2016 Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 97-105
In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory effects of the Kampo medicines Rokumigan and Hachimijiogan on cataract formation in a rat model of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. Model rats received feed containing 3.1% Rokumigan (mixture of Rehmannia Root, Cornus Fruit, Dioscorea Rhizome, Alisma Tuber, Poria Sclerotium, and Moutan Bark) or 3.3% Hachimijiogan (all ingredients of Rokumigan, plus Cinnamon Bark and Aconite Root), both in powder form. Lens glucose and sorbitol levels significantly increased, whereas lens glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid levels significantly decreased, in rats receiving STZ. Among the STZ-treated groups, lens ascorbic acid levels were significantly higher in rats receiving feed containing Rokumigan or Hachimijiogan powder than in rats receiving normal feed. By contrast, Hachimijiogan extract formulation had no significant effect on ascorbic acid or GSH levels in STZ-treated rats. The presence of Rokumigan or Hachimijiogan in feed suppressed the increase in sorbitol level, but not the decrease in GSH level, the increase in blood glucose level, or weight loss. Rokumigan and Hachimijiogan in feed clearly suppressed lens opacification in STZ-treated rats, and this suppression was particularly marked in the Hachimijiogan group. Hachimijiogan exerted a stronger pharmacological effect than Rokumigan, suggesting that the mixture of eight kinds of crude drugs in the former was more effective than the mixture of only six kinds of crude drugs in the latter.
