The usage of Kampo medicine has been expanding in hospitals and pharmacies, and systematic education on Kampo medicines and their ingredients, crude drugs, is urgently needed. The National Examination for Pharmacists in Japan sets questions on the pharmacology and efficacy of crude drugs. Although the efficacies of Kampo formulations are approved at the national level, those of crude drugs are not approved individually except for some cases. Consequently, the efficacy description of individual crude drug in textbooks differs much depending on the authors. To clarify this situation, we developed a database for the description of the efficacy of 129 crude drugs used in ethical Kampo formulation in major textbooks from 1887 to the present, to explore the possibility of standardizing the efficacy of crude drugs. For the national examination, for example, the efficacy can be estimated by the length and the abundance of description in the textbook. Part I describes the efficacies of 67 early crude drugs in katakana order.

The usage of Kampo medicine has been expanding in hospitals and pharmacies, and systematic education on Kampo medicines and their ingredients, crude drugs, is urgently needed. The National Examination for Pharmacists in Japan sets questions on the pharmacology and efficacy of crude drugs. Although the efficacies of Kampo formulations are approved at the national level, those of crude drugs are not approved individually except for some cases. Consequently, the efficacy description of individual crude drug in textbooks differs much depending on the authors. To clarify this situation, we developed a database for the description of the efficacy of 129 crude drugs used in ethical Kampo formulation in major textbooks from 1887 to the present, to explore the possibility of standardizing the efficacy of crude drugs. For example, the efficacy can be estimated by the length and the abundance of description in the textbook. Part II describes the efficacies of 62 late crude drugs in katakana order.

Dietary supplements are gaining wide popularity in Japan, with consumers utilizing them as self-medication. Thus, assessing the quality of dietary supplements is critical for public health. Among dietary supplements, ethanol extracts of Brazilian propolis have been widely used to improve health and prevent diseases in Japan. Accumulated evidence indicates that Brazilian propolis has various biological properties such as anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-influenaviral, anti-HIV, and anti-oxidant activities. Brazilian propolis derived from Baccharis dracunculifolia was recently reported, and is known be rich in artepillin C and various phenolic compounds (e.g., flavonoids). Artepillin C content is thus an important factor in monitoring the quality of commercial Brazilian propolis. In the present study, we evaluated the content of artepillin C in Brazilian propolis by HPLC to validate the supplement’s expected health benefits. Twelve kinds of commercial Brazilian propolis liquid (contents: 30mL) were purchased on the internet, and the recommend daily dose was enriched. The results revealed artepillin C was present in Brazilian propolis in the range of 0.3 to 50.2mg/mL. Samples No. 3 and No.5 showed lower artepillin C content than the other samples. The recommend daily dose of concentrated extract was too low. Therefore, No. 5 cannot be used effectively. These results suggest that HPLC quality monitoring of artepillin C in Brazilian propolis is very important for consumers who self-medicate. Moreover, this method may be applicable for monitoring the quality of commercial Brazilian propolis.

“Shinkiku” is a traditional digestive drug prepared by the fermentation of wheat and some herbs with fermentative microbes. Shinkiku is manufactured in China and Korea, and also used in Japanese Kampo medicine as a component of Hangebyakujutsutemmato. However, there are currently no quality standards for shinkiku, and thus, the quality of shinkiku has considerable variation depending on its manufacturer. Although these variations would be partially derived from the differences in fermentative microbes, there are no studies about microbial diversities or chemical constituents in commercial shinkiku. Thus, we investigated the microbial diversity and chemical constituents of 15 commercial shinkiku samples to standardize its quality. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rDNA and ITS1 sequences revealed that different microbes such as Lactobacillus sp. and Candida sp. were present in each shinkiku sample. On the other hand, most shinkiku samples showed amylase (12/15 samples) and lipase activities (9/15 samples) that behave as digestants. In addition, all samples commonly contained ferulic acid (>10 nmol/g), which has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. Thus, enzyme activities and ferulic acid were suggested to be one of the candidates for use as reference standards for the quality control of shinkiku. Exceptional shinkiku samples without enzyme activities showed a baked brown color, and ferulic acid content was inversely related with the brightness color of shinkiku (R²=0.47). Therefore, it seems that color indices would be effective to predict the quality of shinkiku such as enzyme activities and ferulic acid.

Phytochemical screening of the MeOH extract of Verbascum thapsus leaves resulted in the isolation of four flavonoids, two flavonolignans, five phenylethanoids, and one monoterpene glucoside. Among the isolated compounds, two flavonolignans, hydnocarpin and hydnocarpin-D, showed potent xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 2.89μM and 12.0μM, respectively.

A new phenolic compound 1-O-(E)-caffeoyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl- (1→2)-β-D-glucopyranose (1) was isolated together with kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside (2), kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside-7-O-glucuronide (3), kaempferol 3-O-glucoside (4), quercetin 3-O-glucoside (5) and kaempferol 3, 4’-di-O-glucoside (6) from the leaves of Allium macrostemon Bunge. The chemical structures were elucidated based on the analyses of the spectroscopic data.

Two dimeric ellagitannins were isolated from the pericarps of Trapa japonica along with four hydrolyzable tannins and gallic acid. The structures of these tannins were elucidated based on spectroscopic analyses by NMR and MS. The isolated compounds were evaluated for the inhibition of α-glucosidase.