Satellite
Symposium on the use of Kampo drugs in treating HIV-induced diseases was
part of the official program at the Tenth International Conference on AIDS,
which took place in Yokohama in August 1994. Researchers from prestigious
institutions in Japan, the U.S. and France participated in the Symposium,
which was co-chaired by Tohru Tokunaga of the National Institute of Health,
Tokyo, and Dr. Ivan Hirsch of the Institut National de la Santé
et de la Recherche Médicale, Marseille. The Symposium, which was
sponsored by Tsumura & Co., attracted about 325 people, including 50
reporters from Japan and abroad, and received wide coverage in the press.
Interest in Kampo therapy for AIDS was stimulated by the announce- ment early last year that in vitro studies at Aichi Cancer Center and the AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Health had determined that Baicalin was effective in suppressing the replication of the AIDS virus. Baicalin is a chemical compound found in Scutellaria root, an herb contained in the Kampo prescription Sho-saiko-to, which is widely used for hepatitis and other types of liver ailments. Tsumura & Co., which has been conducting joint research with the Pasteur Insitute in France on Kampo therapy for AIDS, is now preparing for a clinical study with Baicalin in that country.
The papers at the Yokohama Symposium generally focused on Sho-saiko-to and Baicalin, reporting findings to date and suggesting directions for future research. A summary of the papers presented at the Symposium follows:
Kampo Medicine Therapy and Viral Infectious Disease: Jong-Chol Cyong, Research Division, Oriental Medicine Research Center of the Kitasato Institute, Tokyo. Suggests that western drugs and Kampo can be combined to create a new therapeutic system for viral infections.
Inhibition of HIV Reverse Transcriptase Activity by Sho-saiko-to and Its Components: Katsuhiko Ono, Shionogi & Co, Ltd., Osaka, and Masanori Fukushima, Dept. of Internal Medicine, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya. Establishes that, among the compounds contained in the seven herbs that make up Sho-saiko-to, Baicalin is the one that holds promise as an anti-HIV drug.
Regulatory Activities of Sho-saiko-to in Immune Response, Eicosanoid Pathway and HIV Production: Yoritaro Inada, Kazuhito Watanabe, Koji Miyamoto, Utpalendu Maitra, Elena B. Klein and Michael Lange, Division of Rheumatology, Dept. of Medicine, St. Lukes's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York. Suggests that, both by itself and together with a low concentration of AZT, Sho-saiko-to may offer protection from immune system defects caused by HIV infection.
Inhibition of HIV-1 LTR-directed Gene Expression by Sho-saiko-to and Baicalin: Kenji Watanabe, Unna Venkatachalam and Steven C. Miller, Dept. of Cell and Molecular Biology, SRI International, California. Focuses on the antioxidant activity of Kampo agents and their potential for AIDS therapy.
Baicalin, A Potent Inhibitor of HIV-1 Production in vitro: Katsuhiko Kitamura, Mitsuo Honda and Shinji Yamamoto, AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Health, Tokyo; Hideo Nakane, Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Aichi Cancer Center Institute, Nagoya; Masanori Fukushima, Dept. of Internal Medicine, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya; Katsuhiko Ono, Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Aichi Cancer Center Institute, Nagoya; and Tohru Tokunaga, AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Health, Tokyo. Compares the magnitude of suppression of viral gene expression of Sho-saiko-to and AZT.
Apoptosis of Retrovirus Infected Cells Following Treatment with Sho-saiko-to and Its Components: Hidechika Okada, Xiaoshan Wu and Hiroyasu Akatsu, Dept. of Molecular Biology, Nagoya City Medical School, Nagoya. Shows that Sho-saiko-to and its components may selectively induce apoptosis of HIV-infected CEM cells with high virus- releasing capacity and stimulate proliferation of those with a relatively lower capacity.