To treat prostatic hypertrophy-related lower urinary tract symptoms, especially storage symptoms, α1-blockers and anticholinergic agents are mainly administered. However, some patients do not respond to these therapies. We administered goshajinkigan to 30 such patients with prostatic hypertrophy, and examined its effects. This treatment significantly reduced the frequency of urination during the daytime and at night. Parameters determined on uroflowmetry, the residual urine volume, IPSS, and IPSS QOL index were ameliorated. There were no significant differences in the effects on pollakisuria and nocturia between "Jitsu" and "Kyo" Sho patients. Various basic studies have investigated the mechanism by which this agent ameliorates pollakisuria, suggesting the involvement of κ-opioid receptors in the spinal cord and C fibers.

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The present study was conducted to examine whether Kangen-karyu, a Chinese prescription, has an ameliorative effect on diabetes-induced alterations such as oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, and/or morphological changes in the kidney of type 2 diabetic db/db mice. Kangen-karyu (100 or 200 mg/kg body weight/day, p.o.) was administered every day for 18 weeks to db/db mice, and its effect was compared with vehicle-treated db/db and m/m mice. The administration of Kangen-karyu decreased the elevated serum glucose concentration in db/db mice, and reduced the increased oxidative biomarkers including the generation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation in the serum and kidney. The increased serum creatinine and urea nitrogen levels, which reflect renal dysfunction, and renal structural changes, representing glomerular enlargement, in db/db mice were significantly lowered by Kangen-karyu administration. The db/db mice exhibited the up-regulation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase subunits, nuclear factor-kappaB, cyclooxygenase-2, and inducible nitric oxide synthase levels in the kidney; however, Kangen-karyu treatment significantly reduced those expressions. Moreover, the augmented expressions of apoptosis-related proteins, cytochrome c and Bax, were down-regulated by Kangen-karyu administration. Taken together, these results provide important evidence that Kangen-karyu exhibited a pleiotropic effect on several oxidative stress-related parameters and exerted a renoprotective effect on the development of diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetic db/db mice.

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The Korean folk medicine "Da-Rae-Jul-Ki" is used to treat various diseases including dysuria, stroke, intestinal catarrh, and stomach cancer. This crude drug is considered to originate from the branches of Actinidia species, but this has not been pharmacognostically confirmed. To clarify the botanical origin of "Da-Rae-Jul-Ki," we conducted a comparative anatomical study using branches of Actinidia species growing wild in South Korea and Japan. These included A. arguta, A. arguta var. rufinervis, A. kolomikta, A. polygama, and A. rufa. Our study revealed morphological criteria that distinguished each of these four species and one variety of Actinidia from the others. These criteria included the number of cell layers in the cork; the size of cork cells; the ratio of the width of the secondary cortex to that of the primary cortex; the presence of stone cells between fiber bundles; and the sizes of stone cells, vessels, and parenchyma cells in the pith. Using these criteria, we determined that "Da-Rae-Jul-Ki" is derived from the branches of A. arguta.

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Quality of Glycyrrhizae Radix samples collected in China and Mongolia was evaluated by multivariate statistical analysis of liquid chromatography-ion trap-time of flight (LC-IT-TOF) mass spectrometric data. In total, 17 peaks were annotated or identified in the chromatogram obtained from the analysis of a water extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix. The 10 compounds with the greatest degree of variance, (liquiritin apioside, liquiritin, glycyrrhizin, licoricesaponin A3, B2, E2, G2, H2, licorice glycoside E, and a compound having the same composition as glycyrrhizin) were selected as index compounds to create a data matrix for principal component analysis (PCA). Thirty three cultivated or wild Glycyrrhizae Radix samples, collected in China and Mongolia, were grouped characteristically by PCA. In addition, the possibility of the developing resources of Glycyrrhizae Radix in the eastern region of Mongolia is indicated as an alternative to Chinese Glycyrrhizae Radix.

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