Obesity is a global health problem. It is also known to be a risk factor for the development of metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes, systemic hypertension, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis. In this study, we screened crude extracts from 400 plants to test their anti-obesity activity using porcine pancreatic lipase assay (PPL; triacylglycerol lipase, EC 3.1.1.3) in vitr...

In vitro mitogenic activity of 16 herbs and 3 Kampo (herbal medicine) formulae have been reported in experimental studies. It is not known how many herbs and Kampo formulae in total have mitogenic activity. Lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) is generally utilized to diagnose drug-induced liver injury. In LTT, mitogenic activity is assessed by measuring 3H-thymidine incorporation. The objectiv...

The in vivo effects of fructus Schizandrae and radix Eleutherococci combined extracts on various parameters of lymphocyte activity in Balb/c mice were studied. Feeding mice 300, 600 or 1200 μg of the extracts per day for 7 d, produced the activation of chemokinetic activity of spleen lymphocytes, enhancement of proliferative response of splenocytes and blood lymphocytes to mitogens, stimulation...

Rongjun Fan, Jiaxin Zhao, Yingda Du, Wei Zhao, Wei Guo, Jingang Yang and Xia Chen* National and Local United Engineering Laboratory for Chinese Herbal Medicine Breeding and Cultivation and College of life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, P R China Harbin Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin 150000, P R China Changbai Mountain Academy of Sciences, Antu 133613, P R China...

Aristolochiae Fructus (AF) and honey-fried Aristolochiae Fructus (HAF) have been used in China for thousands of years as an anti-tussive and expectorant drug. Few clinical cases were reported associated with the toxicity of AF and HAF, although relatively high contents of aristolochic acids (AAs) were found in them. This work was designed to compare the acute and subacute toxicity of AF and HAF...

BACKGROUND Schisandrae Fructus, the dried fruit of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (Magnoliaceae), is widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a number of chronic inflammatory diseases. This study examined the anti-inflammatory effects of Schisandrae Fructus ethanol extract (SF) on the production of pro-inflammatory substances in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264....