Effects of Chinese herbal medicine based on hachimi-jio-gan on osteopenia in rats
Kanehara, M.; Ogirima, T.; Tano, K.; Maenaka, T.; Ishida, T.; Zhang, B.; Li, G.; Wang, X.; Guo, Y.
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 26(1): 72-77
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 0255-2922 PMID: 16705860 Document Number: 597422
The effects of Chinese herbal medicines including Hachimi-jio-gan (HJG) and/or Hochu-ekki-to (HEW) on osteopenia in rats were investigated. The Chinese herbal medicines were administrated for 8 weeks (7 times/week) starting from 1 week after ovariectomy. HJG and Prescription-2 (Prsc-2, the prescription based on HJG) showed protective effect on bone loss of the vertebrae after ovariectomy. However, Prescription-1 (the prescription based on HJG and HET) had no effect. Then, we made osteopenia model in rats by prednisolone and low calcium diet. Prsc-2 and HJG were administrated for 20 weeks with prednisolone. These Chinese remedies showed protective effects for osteopenia, with better indices on bone loss of the limbs than HJG alone in the osteopenia rats. It can be concluded that Prsc-2 is more effective than HJG for bone loss induced by various factors, and the additives in Prsc-2 may enhance the therapeutic effect.