On one hand a matchless Kampo clinician, on the other a dedicated collector of antique books, Otsuka Yoshinori (1900-1980) left for posterity his immense personal library: The Shukindo bunko. We at the Medical History Department (Kitasato Research Institute) have organized and catalogued Otsuka's library. In addition to our announcement of the completion of the catalogue, we wish to introduce a summary of his life and his collection.
I. Brief biography/achievements/the person
1) the origins of the Shukindo, 2) medical specialization in Kumamoto, 3) opening a clinic in Kochi, 4) to the capital to study Kampo, 5) clinical research and educational pursuits, 6) the dispersal of the library during the war and the post-war Nishi Ogikubo years.
II. Shukindo bunko
1) the order of things, 2) the special nature of the collection, 3) the prominence of the ‘Shang Han Lun’ and ‘Jin Kui Yao Lue’ texts, 4)the substantiality of the Koho-school, 5)the Gosei-school; the Kosho-school; acupuncture and moxibustion texts.

View full abstract

Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in DBA/1J mice is an autoimmune model driven by the combination of humoral and cellular immunity against cartilage type II collagen. It has been proven to be a useful model for human rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was designed to obtain experimental evidence of Kampo medicine Dokkatsu-kisei-to (DKT) in the treatment of RA by using mouse CIA. As positive control, prednisolone was given. The significant suppressive effect of DKT as measured by arthritis score persisted upon cessation of treatment on day 42 and remained until the termination of the experiment on day 63. The amelioration of inflammatory articular lesions was confirmed by radiological and histo-pathological findings. We also observed significantly decreased concentrations of serum TNF-α on day 28 and levels of serum IgG antibody against bovine type II collagen on day 49. These results suggest that DKT has important effects on immuno-inflammatory response and may be useful in the prevention of the onset and severity of arthritis.

View full abstract

One of the complications in patients on long-term hemodialysis is spondyloarthropathy resulting from amyloidosis due to abnormal accumulation of β2-microglobulin. With deposition of β2-microglobulin in soft tissues, such as ligaments and joints, destruction of bones and cartilages begins at the site of ligament attachment and proceeds with the accompanying inflammatory reaction, fibrosis and ligament thickening. The soft tissue proliferative lesion and destruction of bones and cartilages produce spinal canal stenosis and, ultimately, compression of the spinal cord and cauda equina, to give rise to various clinical symptoms.
We tried acupuncture treatment on two patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis due to hemodialysis-related spondyloarthropathy who presented with neurogenic intermittent claudication, and evaluated its effects. Acupuncture treatment involved placement of acupuncture needles chiefly in the stenotic region, once weekly, for about three months. Marked improvement was obtained regarding claudication distance and JOA score in patient number one, who had radicular type intermittent claudication. Slight improvement of claudication distance and improvement of JOA score (particularly relief of pain) were obtained in patient number two, who had mixed type intermittent claudication. These results suggest that acupuncture treatment might be effective for dialysis patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis associated with hemodialysis-induced spondyloarthropathy.

View full abstract

We report a case of a man with lower extremity cellulitis, who had not responded to a two-week treatment with cefditoren, being successfully treated with Ji-daboku-ippo.
A 29-year-old man underwent an operation of the left knee six months earlier, and progress was good. However, his left lower extremity developed cellulitis. Cefditoren was administered, but it was not effective. We administered Ji-daboku-ippo, and his symptoms improved within three days and laboratory data improved within one week. We consider that therapy based on Kampo diagnosis is useful in the treatment of postoperative cellulitis on extremities.

View full abstract

The effects of four Kampo medicines, Ninjin-to, Hange-shashin-to, Rikkunshi-to and Sho-hange-ka-bukuryo-to, were investigated in a rat model of postoperative ileus. The postoperative ileus model was made by incising the abdomen and exposing the small intestine and caecum for five minutes under ether anesthesia. The gastrointestinal transit was estimated by the migration of a charcoal marker. In contrast to the animals anesthetized only, the gastrointestinal transit was markedly decreased in control animals. First, we studied the gastrointestinal prokinetic drugs (cisapride, mosapride and metoclopramide), the anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin, and the Kampo medicine Dai-kenchu-to in this model. They significantly increased the transit as compared with the control. Using the same method, Rikkunshi-to and Sho-hange-ka-bukuryo-to were demon-strated to be almost inactive. However, Ninjin-to and Hange-shashin-to not only significantly improved the gastrointestinal mobility compared to the control, but also showed stronger effects than those of Dai-kenchu-to. These results suggest that in addition to Dai-kenchu-to, Ninjin-to and Hange-shashin-to are also effective Kampo medicines for postoperative ileus.

View full abstract

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue (Leuplin/^®1.0mg/kg, s. c.) induced not only a decrease in the serum concentration of testosterone but also potentiation of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP: 10μg/kg, i. v.)-induced elevation of skin temperature in male rats. Keishi-bukuryo-gan (1, 000mg/kg, p. o.) and 17β-estradiol (0.010mg/kg, s. c.) significantly inhibited the elevation of skin temperature as well as teststerone (1.0mg/kg, s. c.) replacement. However, Keishi-bukuryo-gan and 17β-estradiol did not affect the low concentration of serum testosterone, although the hormone replacement of testosterone restored the plasma level. These results suggest that Keishi-bukuryo-gan, which does not have testosterone activity to serum, may be useful for the treatment of hot flushes due to testosterone deficiency after GnRH therapy in men with prostatic carcinoma, as well as 17β-estradiol.

View full abstract