There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Traditional oriental medicine for sensorineural hearing loss: Can ethnopharmacology contribute to potential drug discovery?

Phellodendri Cortex (Obaku in Japanese) and Coptidis Rhizoma (Oren), both of which contain berberine, have been used to prepare the kampo formula orengedokuto to treat inflammatory diseases, including dermatitis, gastric ulcers, and gastritis. These drugs are blended differently in other formulas, such as the use of Phellodendri Cortex in shichimotsukokato to treat hypertension and Coptidis Rhizoma in hangeshashinto to treat diarrhea and stomatitis. However, the differences in their medicinal properties are not well characterized. We prepared extracts from Phellodendron amurense bark (PAB) and Coptis chinensis rhizome (CCR) and separated them into alkaloid and non-alkaloid fractions. Anti-inflammatory effects were examined by monitoring the production of nitric oxide (NO), which is a pro-inflammatory mediator. A non-alkaloid fraction of the PAB extract suppressed NO production in hepatocytes more efficiently than that of the CCR extract. When each non-alkaloid fraction of the PAB and CCR extracts was administered to mice, the fractions of both extracts decreased the levels of mRNAs encoding inducible NO synthase and molecules in the interleukin-1β signaling pathway. Limonin and obakunone identified in the PAB non-alkaloid fraction suppressed NO production, exhibiting IC50 values of 16 and 2.6 μM, respectively, whereas berberine and coptisine displayed IC50 values of 12 and 14 μM, respectively. Limonin and obakunone reduced the expression of the iNOS gene, probably through the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB. Therefore, both limonoids and alkaloids may be responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of the PAB extract, whereas alkaloids may be primarily responsible for those of the CCR extract. The different composition of the constituents may modulate the anti-inflammatory effects of Phellodendri Cortex and Coptidis Rhizoma.

Identification of anti-inflammatory constituents in Phellodendri Cortex and Coptidis Rhizoma by monitoring the suppression of nitric oxide production

Acupuncture regulates inflammation process and growth factors by increasing blood circulation in affected areas. In this study, we examined whether acupuncture has an effect on wound healing in injured rat. Rats were assigned randomly into two groups: control group and acupuncture group. Acupuncture treatment was carried out at 8 sites around the wounded area. We analyzed the wound area, inflammatory cytokines, proliferation of resident cells, and angiogenesis and induction of extracelluar matrix remodeling. At 7 days after-wounding the wound size in acupuncture-treat group was decreased more significantly compared to control group. In addition, the protein levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were significantly decreased compared to the control at 2 and 7 days post-wounding. Also, we analyzed newly generated cells by performing immunostaining for PCNA and using several phenotype markers such as CD-31, α-SMA, and collagen type I. In acupuncture-treated group, PCNA-positive cell was increased and PCNA labeled CD-31-positive vessels, α-SMA- and collagen type I-positive fibroblastic cells, were increased compared to the control group at 7 days post-wounding. These results suggest that acupuncture may improve wound healing through decreasing pro-inflammatory response, increasing cell proliferation and angiogenesis, and inducing extracellular matrix remodeling.

/pdf/therapeutic-effects-of-acupuncture-through-enhancement-of-4ivkr9haus.pdf

Therapeutic Effects of Acupuncture through Enhancement of Functional Angiogenesis and Granulogenesis in Rat Wound Healing

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is debilitating, increasing in incidence worldwide, and a financial and social burden on health systems. Kidney failure, the final stage of CKD, is life-threatening if untreated with kidney replacement therapies. Current therapies using commercially-available drugs, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and calcium channel blockers, generally only delay the progression of CKD. This review article focuses on effective alternative therapies to improve the prevention and treatment of CKD, using plants or plant extracts. Three mechanistic processes that are well-documented in CKD pathogenesis are inflammation, fibrosis, and oxidative stress. Many plants and their extracts are already known to ameliorate kidney dysfunction through antioxidant action, with subsequent benefits on inflammation and fibrosis. In vitro and in vivo experiments using plant-based therapies for pre-clinical research demonstrate some robust therapeutic benefits. In the CKD clinic, combination treatments of plant extracts with conventional therapies that are seen as relatively successful currently may confer additive or synergistic renoprotective effects. Therefore, the aim of recent research is to identify, rigorously test pre-clinically and clinically, and avoid any toxic outcomes to obtain optimal therapeutic benefit from medicinal plants. This review may prove to be a filtering tool to researchers into complementary and alternative medicines to find out the current trends of using plant-based therapies for the treatment of kidney diseases, including CKD. 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2515690X221079688

Promoting Plant-Based Therapies for Chronic Kidney Disease

We evaluated the effect of kigikenchuto (KKT), a traditional Japanese formula, in a modified rat pressure-loading skin ulcer model. Rats were divided into three groups, KKT extract orally administered (250 or 500 mg/kg/day for 35 days) and control. KKT shortened the duration until healing. Immunohistochemically, KKT increased CD-31-positive vessels in early phase and increased α-smooth muscle actin-(α-SMA-) positive fibroblastic cells in early phase and decreased them in late phase of wound healing. By Western blotting, KKT showed the potential to decrease inflammatory cytokines (MCP-1, IL-1β, and TNF-α) in early phase, decrease vascular endothelial growth factor in early phase and increase it in late phase, and modulate the expression of extracellular protein matrix (α-SMA, TGF-β1, bFGF, collagen III, and collagen I). These results suggested the possibility that KKT accelerates pressure ulcer healing through decreases of inflammatory cytokines, increase of angiogenesis, and induction of extracellular matrix remodeling.

