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According to the method of differentiation of symptom complexes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), endometriosis is a disease of blood stasis and mass in the lower portion of abdomen. 76 cases were treated by TCM prescription named endometriotic pill No 1 with rhubarb as the main ingredient. The chief functions of the rhubarb were removing blood stasis, disintegrating mass and purgation. The total effective rate was 80.26%. Among them, the effective rate of dysmenorrhea was 88.89%, that of pelvic pain was 66.72%, that of intercourse pain 72.12%, and diminishing in size of mass or nodule 22.15%; 3 cases of 22 infertility got pregnant (13.63%). The results revealed that the endometriotic pill No 1 yielded distinct improvement in the treatment of endometriosis, including clinical symptoms and signs, laboratory assay of blood rheology, serum Ig, subgroup of T lymphocyte (OKT system) and PG.

Primary cultured rat tubular epithelium was utilized to investigate the effect of Cordyceps sinensis (CS) on cellular proliferation and metabolism. Judging from incorporation rate of 3H-TdR, it was found that the addition of serum containing CS metabolites into the culture media could promote the DNA synthesis of tubular cells profoundly (P less than 0.001). In association with its beneficial effects on gentamycin nephrotoxity in vivo study, it is indicated that CS could enhance the regeneration of injured tubular cells. In addition, sera obtained from 5/6 nephrectomized rats (5/6 NT) and rhubarb treated rats were studied to see their effects on tubular cells growth. The results showed that the serum of 5/6 NT rats could promote the DNA synthesis of tubular epithelium, while the presence of experimental serum of rhubarb in culture median markedly inhibited the DNA synthesis of cells.

Rheum, a well known herb unique in its cathartic effect is now introduced to prevent progression of uremia. A clinical prospective trial was conducted to evaluate its effect in comparison with the Captopril. 30 cases with initial Scr level of 344.8 +/- 114.0 mumol/L were allocated randomly to 3 groups. Rheum E treated group, Captopril treated group and Rheum E + Captopril group. The long term (6-22 mos) follow-up results showed that the progression rate of renal failure, calculated by regression analysis of 1/Scr vs time, was found to be retarded after treatment, being more marked in both Rheum E and Rheum E + Captopril group. Uremic symptoms improved after the treatment with serum albumin level increased. To explore the mechanism of therapeutic effects of Rheum on CRF, a series of experimental studies were performed. Rheum can suppress the proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells in culture. In 5/6 nephrectomized rats, the O2 consumption of remnant kidney was obviously decreased by feeding the animal Rheum E and the hypermetabolic state was ameliorated as well. A group of 5/6 nephrectomized rats were fed with Rheum E for 28 wks. It was found that the level of azotemia of this treated group was lessened remarkably as compared with the controls. The serum albumin and transferrin contents of the treated animals were much higher than the controls while the blood cholesterol and triglycerides decreased unexpectedly. In conclusion, both the in vivo and in vitro studies have proved the effectiveness of Rheum in preventing the progression of CRF.

The immunomodulatory effects of Rhubarb on the murine functions are reported. Varying dosages of Rhubarb administrated orally were able to increase the delayed hypersensitivity response induced by bovine serum albumin and proliferation response of murine spleen cell to Con A and lipopolysaccharide. The above description indicate that Rhubarb could promote immune response.

With electron microscopy this article observed the effect of promoting biliation mixture (PBM) and polymyxin B on E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The result showed that PBM could breakdown the typical structure of E. coli LPS with only short sections or partially disaggregate it. The morphology changes were similar to the effect of polymyxin B. It would appear that the loss of endotoxicity caused by PBM may be due to the loss of structural integrity of the E. coli LPS. The result may also give some evidence for the clinical effects of PBM theoretically.

In order to investigate the nature of Spleen deficiency and the mechanism of immunodepression due to Spleen deficiency and explore the pharmacological action of Chinese drugs of Yiqi Jianpi decoction (YQJP), the authors had established the rats model by administration Rhubarb. The preliminary results demonstrated that the symptoms manifested in rats were similar to those of Spleen deficiency syndrome. The changes of cyclic nucleotides in the spleen and plasma were unanimous. The cAMP level and the ratio of cAMP/cGMP decreased significantly while cGMP level increased significantly. Adenylate cyclase (AC) activity in the spleen reduced remarkably while cAMP-PDE activity had little changes. After the administration of YQJP, the symptoms of Spleen deficiency improved to normal extent. YQJP elevated the cAMP level, the ratio of cAMP/cGMP and AC activity while it lowered the cGMP level. The results showed that the changes of cyclic nucleotides level and the ratio of cAMP/cGMP were important targets of Spleen deficiency and that the action of YQJP followed the change of the ratio of cAMP/cGMP. The results of this study indicated that immunodepression of Rhubarb was due to depressing AC activity and reducing the ratio of cAMP/cGMP. The readjusting action of YQJP was concerned with AC system. This study supplied Spleen deficiency and YQJP with certain data in biochemical mechanism and pharmacological function.

The living measles vaccine was injected into both of the main pancreatic duct and the ear vein of the rabbits in the model group. The serum amylase was significantly higher than that of the control saline group (P less than 0.001 after 24h; P less than 0.05 after 48h). The aggregation function of platelets were increased after 24h(P less than 0.01, P less than 0.01) and 48h (P less than 0.01, P less than 0.05) as compared with both two control groups. The blood stasis and hemorrhage of pancreases were observed in the model group. In the treatment group with Rhubarb the increase of serum amylase was much less marked than the control (P less than 0.001 after 24h, P less than 0.05 after 48h). The platelet aggregation reactivity was inhibited (P less than 0.01 after 24h, P less than 0.05 after 48h). The blood stasis and hemorrhage of pancreases were less evident. The results suggested that: (1) the virus may be one of pathogenetic factor of the hemorrhagic pancreatitis; (2) the rhubarb was effective in the treatment of hemorrhagic pancreatitis under our experimental conditions.

The effects of rhubarb on arachidonic acid metabolism in renal medulla of rabbits were studied in vitro with radiochromatography and radioautography. The results showed that radioactive agent was markedly reduced in the rhubarb group and significant difference vs the control was observed (P less than 0.01). The results indicated that rhubarb blocked the biosynthesis of renal medulla PGE2 and PGF2 alpha in a dose-dependent manner. Also the rhubarb inhibited the biosynthesis of PGA2 and TXB2. It was suggested that the site of action of the rhubarb is at cyclooxygenase level.