Reduction of plasma triglyceride level and enhancement of plasma albumin concentration by Oren-gedoku-to-administration.

Summary

Oren-gedoku-to (Huanglian-Jie-Du-Tang, OGT) has been used for the treatment of cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, gastritis and liver disease in Japan. The present study was to test whether ingestion of OGT extract (TJ-15) would affect the metabolism of fatty acids and the usual antioxidant molecule (such as albumin, uric acid and bilirubin) levels in human plasma.

After the administration of TJ-15, plasma total cholesterol and the triglyceride level significantly decreased, and lipoprotein lipase mass increased. Significant enhancement of plasma albumin level and reduction of the total plasma protein level resulted in an increment of the albumin/globulin ratio. Plasma fibrinogen, an independent risk factor for cerebrovascular disease, declined considerably, but the reduction was not statistically significant.

The findings of this study suggest that ingestion of TJ-15 improves the microcirculation through lipid and protein metabolisms, and is useful for the treatment of cerebral vascular attack in human.

Key words: Kampo medicine TJ-15, Oren-gedoku-to, triglyceride plasma level, plasma albumin level, cerebrovascular disease

* Introduction

Oxygen is essential to our lives, but it has an unfavorable effect known as oxygen toxicity through the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Gerschman et al., 1954). There are a large number of endogenous sources of ROS and exogenous agents that produce ROS (Roehm et al., 1971; Doroshow, 1983). Many pathological conditions, such as, ischemia reperfusion injury (Nakazawa et al., 1991; Sun et al., 1993; Onodera et al., 1991), ARDS, and aging have been implicated as resulting from damages induced by ROS.

Oren-gedoku-to (Huanglian-Jie-Du-Tang) is a Kampo formulation consisting of four medicinal plants, namely, Coptidis Rhizoma, Scutellariae Radix, Phellodendri Cortex and Gardeniae Fructus. This herbal medicine has been used in the treatment of cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, gastritis and liver disease in Japan.

Several studies have shown that OGT scavenges superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical in vitro (Yoshikawa et al., 1990; Kobayashi et al., 1993a). Furthermore, it has been revealed that the administration of OGT can inhibit [CC1.sub.4]-induced acute liver injury by scavenging oxygen free radicals formed in the liver in mice (Ohta et al., 1997).

Therefore, we hypothesized that the ingestion of OGT would affect lipid metabolism and antioxidative compounds. The present study examined the effects of OGT on the common laboratory data (plasma proteins, uric acid, bilirubin and plasma lipid levels) of humans.

* Methods

Subjects

Twenty male healthy volunteers, aged 32.4 [+ or -] 5.4 yr, body weight 65.0 [+ or -] 12.8 kg, and height 172.5 [+ or -] 6.3 cm (mean [+ or -] S.D.), participated in this study. All subjects were fully informed of the risks and stresses associated with the project, which was approved by the Ethics Committee of Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University.

Preparation…