Fact-Finding on the Quality of Crude Drugs in Clinical Practice (I): Ingredient Amount.

Aim: Quality evaluation of crude drugs in clinical practice has traditionally been dependent on practical experience. In recent years, though, scientific and technological advances have enabled the development of various analytical equipment that are now used for quality evaluation. However, for medical institution, incorporating quality evaluation of cut crude drugs using advanced equipment into daily practice can still be a challenge. In this paper, with the aim of enabling the easy and objective quality evaluation of crude drugs we conducted a fact-finding survey. Methods: Using the test data provided by the supplier with the cut crude drugs, we investigated the ingredient amounts in Moutan Bark and Phellodendron Bark used in clinical practice. Results: We found that both Moutan Bark and Phellodendron Bark had products with extremely high amounts of active ingredients in the product lot numbers used. Possible reasons for the findings are differences in the parts used or in the geographical locations where the plants were grown. Conclusion: Kampo treatment with crude drugs has advantages that other formulations do not have. On the other hand, there is concern about the complexity of quality evaluation and management of crude drugs. We suggest the possibility of establishing the easy and objective quality evaluation method in clinical practice by conducting a fact-finding survey on the management status of crude drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]