/pdf/traditional-japanese-formula-kigikenchuto-accelerates-20wmxptkam.pdf

Traditional Japanese formula kigikenchuto accelerates healing of pressure-loading skin ulcer in rats.

Antihypertensive treatment is highly important to prevent the progression of chronic kidney disease. Shichimotsukokato (SKT), a traditional Japanese medicine (i.e., Kampo formula), lowered systolic blood pressure (SBP) in experimental animal models of hypertension. However, its mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. We investigated the potential renoprotective mechanism of SKT in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Ten-week-old SHRs were randomly divided into four groups (six rats per group). In the SHR control group, the SBP increased remarkably during the 8-week experimental period. In the SHRs, SKT extract administered orally at a daily dose of 0.45 or 0.15 g/kg significantly suppressed the increase in SBP to the same extent as telmisartan administered orally at a daily dose of 0.01 g/kg. At the end of the experiment, blood, urine, and kidney cortex tissue samples were examined. The SKT treatment significantly decreased urinary albumin excretion to nearly the same level as the telmisartan treatment. A notable loss of chloride channel 5 (ClC-5), a chloride channel in the proximal renal tubules, occurred in the SHR control group. Thus, we concluded that SKT administration significantly ameliorated this decrease. The mechanism of SKT in reducing urinary albumin excretion is mediated, at least partly, by prevention of the loss of ClC-5 in the renal cortex of SHRs.

The renoprotective effect of shichimotsukokato on hypertension-induced renal dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

近年，スポーツ選手に対して鍼灸治療が施される機会が増加しているが，局所やトリガーポイントへの単刺法や通電治療を施したとする報告が多い。今回我々は随証治療による鍼灸治療が奏効した水球選手を2例経験したので報告する。症例1は16歳，男性。練習後に右拇指違和感を自覚し，練習時間延長とともに拇指痛が持続するようになり，左手のシビレ感も認めるようになったため，鍼灸治療を行った。原穴への接触鍼，背部兪穴への置鍼などを施術し，治療直後に症状が消失した。症例2は17歳，男性。腰痛を自覚し，その後に首の凝りも認めるようになったことから，鍼灸治療を行った。原穴への接触鍼，背部兪穴及び奇経への治療として、八宗穴への置鍼などを施術し，治療直後より症状が消失した。症例1，症例2ともに随証治療により症状が軽快し，強度な運動の継続も可能となったことから，スポーツ選手に対する証に随った鍼灸治療の有用性が示唆された。

Two Cases of Water Polo Athletes Successfully Treated with the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy

Aim
Systemic scleroderma is a connective tissue disease of unknown etiology characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. There are few effective treatments for this disease. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of the traditional Japanese medicines keishibukuryogan (KBG), tokishakuyakusan (TSS), and ogikenchuto (OKT) in treating systemic scleroderma.

Methods
Dermal sclerosis was induced in mice by daily injection of bleomycin. The mice were randomly divided into five groups based on treatment: KBG, TSS, and OKT groups (250 mg/kg/day), and two groups given water only (the sham and control groups). The sham group received local phosphate-buffered saline injections (without bleomycin), and the control group received local bleomycin injections (without treatment). Kampo treatment groups also received local bleomycin injections. A daily dose of 0.01 mL of either kampo solution or water/g·bodyweight was given orally (through a stomach tube) for 4 weeks.

Results
On histology at week 4, significantly fewer mast cells had infiltrated into the dermis in the TSS and OKT groups than in the control group; dermal sclerosis was also less severe in these groups. Furthermore, at week 1, the KBG, TSS, and OKT groups had significantly reduced serum transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1). OKT and TSS had significantly reduced the level of malondialdehyde in the skin tissue.

Conclusion
OKT and TSS suppressed the progression of dermal sclerosis by inhibiting mast cell infiltration, as well as by decreasing TGF-β1 and oxidative stress.

Traditional Japanese formulas tokishakuyakusan and ogikenchuto suppress dermal sclerosis in bleomycin-induced murine scleroderma

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Papers

Traditional Japanese formula kigikenchuto accelerates healing of pressure-loading skin ulcer in rats.

The renoprotective effect of shichimotsukokato on hypertension-induced renal dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Two Cases of Water Polo Athletes Successfully Treated with the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy

Traditional Japanese formulas tokishakuyakusan and ogikenchuto suppress dermal sclerosis in bleomycin-induced murine scleroderma