Important action of improving adrenocortical function for certain diseases recovery / 中国中西医结合杂志

ABSTRACT

It has been found that the hypofunction status of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis exists in patients with Shen-yang deficiency syndrome of TCM, also presents in most asthma patients. Seasonal attack of asthma can be prevented with Shen-tonifying drugs by improving adrenocortical function. Since patients subject to long-term glucocorticoids display hypofunction condition of HPA axis, Shen-tonifying drugs should be helpful to gluocorticoid withdrawal for getting higher success rate. Basic researches also indicated that the activating of adrenocortical stem cells and promoting regeneration of adrenal cortex is one of the mechanisms underlying improvement of adrenocortical function. Series of research showed that hypofunction of adrenocortex is the general pathological change in some diseases, so, Shen-tonifying drugs act a part in unitarily modulating the adrenocortical function, to get the therapeutic effect of both regulating the whole and improving the local.