Dataset Information

Antioxidant and physiological effects of Si-Wu-Tang on skin and liver: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Si-Wu-Tang (SWT) is used to treat various gynecological disorders in Chinese medicine. This study investigated the antioxidant and physiological effects of SWT on the skin and liver in healthy adults. METHODS:This randomized, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in December 2008. Participants with uncontrolled diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, and pregnancy were excluded. Sixty healthy volunteers taking no medications were recruited from the community based on the results of their medical history questionnaires and biochemical analyses to confirm their health status. The participants were assigned to two groups: one group drank 125 mL of placebo (n = 30) and the other drank SWT (n = 30) for six continuous days per month for 6 months. The placebo and SWT were then switched between the groups after a 1-month washout period. Anthropometric measurements (body weight, body fat, and body mass index) were performed and fasting blood samples were drawn for various biochemical assays at 1, 3, 6, 10 and 13 months. Abdominal ultrasound and skin examinations were performed at 1, 6 and 13 months. The skin examinations involved assessment of skin roughness, sebum content, hydration, surface water loss, erythema, melanin index, and elasticity on the face (sunlight-exposed sites: middle of ear and nose) and inner arm (sunlight-unexposed sites: center of wrist and elbow joint). RESULTS:Administration of SWT significantly increased the antioxidant index (P = 0.001) and antioxidant enzymes activities (P = 0.001) from baseline to month 6. SWT also suppressed the concentration of serum lipids (triglycerides, P = 0.01; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, P = 0.23; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, P = 0.48) and hepatic marker enzymes (glutamic pyruvic transaminase, P = 0.76; glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, P = 0.65) when compared with the placebo group. Abdominal ultrasound in the SWT group revealed a positive impact of SWT on mild fatty liver, gallstones, and mild splenomegaly. Moreover, SWT intake concomitantly elevated erythema (P = 0.011) and markedly lowered skin surface water loss (P = 0.016), sebum content (P = 0.021), and wrinkles (P = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS:Oral administration of SWT for 6 months improved the antioxidant level and positively regulated the lipid profile, liver function, and skin integrity and texture.

SUBMITTER: Chiu HF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4929740 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Antioxidant and physiological effects of Si-Wu-Tang on skin and liver: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Chiu Hui-Fang HF Wu Ying-Hua YH Shen You-Cheng YC Wang Shing-Jung SJ Venkatakrishnan Kamesh K Wang Chin-Kun CK

Chinese medicine 20160630

<h4>Background</h4>Si-Wu-Tang (SWT) is used to treat various gynecological disorders in Chinese medicine. This study investigated the antioxidant and physiological effects of SWT on the skin and liver in healthy adults.<h4>Methods</h4>This randomized, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in December 2008. Participants with uncontrolled diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, and pregnancy were e ...[more]

