Selecting Effective Herbal Medicines for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder via Text Mining of Donguibogam.

OBJECTIVE: Several attempts have been made to reduce the harmful side effects and increase the efficacy of current drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many articles have studied medicinal herbs as an effective supplement in treating ADHD. In a similar manner, this study provides foundational data to identify herbs that are potentially effective in treating ADHD by text mining of Donguibogam, which is a comprehensive summation of the important traditional principles and practices of Korean medicine. METHODS: Text mining was performed for 3833 herbal prescriptions and 1108 medicinal herbs comprising prescriptions listed in Donguibogam. The first step was frequency analysis followed by chi-square test, which is a statistical hypothesis test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Twelve medicinal herbs were selected for each ADHD subtype: hyperactivity ADHD type (ADHD-PHI) and attention-deficit ADHD type (ADHD-PI). Compared to previous research on traditional literature, a newer and more efficient methodology of selecting herbal medicines was developed in this process.

Comparison of the main components and bioactivity of Rhus verniciflua Stokes extracts by different detoxification processing methods.

BACKGROUND: Rhus verniciflua Stokes is an Asian tree species that is used as a food supplement and traditional medicine in Korea. However, its use is restricted by its potential to cause allergy. Thus, allergen-free R. verniciflua extracts are currently being marketed as a functional health food in Korea. In the present study, three different allergen-free R. verniciflua extracts (DRVE, FRVE, and FFRVE) were produced by detoxification of R. verniciflua, and their properties and constituents were compared. METHODS: The main components and properties (antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, and hepatic lipogenesis inhibitory effects) of the three allergen-free extracts were compared. Moreover, the major phenolic constituents of R. verniciflua, including gallic acid, fustin, fisetin, and quercetin, were analyzed in the three extracts. RESULTS: DRVE was superior to the two other extracts with regard to antioxidant activity, while FRVE was superior with regard to antimicrobial activity and suppression of hepatic lipogenesis. FRVE exhibited lipid-lowering effects by lowering sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 and triglyceride levels, and promoting the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and AMP-activated protein kinase in an in vitro model of non-alcoholic fatty liver. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings demonstrate various differences among the three extracts. This suggests that functional and bioactive compounds present in R. verniciflua could be altered by the detoxification process, and this property could be considered in the development of functional health foods in the future.