflammation in the individual remains debated. A quantitative analysis simultaneously applied to the immediate and prolonged painful consequences of inflammation has not yet been done. Thus, the correlations between edema, nociception and hypersensitivity following an inflammatory insult were assessed in rodents. To better understand the therapeutic value of modifying specific aspects of inflammation, the effects of an anti-inflammatory drug were compared to the results. Inbred strains of mice and outbred rats received an intraplantar injection of honeybee venom and the between-group and within-group correlations were calculated for spontaneous nociceptive measures, thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity, and edema and temperature. The effect of indomethacin on the pain and inflammation measures was examined. Edema correlated with spontaneous flinching, licking and lifting of the injected paw (P< or =0.003), and not with thermal or mechanical hypersensitivity. Indomethacin affected edema and spontaneous nociception dose-dependently, and affected hypersensitivity only at the highest dose tested (P< 0.05). These results suggest that edema may contribute only to immediate spontaneous nociceptive responses to an inflammatory insult, and not to the more clinically relevant prolonged hypersensitivity. This analysis represents a method for determining which inflammatory processes are the most promising therapeutic targets against the multiple painful consequences of inflammation.