Clinical effects of Jiawei Shegan Mahuang decoction vs routine western medicine for bronchial asthma: A randomized controlled trial / 第二军医大学学报

Objective To analyze the clinical effect of Jiawei Shegan Mahuang decoction for bronchial asthma and to compare its effect with that of routine western medicine therapy. Methods This was a randomized controlled clinical trial. Fifty-four patients with bronchial asthma (exterior cold and interior rheum pattern) were included and randomly divided into two groups, with 27 cases in each group. Patients in the control group were treated with routine western medicine therapy and the treatment group adopted Jiawei Shegan Mahuang decoction for two consecutive courses. The TCM syndrome integral, lung function, variation rate of peak expiratory flow (PEF), clinical efficacy and adverse reactions before and after treatment were observed and recorded based on an observer-blinding design. Results Compared with the control group, patients in the treatment group had significantly decreased total scores (and scores for each item) of TCM syndrome integral and variation rate of PEF (P0.05). Conclusion Jiawei Shegan Mahuang decoction has better clinical effect in improving the symptom and pulmonary function of patients with bronchial asthma (exterior cold and interior rheum pattern) compared with routine western medicine, and it can decrease the variation rate of PEF, indicating a promising clinical future, with its pharmacological mechanism and key components remaining to be further studied.

Clinical Study of Acupoint Application Combined with Daqinglong Decoction for Treatment of Children Asthma with Syndrome of Exterior Cold and Interior Heat / 广州中医药大学学报

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of acupoint application combined with Daqinglong Decoction (DD) for children asthma with the syndrome of exterior cold and interior heat. Methods One hundred and five children with mild and moderate persistent asthma were evenly randomized into combination group, DD group and Montelukast group. The three groups were separately given acupoint application combined with oral use of DD, oral use of DD, oral use of Montelukast, respectively. The treatment for the three groups lasted for 12 weeks. The scores of traditional Chinese medical syndromes in the three groups were recorded before and after treatment. The control of asthmatic symptoms, acute asthmatic attack frequency, and the course of disease were evaluated at the end of follow-up week 12. Results (1) At the end of treatment week 4 and 16, the syndrome scores were obviously decreased in the three groups (P0.05) . At the end of follow-up week 12, the decrease of syndrome scores in the combination group was superior to that in DD group and Montelukast group (P<0.05). (2) The effect of the combination group on controlling the asthmatic symptoms was superior to that of the other two groups ( P<0.01). ( 3) The combination group had lower acute asthmatic attack frequency and shorter disease course than DD group and Montelukast group ( P<0.01). Conclusion Acupoint application combined with oral use of Daqinglong Decoction is effective for children asthma with the syndrome of exterior cold and interior heat by relieving symptoms, enhancing the control of asthma, reducing acute asthmatic attack frequency and shortening disease course.

Therapeutic Effect of Heat-clearing and Dampness-removing Therapy Combined with Bifico for Ulcerative Colitis and Its Influence on Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Interleukin-10 in Rats / 广州中医药大学学报

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of heat-clearing and dampness-removing therapy combined with Bifico for ulcerative colitis ( UC) induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid ( TNBS), and to explore its influence on tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α) and interleukin-10 ( IL-10) in rats. Methods Forty female adult Sprague-Dawley rats were evenly randomized into five groups, namely normal control group, model group, Bifico (175 mg/kg) group, Chinese medicine group(enema with Changdiqing 3.6/kg and oral use of Changyanling Recipe l) , and Chinese medicine plus Bifico group. After treatment, the damage of colonic mucous membrane was evaluated, and expression levels of IL-10 and TNF-α in colonic mucosa were observed through immunohistochemical assay. Results The degree of colonic mucosal injury was severer and the inflammation was more obvious in the model group than those in the normal control groups ( P<0.01) , and the above changes were relieved to various degrees in the medication group ( P<0.01 compared with those in the model group) . Chinese medicine plus Bifico group had better effect on reducing colonic mucosa damage index ( CMDI) and inflammation, and on promoting the healing of colonic mucosa than Bifico group and Chinese medicine group (P<0.05 ) . The expression level of TNF-α in the colonic mucosa was markedly increased while that of IL-10 was markedly decreased in the model group ( P<0.01 compared with those in the normal control group) . The medication groups could counteract the above changes in the colonic mucosa ( P<0.01 compared with those in the model group) . The combination group and Chinese medicine group had better effect on decreasing TNF-α expression level and on increasing IL-10 expression level than Bifico group ( P<0.05) . Conclusion IL-10 and TNF-α play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of ulcerative colitis. Chinese medicine combined with Bifico has satisfactory therapeutic effect on UC rats, and its mechanism may be related with the increase of IL-10 expression level and with the decrease of TNF-α expression level.

Insight into the cold/heat in greater yang disease period and the definition of yang/yin pattern / 日本東洋医学雑誌

I discuss the question of cold/heat in greater yang disease period and the definition of yang/yin pattern as written in the Nyumon Kampo Igaku, which was the first textbook on Kampo medicine published by the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine. The first question is ; “Is the indication for Kampo medicine in greater yang disease period not the heat, but the exterior cold of a patient?” It is considered that a chilly feeling shows not cold illness, but a process trend toward body fever and sweating as a recovery strategy. The second question is ; “Should we adopt Okuda's definition of yang/yin pattern when my definition is obscure?” Okuda's definition was written for acute illnesses based on the treatise Shanghanlun (On Cold Damage). Nevertheless, we can not adopt this definition because our textbook has to be applied for treating patients with chronic illness, and the use of Goseiho and traditional Chinese medicine. The discrimination of quantitative analyses in the21st century, and qualitative approaches to discussing Kampo medicine diagnostic standards are considered important in the21st Century.