PMID: 27375769

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundFibrotic liver injury is a progressive scarring event, which may permanently affect liver function and progress into devastating end-stage liver diseases due to the absence of effective therapies. Si-Wu-Tang (SWT), a traditional Chinese medicine formula used in clinic to treat gynecological disorders for centuries, has been investigated in recent preliminary findings for its role in alleviating chronic liver diseases. Here we aim to elucidate the therapeutic effects and possible mechanisms of SWT against fibrotic liver injury.MethodsUHPLC-MS/MS was performed to investigate the chemical characterization of SWT. After intragastrically administered with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) every 3 days for 1-week, C57BL/6 mice were orally administered with SWT (5.2, 10.4 and 20.8 g/kg) once daily for 3 weeks along with CCl4 challenge. Liver function was determined by the measurement of serum biomarkers, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson's trichrome staining. Intestinal inflammatory infiltration and the disruption of intestinal barrier were examined by H&E and E-cadherin immunohistochemical staining. The microbial composition of intestinal content was determined by 16S rRNA sequencing. Serum bile acids (BAs) profiling was analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Simultaneously, the expression of genes of interest was determined by qPCR and western blot.ResultsSWT exhibited remarkable therapeutic effects on CCl4-induced liver fibrosis, as indicated by improved collagen accumulation in livers, intestinal barrier injury and hepatic and intestinal inflammatory response. Results of 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that SWT treatment strikingly restructured intestinal microbiota in fibrotic mice by increasing the relative abundances of Bacteroides and Lachnoclostridium and decreasing the relative abundances of Alistipes and Rikenellaceae. UHPLC-MS/MS data suggested that SWT altered the composition of BAs in circulation as evidenced by increased unconjugated BAs like cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid but decreased conjugated BAs including taurocholic acid and taurodeoxycholic acid, compared to that in CCl4 mice. Notably, SWT efficiently improved the imbalance of BA homeostasis in livers caused by CCl4 via activating farnesoid X receptor (FXR)-fibroblast growth factor 15 enterohepatic and FXR-small heterodimer partner hepatic pathways.ConclusionSWT decreased inflammatory response, reconstructed gut microbiota-mediated BA homeostasis as well as activated FXR pathways, which eventually protected against CCl4-induced fibrotic liver injury.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Si-Wu-Tang (SWT), comprising the combination of four herbs, Paeoniae, Angelicae, Chuanxiong and Rehmanniae, is one of the most popular traditional oriental medicines for women's diseases. In our previous study, the microarray gene expression profiles of SWT on breast cancer cell line MCF-7 were found similar to the effect of ?-estradiol (E2) on MCF-7 cells in the Connectivity Map database. METHODS: Further data analysis was conducted to find the main similarities and differences between the effects of SWT and E2 on MCF-7 gene expression. The cell proliferation assay on MCF-7 (ER-positive) and MDA-MB-231 (ER-negative) cells were used to examine such estrogenic activity. The estrogenic potency of SWT was further confirmed by estrogen-responsive element (ERE) luciferase reporter assay in MCF-7 cells. RESULTS: Many estrogen regulated genes strongly up-regulated by E2 were similarly up-regulated by SWT, e.g., GREB1, PGR and EGR3. Of interest with regard to safety of SWT, the oncogenes MYBL1 and RET were strongly induced by E2 but not by SWT. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed a highly concordant expression change in selected genes with data obtained by microarrays. Further supporting SWT's estrogenic activity, in MCF-7 but not in MDA-MB-231 cells, SWT stimulated cell growth at lower concentrations (< 3.0 mg/ml), while at high concentrations, it inhibits the growth of both cell lines. The growth inhibitory potency of SWT was significantly higher in MDA-MB-231 than in MCF-7 cells. The SWT-induced cell growth of MCF-7 could be blocked by addition of the estrogen receptor antagonist tamoxifen. In addition, SWT was able to activate the ERE activity at lower concentrations. The herbal components Angelicae, Chuanxiong and Rehmanniae at lower concentrations (< 3.0 mg/ml) also showed growth-inducing and ERE-activating activity in MCF-7 cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results revealed a new mechanism to support the clinical use of SWT for estrogen related diseases and possibly for cancer prevention. This study also demonstrated the feasibility of using microarray transcriptional profiling to discover phytoestrogenic components that are present in natural products.

Project description:To pursue a systematic approach to discovery of mechanisms of action of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we used microarrays, bioinformatics and the "Connectivity Map" (CMAP) to examine TCM-induced changes in gene expression. We demonstrated that this approach can be used to elucidate new molecular targets using a model TCM herbal formula Si-Wu-Tang (SWT) which is widely used for women's health. The human breast cancer MCF-7 cells treated with 0.1 µM estradiol or 2.56 mg/ml of SWT showed dramatic gene expression changes, while no significant change was detected for ferulic acid, a known bioactive compound of SWT. Pathway analysis using differentially expressed genes related to the treatment effect identified that expression of genes in the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) cytoprotective pathway was most significantly affected by SWT, but not by estradiol or ferulic acid. The Nrf2-regulated genes HMOX1, GCLC, GCLM, SLC7A11 and NQO1 were upregulated by SWT in a dose-dependent manner, which was validated by real-time RT-PCR. Consistently, treatment with SWT and its four herbal ingredients resulted in an increased antioxidant response element (ARE)-luciferase reporter activity in MCF-7 and HEK293 cells. Furthermore, the gene expression profile of differentially expressed genes related to SWT treatment was used to compare with those of 1,309 compounds in the CMAP database. The CMAP profiles of estradiol-treated MCF-7 cells showed an excellent match with SWT treatment, consistent with SWT's widely claimed use for women's diseases and indicating a phytoestrogenic effect. The CMAP profiles of chemopreventive agents withaferin A and resveratrol also showed high similarity to the profiles of SWT. This study identified SWT as an Nrf2 activator and phytoestrogen, suggesting its use as a nontoxic chemopreventive agent, and demonstrated the feasibility of combining microarray gene expression profiling with CMAP mining to discover mechanisms of actions and to identify new health benefits of TCMs.

Dataset Information

Antioxidant and physiological effects of Si-Wu-Tang on skin and liver: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Publications

Antioxidant and physiological effects of Si-Wu-Tang on skin and liver: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets