We had previously found that the motility of highly metastatic murine osteosarcoma FBJ-LL cells was decreased by a serum from a mouse orally given maoto and the spontaneous metastasis of FBJ-LL cells was suppressed by oral administration of maoto in vivo. Furthermore, we reported that the human serum-induced motility of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell was prevented by the addition of maoto. In this study, we investigated the effect of human sera after intake of maoto on the motility of MDA-MB-231 cells as a first step to approach for clinical application of maoto as a metastatic inhibitor. Maoto was orally administered to 10 healthy male volunteers at usual dosage for 3.5 days and their bloods were collected before administration of maoto and at 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 hours after intake of it. All of the sera after intake of maoto caused almost 30% reductions in the motility of MDA-MB-231 cells without cytotoxicity. These results suggest that maoto may be a novel inhibitor of cancer metastasis suitable for application in humans.

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The extracts of Chinese red ant Formica aquilonia were screened for cytotoxicity, antioxidation and anti-inflammatory properties, prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) inhibition, and the effect on the catecholamine secretion. Dried ants were successively extracted with hexane, ethyl acetate, aqueous acetone and distilled water. Both the hexane and ethyl acetate extracts exhibited a high level of POP inhibitory activity; ethyl acetate extract was also significantly cytotoxic against the rat liver cancer cells. In the assay with anti-inflammatory assay, the residue of hexane extract suppressed weakly COX-2 activity. Inhibition of the acetylcholine-dependent catecholamine secretion from the bovine adrenal chromaffin cells was most pronounced with the ethyl acetate extract. The aqueous acetone extract exhibited antioxidant activity in a diphenylpierylhydrazyl assay. These results indicate that F. aquilonia contains promising therapeutic agents.

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Dizziness and vertigo are uncomfortable and horrible symptoms for patients, but medical treatment has not yet been standardized for these conditions. Takushato (TX) is a Kampo formula which is useful for the treatment of dizziness and vertigo. Various doses have been used among physicians so far, but it is not clear if original recipe is effective enough for these conditions. So we conducted an exploratory comparative study of TX between standard dose (original recipe) and triple dose. Twenty patients who suffered from dizziness and vertigo who were resistant to medical treatment by modern medicines were randomly assigned to one of two doses of TX. After 4 weeks of treatment, subjective symptoms and objective data including Romberg's test and the gaze-evoked nystagmus test were assessed and compared with the status before treatment.
Treatment by TX significantly improved subjective symptoms of dizziness and vertigo in the standard dose group. In the triple dose group, treatment by TX also showed a trend toward improvement of dizziness and vertigo. Regarding as accessory symptoms and objective otological examinations, treatment by TX significantly improved them in both the standard dose and triple dose groups, but significant difference was not observed between these two groups. No adverse effect was noted in any enrolled case. These results suggest that both doses TX are useful for refractory dizziness and vertigo, and that TX is a hopeful therapeutic option for medical treatment of vestibular dysfunction.

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The present study was performed to investigate the acute effect of plant extracts on glucose absorption in rats. Thirty aqueous dried plant extracts that have been commonly used in the Mongolian traditional medicine as antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulant, and hypotensive were selected. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed 60 min after oral administration of each plant extract solution at 500 mg.kg^-1 BW. Compared to the control, peak blood glucose concentrations during the OGTT (30 min) were significantly lower in rats administered with 13 plant extracts, especially for Asparagus officinalis L, Chamaerion angustifolium, Dasiphora fruticosa, Euphorbia humifusa Willd, Filix maris, Ferula feruloides, Fomes fomentaricus, Brain, Malva mohileviensi, Momoridicae cochinchinensidi, Schizonepeta multida, Sophora alopecuroides, and Vaccinium vitis idea (p<0.05). These results suggest that specific Mongolian medicinal plants may have a glucose absorption inhibiting effect.
In conclusion, this study provides novel evidence that Mongolian medicinal plant extracts can control blood glucose rising in rats. We hope that the outcomes of the present study will motivate further investigation on the usefulness of Mongolian medicinal plants concerning the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

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A method for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been established for the simultaneous determination of rheinanthrone, sennidin A, sennidin B and rhein formed by incubation of sennoside A with rat and mouse feces. The analysis was done within 20 min with a Wakosil-II5C18HG column by linear gradient elution using a mobile phase containing aqueous phosphoric acid and acetonitrile. Rheinanthrone was unstable in solutions when exposed to air. As for the stability in the solvents, rheinanthrone in ethyl acetate was relatively resistant to degradation at room temperature, and ethyl acetate was suitable as a solvent extracted from the incubation mixture. Ethyl acetate extract improved the stability of rheinanthrone following dehydration treatment with magnesium sulfate. This method is applicable to determine metabolites of sennosides by anaerobic incubation with rat and mouse feces.

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St John's Wort (Hypericum Perforatum L., SJW) is one of the most famous traditional herbal medicines. In the present study, the anti-stress effects of SJW extracts were examined using mice exposed to mild, consecutive, and persistent social stress, which reflects human daily life. Male BALB/c mice fed diets without or with 0.5% SJW extracts were exposed to isolation stress for 7 or 30 consecutive days. Adrenal hypertrophy and a significant increase in blood corticosterone were observed in mice exposed to isolation stress for 30 days with the control diet. However, these changes were significantly prevented by the consumption of SJW. Moreover, similar results were obtained in the mice exposed to stress for 7 days. These results indicate that the daily consumption of SJW can control the events related to social stress exposure via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system and, consequently, may prevent social stress-related diseases, such as depression.

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Recently, food safety has become an increasingly important issue in Japan. Currently, most natural medicines used in Japan are dependent on imports from China. In the future, further economic development of China is expected, and various materials are produced will be released throughout the environment. In this study, we paid increased attention to the phthalate derivatives, and performed quantitative analysis by HPLC of extractions through boiling of five kinds of natural medicines and the extraction of 18 kinds of Kampo medicinal products. As a result, 7 kinds of phthalate derivatives except bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) were detected in natural medicines. Among Kampo medicinal products, di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) was detected in all products tested except daikenchuto and keigairengyoto, high levels of diethyl phthalate (DEP) was detected in shoseiryuto and di-n-pentyl phthalate (DPP) and DEHP were detected only in tokishakuyakusan. di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP) was not detected in any of the Kampo medicinal products tested.

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