[Combined effect of glucocorticoid and TJ-114 (Tsumura Sairei-to)].
TJ-114 (Tsumura Sairei-to) is a powdered extract made from 12 Chinese herbal drugs. TJ-114 is used against various nephrotic diseases and used as an inhibitory treatment for the side effects of glucocorticoids. We expected that TJ-114 would increase the survival ratio of rats given a high dose of glucocorticoid. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the combined effects of glucocorticoid and TJ-114 in rats. An ointment containing fluocinolone acetonide (FA) was applied on the back of 7-week-old Wistar male rats for various periods. TJ-114 was administered orally at the doses of 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg simultaneously. The combination with TJ-114 suppressed the loss of body weight by FA. The survival ratio of the FA group was 50%, but it was 83% for the group treated with FA in combination with 0.5 g/kg TJ-114 and no deaths were observed in the other drug combined group. With a lower dose of FA, we investigated its hematological effects and determined the white blood cell (WBC) count. Although the lymphocytes were decreased by FA, the combination with TJ-114 depressed this decrease of lymphocytes significantly. Furthermore, TJ-114 significantly suppressed the insulin increase elicited by FA. Macroscopic observations showed atrophy and decreases in the weights of the thymus, spleen and adrenal, all being target organs of glucocorticoid. The combination with TJ-114 decreased these effects of FA. Moreover, microscopic examinations revealed that FA induced the degeneration of lymphocytes and lymphocyte depletion in the cortex of the thymus, caused atrophy of the white pulp, decreased the extramedullary hematopoiesis of the spleen, and caused the atrophy of zona fasciculata in the adrenal cortex. The combination with TJ-114 depressed these effects significantly. These results suggest that TJ-114 suppresses the adverse side effects of gucocorticoids.
Watanabe
M
M
Research Institute for Pharmacology, Tsumura & Co., Ibaraki, Japan.
Kanitani
M
M
Kobayashi
Y
Y
Taki
M
M
Minematsu
S
S
Maemura
S
S
Fujii
Y
Y
Oyama
T
T
Takeda
K
K
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005446:Fluocinolone Acetonide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006403:Hematologic Tests; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015996:Survival Rate
D004338:Drug Combinations; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007328:Insulin; D005446:Fluocinolone Acetonide