A textual study on classical prescription of Xitong Pill and advance in researches on chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of herbs in formula / 中草药

As one of classical prescriptions, Xitong Pill was first recorded in Shihong Mao's "Ji Shi Yang Sheng Ji" in the fifty-sixth year of Emperor Qianlong (1791), with the functions of clearing heat, eliminating dampness, dispelling wind and relieving pain, to treat wind-damp-heat arthralgia syndrome, which clinically contains gout, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. Xitong Pill, as the Chinese Medicine prescription, is only consisted of two herbs, Siegesbeckia and Clerodendrum trichotomum, and widely used in clinic alone or combined with other classic prescriptions due to its precisely compatibility and significant curative effects. In this paper, herbological study and clinical application of Xitong Pill were reviewed, as well as research progresses of main chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of herbs in the formula, by analyzing ancient Chinese herbal medicine books and modern literatures, in order to provide a reference of Xitong Pill for clinical applications and further research on its pharmacological mechanisms.

Herbological study on Lygodii Herba / 中草药

Objective: To expound the origin of Lygodii Herba widely used in the folk medicine. Methods: The records and drawings of Lygodii Herba were studied, the origin of Lygodii Herba in the field was investigated, the specimens of Lygodii Herba in the producing area were collected and checked, and the specialists of taxology were consulted. Results: Now in the market the origins of Lygodii Herba were the aerial parts of Lygodium japonicum, L. microphyllum, and L. fiexuosum. The aerial parts of L. yunnanense, L. polystachyum, and L. salicilofolium in the same family were also used in some places. TLC analysis showed there existed main spots in different origins of Rosae Laevigatae Radix and the commercial herb samples. Conclusion: The investigation could provide the reference of medicinal material supply for the pharmaceutical factory, and insure the quality of Lygodii Herba.

<b>Herbological Study on the Quality and Toxicity of Aconite Root </b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The crude drug Aconite Root (<i>bushi </i>in Japanese) contains toxic compounds called bushi diester alkaloids(BDA), and the raw material with high BDA content has been considered suitable for processing into prepared <i>bushi</i>. Moreover, processing methods and an upper BDA content limit are prescribed in the 16th edition of Japanese Pharmacopoeia. In this study, we closely examined descriptions of high quality <i>bushi </i>in ancient herbal literature, and elucidated the relationship between <i>bushi </i>forms and BDA contents. The results showed that large-sized <i>bushi </i>with enlarged rootlets called “horns” (<i>tsuno </i>in Japanese) were considered higher quality, and the horns and the root tops (<i>hozo </i>in Japanese) were cut off when used as <i>bushi</i>. Meanwhile, chemical studies have shown that larger <i>bushi </i>contains less BDA, and the root tops and the horns contain more BDA than the root body. These results suggest that selecting larger roots and cutting off the more potent parts were processes for reducing BDA. Therefore we conclude that consistently less toxic <i>bushi </i>was considered a higher quality product in ancient times.

Herbological Study of Red Peony and White Peony Used in Chinese Medicine / 日本東洋医学雑誌

In China, the roots of several species of Paeonia plants in the Paeoniaceae family have been used as crude drugs under the names of Ji-shao-yao, or the red peony, and Bai-shao-yao, or the white peony, since olden times. While in Japan, the simply dried root of Paeonia lactiflora Pallas has been used as the Chinese crude drug Shao-yao, or Shakuyaku in Japanese. As for the origins of the modern “red” and “white” peony names, there have been a variety of theories, e.g. the names were perhaps derived from differences in their root or flower colors, or whether they were wild or cultivated. Based on our herbological study, we have concluded that the dried root with a cork surface was named the red peony, and those peeled cork layers, the white peony. During the Ming Dynasty, in China, the root of wild peonies such as Paeonia veiitchii and P. obovata, whose flowers are reddish, were processed into the red peony, while cultivated peony root of the white flowered variety, P. lactiflora, was processed into the white peony drug. Because of this coincidence in flower color and name of the processed product, red flowered varieties or wild plants came to be called the plant origin of the red peony, while the white flowered varieties or cultivated plants came to be called the white peony.

