Determining the optimum formulation of Chinese herbal medicine against Parkinson’s disease

Scientists at Fudan University in Shanghai looked at the effectiveness of Chinese herbs in protecting against Parkinson’s disease. Their findings were published in the Journal of Integrative Medicine.

• The team sought to determine the ideal formulation of Chinese herbs to create a formula with neuroprotective effects.
• They used a rotenone-induced model of Parkinson’s disease for the study.
• The following herbs were used: dihuang (Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch), rou cong rong (Cistanche deserticola Y.C.Ma), niuxi (Achyranthes bidentata Bl.) and shanzhuyu (Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc).
• A total of seven recipes were made from the herbs, each with different proportions.
• The team used tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the substantia nigra pars compact, which were detected using immunochemistry. These neurons were exposed to rotenone to induce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
• High-performance liquid chromatography on all formulations to determine their likely mechanism.
• The results revealed that a 1:1:1:1 and 7:5:3:1 ratio of all the aforementioned herbs partially reversed the death of TH-positive neurons.

In sum, Chinese herbal formulations exhibited neuroprotective effects against Parkinson’s disease models. In addition, these effects may not come from a single active ingredient.

Learn more about other herbs that can have neuroprotective effects at ChineseMedicine.news.

Journal Reference:

Bao XX, Ma HH, Ding H, Li WW, Zhu M. PRELIMINARY OPTIMIZATION OF A CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE FORMULA BASED ON THE NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS IN A RAT MODEL OF ROTENONE-INDUCED PARKINSON’S DISEASE. Journal of Integrative Medicine. 2018 May 22. DOI: 10.1016/j.joim.2018.05.003