• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2001

Sa-Mul-Tang (Si-Wu-Tang, SMT), a kind of Chinese medicine, has been used for the hemato-deficient disease for hundreds of years. In this work, investigations on the anti-anemic activity of an aqueous extract of SMT were undertaken in order to find the pharmacological basis for the ethnomedical use of the formulation. Three kinds of Angelicase species, such as Angelica sinensis, Angelica acutiloba, and Angelica gigas, were used for preparing the water extracts of SMT. Anemic model rats were induced by the treatment of phenylhydrazine (40 mg/kg/day, i.p.) for 4 days. After the treatment of phenylhydrazine, rats were divided into several groups for their different treatment of three kinds of SMT. Red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hg), and hematocrit (Hct) were determined on the day 0, 3, 6, 10, 14 after the treatment of SMTs and erythrocytes deformabilities were also determined at the end of experiments. Oral administration of SMT (1g/kg/day) for 14 days did not ameliorate drug-induced anemic states evaluated by RBC counts, Hg contents, and Hct values. However, the erythrocyte deformabilities were improved in phenylhydrazine-treated group by the administragest that SMTs (p<0.05). Especially, these effects were high in the Angelica acutiloba group. These results suggest that SMTs have an ameliorative effect on blood rheology related to the blood stasis syndrome in oriental diagnostics not on the blood deficient states related to the anemic syndrome.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.253-260
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• 2008

A method based on transient shear flow dynamics of red cell aggregates was developed to investigate reversible re-aggregation processes with decreasing shear flow. In the microchannel-flow aggregometry, the aggregated red blood cells that are subjected to continuously decreasing shear stress in microchannel flow were measured with the use of a laser-scattering technique. Both the laser-backscattered intensity and pressure were simultaneously measured with respect to time, resulting in shear stress ranging from $0{\sim}35\;Pa$ for a time period of less than 30 seconds. The time dependent recording of the backscattered light intensity (syllectogram) yielded an upward convex curve with a peak point, which reflected the transition threshold of aggregation in the RBC suspensions. Critical-time and critical-shear stress corresponding to the peak point were examined by varying the initial pressure-differential and the micro channel depth, and these results showed good potential for being used as new aggregation indices. In the present study, these newly proposed indices were also validated by differentiating the effect of fibrinogen on RBC aggregation and then these indices were compared to the conventional indices that were measured by a rotational aggregometer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1407-1414
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• 2012

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective regimen that has been found to prevent these diseases in postmenopausal women. However, HRT is accompanied by an increased risk of unfavorable outcomes. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Eisenia Bicyclis extract on lipids in ovariectomized rats. Fifty 7-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups: sham-operated rats (SHAM), ovariectomized rats (OVX-CON), and ovariectomized rats that were treated with Eisenia bicyclis extracts. The extract-treated diets were fed to the rats for 6 weeks after operation. Antioxidant effects were measured by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract increased in a dose-dependent manner and was about 55.9% in a concentration of 100 ${\mu}g/ml$. We measured the total cholesterol content, triglyceride content, HDL-cholesterol content, LDL-cholesterol content, atherosclerotic index, cardiac risk factor in serum, and anti-platelet aggregation and blood rheology. The total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration in serum increased for the OVX-control group, but supplementation with the E. bicyclis extract caused these factors to decrease. Notably, the serum LDL-cholesterol concentration in the OVX-EB200 group was significantly lower than the OVX-CON group. In addition, the blood passage times in rats that received the E. bicyclis extract were more rapid than the times in the untreated group (OVX-CON). Microscopic evaluation revealed that whole blood passed more smoothly through the microchannels in rats in the E. bicyclis extract supplement groups. Our results clarified the effects of E. bicyclis extract on serum lipid content in ovariectomized rats, and consequently we expect positive effects from providing E. bicyclis extract to postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease.