Effect of scoparone on the hepatic sulfotransferase activity in mice

Oral administration of Chinese herbal medicine during gestation period for preventing hemolytic disease of the newborn due to ABO incompatibility: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background

About 85.3% of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) is caused by maternal-fetal ABO blood group incompatibility. However, there is currently no recommended “best” therapy for ABO incompatibility during pregnancy.

Objectives

To systematically assess the safety and effectiveness of oral Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for preventing HDN due to ABO incompatibility.

Methods

The protocol of this review was registered on the PROSPERO website (No. CRD42016038637).Six databases were searched from inception to April 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CHM for maternal-fetal ABO incompatibility were included. The primary outcome was incidence of HDN. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the methodological quality of included trials. Risk ratios (RR) and mean differences with 95% confidence interval were used as effect measures. Meta-analyses using Revman 5.3 software were conducted if there were sufficient trials without obvious clinical or statistical heterogeneity available.

Results

Totally 28 RCTs involving3413 women were included in the review. The majority of the trials had unclear or high risk of bias. Our study found that the rate of HDN and the incidence of neonatal jaundice might be 70% lower in the herbal medicine group compared with the usual care group (RR from 0.25 to 0.30).After treatment with herbal medicine, women were twice as likely to have antibody titers lower than 1:64 compared with women who received usual care(RR from 2.15 to 3.14) and the umbilical cord blood bilirubin level in the herbal medicine group was 4umol/L lower than in those receiving usual care. There was no difference in Apgar scores or birthweights between the two groups.

Conclusions

This review found very low-quality evidence that CHM prevented HDN caused by maternal-fetal ABO incompatibility. No firm conclusions can be drawn regarding the effectiveness or safety of CHM for this condition.

Recent Studies and Progression of Yin Chen Hao ( Yīn Chén Hāo), a Long-term Used Traditional Chinese Medicine

Yin Chen Hao (Artemisia capillaris Thunb; 茵陳蒿 Yīn Chén Hāo) is a traditional Chinese medicine for treating hepatic disorders. This review provides recent pharmacological studies of Yin Chen Hao as well as some chemical constituents isolated from Yin Chen.

Phytochemical constituents from the fruits of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus

Six compounds were isolated from the fruits of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus. Their structures were elucidated as (-)-sesamin, scoparone, protocatechuic acid, ursolic acid, hyperin and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural by physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. Among them, scoparone, ursolic acid and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were isolated for the first time from Acanthopanax species.