Historical Studies about Medicinal Part of Chinese Crude Drug \lq\lqUncaria Hook\rq\rq / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Japanese pharmacopoeia prescribes a crude drug, Uncaria hook, or the hook-like structures of Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Jacks, U. sinensis (Oliv.) Havil., and U. macrophylla Wall., while Chinese pharmacopoeia prescribes the hooks with attached stems of above3species, in addition to2other species of Uncaria hook; U. hirsuta Havil. and U. sessilifructus Roxb (all in the Rubiaceae family). Our herbological study has found that the botanical origin was Uncaria rhynchophylla before the Ming Dynasty, and that the part used was not the hook itself, but the plant's bark till the early Ming Dynasty. Use of the hooks with stems began in the late Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, in Japan, the hooks themselves have been mainly collected from wild U. rhynchophylla plants growing in southern warm-temperate zone of Japan, for use in Kampo medicines. We considered this differing Japanese custom was influenced by the descriptions in the Ben Cao Gan Mu (1596)written in the Ming dynasty by Li Si Chen, which state that the hook itself had medicinally sharp power. And we conclude that use of Uncaria bark alone is reasonable for prescriptions which originated before the early Ming dynasty, such as chotosan.

Studies of Chinese Crude Drug "Ge-gen". (1). Herbological Study of Collection Season / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Ge-gen, a Chinese crude drug derived from the root of <i>Pueraria lobata</i> Ohwi of the family Leguminosae, is collected in the winter nowadays both in China and in Japan. However, in the old descriptions of materia medica written in ancient China, it was said that the proper collection season was May or in the early summer on Chinese calendar. Present herbological study resulted that the collection season had been changed in the Yuan or Ming dynasty in China, mainly because of the confusion with eating Ge-gen, which was collected in the winter. The Ge-gen collected in the early summer should be dispensed in the prescriptions written in the old medical books such as Shang-han-lun and Jin-kui-yao-lue.

Studies of Mu-tong, Akebiae Caulis (1) Herbological study of Classical Name and Origin / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The Chinese crude drug “Mu-tong, ” “Mokutsu” in Japanese, is standardized as the stem of <i>Akebia quinata</i> Decne. and <i>A. trifoliata</i> Koidz. of Lardizabalaceae in the modern Japanese pharmacopoeia. On the other hand, the botanical origin of Mu-tong is rather complicated in China, and many different plants among several families are used as a kind of Mu-tong. The herbological study clarified that Chinese doctors in the Tang dynasty had changed the original name “Tong-tsao” to “Mu-tong, ” meaning “woody Tong-tsao, ” to distinguish it from another type of Tong-tsao derived from the soft pith of <i>Tetrapanax papyrifera</i> Koch of the family Araliaceae plant. The classical botanical origin of Mu-tong is <i>Akebia</i> plants. Though the pith of <i>Tetrapanax papyrifera</i> is used as “Tong-tsao” in modern China, Akebiae Caulis is the true botanical source of ancient prescriptions such as those found in Shang-han-lun, an ancient Chinese medical book.

Studies of Rhei Rhizoma (Da-huang; Daio). (I). A Herbological Study on its Medicinal Effects and Medicinal Parts / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Although the crude drug Rhei Rhizoma (Chinese: Da-huang; Japanese: Daio) is now commonly employed as a purgative, some question remains as to whether it was originally used as a depurative (purifying agent; specifically an agent for expelling Stagnated Blood) or purgative in ancient times. There is also some confusion as to the medicinal part of the crude drug being sold on the market. This herbological study was carried out in order to clarify these issues.<br>The results showed that Rhei Rhizoma was originally used mainly as an agent to expel Stagnated Blood, although it was also used for its purgative and other properties. Until the Qing dynasty, the rhizome of the large Rheum species, including R. palmatum, was known as the best quality Da-huang. The recent use of the root is thought to be due to recognition of the purgative properties of Da-huang.<br>Da-huang has many medicinal properties in addition to its usefulness as a purgative, and there is a need for further study of these properties as well as the differences between the pharmacological actions of the rhizome and those of the root.