title: Efficiency of herbal medicine Dai-kenchu-to on portal blood flow in rat models.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To clarify the influence of Dai-Kenchu-To (DKT) on portal blood flow (PBF), PBF was continuously measured with Doppler ultrasound.
  
  
  METHODS
  Normal liver rats were divided into a DKT 90 mg/kg, DKT 270 mg/kg administered group, and control, while cirrhotic liver rats were divided into a DKT-LC 90 mg/kg administered group and Control-LC. The PBF was measured after the administration of either DKT or water for 60 min by laser Doppler flowmetry system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PBF in the DKT 90 increased approximately 10 min after DKT was administrated, and elevated levels were maintained for approximately 10 min. A comparison of the increase in PBF by the calculating the area under the curve (AUC) revealed that flow was significantly higher in the DKT 90 compared to either the control or the DKT 270 (p < 0.05). The cirrhotic liver group showed stable PBF in both the DKT-LC and Control-LC. The AUC, revealed no significant difference between the DKT-LC and Control-LC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DKT induced an increase in PBF in normal livers; however, its effects were insufficient to increase PBF in the cirrhotic livers. No increase in the portal blood flow in the cirrhotic liver rats was probably the result of the cirrhotic liver, which had fibrotic change, and, therefore, may not have had sufficient compliance to accept the increasing blood flow volume from the intestinal tract.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggested DKT has the potential to protect the liver by increasing PBF when the liver has either normal or mild to moderate dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Muraoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuhisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takatsuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayaka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Takanobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Tamotsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528501, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eguchi
keywords: Dai-kenchu-to (DKT); Herbal medicine; Liver cirrhosis; Liver regeneration; Portal blood flow