title: Detection of glucocorticoid-like activity in traditional Chinese medicine used for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
abstract: Anecdotal reports of positive influence of certain traditional Chinese medicines on the progression of neuromuscular diseases in general and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in particular has raised interest in patient support groups and clinical experts alike. However, clinical signs of steroid-specific side effects in patients treated with a particular form of Chinese medicine raised the concern that they may contain glucocorticoids, which in turn could also explain the mild beneficial effects seen in some of the patients. We have extracted and fractionated capsules containing pulverized Chinese medicine that had been used for the treatment of DMD patients and analyzed their content for glucocorticoid-like activity using promoter-reporter assays. We demonstrate that extracts from this Chinese medicine activate a prototype glucocorticoid-response element, increase the level of utrophin protein in human muscle cells and activate the utrophin promoter A. Based on our bioassays we conclude that this particular Chinese medicine used for the treatment of muscular dystrophy patients contains glucocorticoids as one of its active ingredients.
authors.affiliation: MyoContract Ltd., Hammerstrasse 25, CH-4410, Liestal, Switzerland
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Courdier-Fruh
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barman
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wettstein
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006727:Hormone Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015735:Mifepristone / Q000494:pharmacology; D020388:Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / Q000188:drug therapy; D014162:Transfection; D049411:Utrophin
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D006727:Hormone Antagonists; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D049411:Utrophin; D015735:Mifepristone; D008775:Methylprednisolone