title: Effects of the Japanese herbal medicine 'Sho-saiko-to' as a cytokine inducer.
abstract: The herbal medicine, Sho-saiko-to (TJ-9), has been widely prescribed to chronic viral liver disease patients in Japan. This study examined the inductions of such sytokines as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), on some fractions of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by TJ-9 and each of its seven components. IL-1β, TNF-α, and G-CSF were highly induced by scutellaria root and glycyrrhiza root on monocytes/macrophages. By repeating the same experiments using taxol (an LPS antagonist)-treated substances, authors confirmed that these inductions were not attributable to the presence of quite low LPS in TJ-9 solution, and the cytokine inductions are the specific effect of TJ-9. Because TJ-9's macrobiotic effect in liver cirrhosis patients has been proven statistically in an etiological study, TJ-9 could be a new important therapy in chronic liver diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Mie University School of Medicine, 2-174, Edobashi, Tsu, Mie 514, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamashiki
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kosaka