title: Bai-hu-tang, ancient chinese medicine formula, may provide a new complementary treatment option for sepsis.
abstract: Bai-Hu-Tang (BHT) has been broadly applied to treating the early stage of acute infection with systemic inflammation for two thousand years in Chinese medicine. We explore whether BHT is beneficial in treating sepsis and its effects on proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6, and anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10, in which both play key roles in the progress of sepsis. Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into six groups, with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) performed in all but the sham-control group. Rats in CLP + BHT-L6 and CLP + BHT-H6 groups, respectively, received a low (0.45 g/kg) and high doses (0.9 g/kg) of BHT, 6 hrs postoperatively. CLP + BHT-L12 and CLP + BHT-H12 groups, respectively, received low and high doses of BHT, 12 hrs postoperatively. Sham-control and sepsis-control groups received distilled water (1 mL) as vehicle, 6 hrs postoperatively. Serial blood samples were drawn before operation, as baseline, and at 4, 8, and 12 hrs postoperatively for IL-6 and IL-10 assay. All rats were monitored for 3 days for survival study. Rats in the CLP + BHT-H6 group had significantly higher survival rate (80%) and significantly lower levels of both IL-6 and IL-10 at 12 hrs postoperatively than those in the sepsis-control group. Results suggested that BHT may be a new complementary treatment option for sepsis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chinese Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei 11490, Taiwan ; Graduate Institute of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91 Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Jung
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yi-Chang
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Cheng-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tsai-Chung
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yun-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Sunny Jui-Shan
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lin