Pien Tze Huang Protects the Liver against Carbon Tetrachloride‐Induced Damage

Abstract

Pien Tze Huang, a traditional Chinese medicine, has been extensively used as a therapeutic drug in the treatment of liver diseases. In this study, we have examined its ability to protect the liver from carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced damage in the mouse. Histological observations revealed that CCl 4 treatment induced extensive degenerative changes in the hepatocytes surrounding the central veins of the liver. However, these changes were much reduced by more than 28% in mice fed with 0.5 mg of Pien Tze Huang/g body weight/dose (3 doses over 36 hr) prior to CCl 4 treatment. The effects of Pien Tze Huang were then further investigated in a hepatoma cell line. Flow analysis showed that it had no significant effects on cell proliferation. When the ability of Pien Tze Huang to influence various response elements of important signal transduction pathways was examined in the hepatoma cell line, it was found that Pien Tze Huang stimulated an increase in the response of AP1, CRE and NFkB responsive elements. The transcriptional factors of these responsive elements are known to play important roles in regulating cell death and survival. We thus postulate that the ability of Pien Tze Huang to protect the liver from damage is attained through its ability to modulate the activity of these important signal transduction pathways.

Pien Tze Huang, a Composite Chinese Traditional Herbal Extract, Affects Survival of Neuroblastoma Cells

“…The second parameter was even more important in that the effect was in a linear relationship as the dosage increased in the cancerous cell culture, suggesting that a specific anti-cancer activity of Pien Tze Huang might have been at work. It has been widely suggested in the literature of Chinese medicine that Pien Tze Huang would inhibit liver cancer cells (Lee et al, 2002). Here, we raised the possibility that it may also affect the survival of brain tumor cells in culture.…”

“…Its main ingredients are musk (now replaced by artificial musk), calculus bovis (gallstone of the ox), snake's gall, and Tienchi (also known as Sanqi, the root of Panax notoginseng). In our previous study, we have shown that Pien Tze Huang could protect liver from carbon tetrachloride damage, which might lead to the development of hepatoma (Lee et al, 2002). In our present series of investigations on the possible effects of Pien Tze Huang of the central nervous system, we first studied the in vitro anti-cancer activity of Pien Tze Huang on neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) as compared with normal fibroblasts in culture (NIH-3T3), using a cell survival test, the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,2-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction test (Lü, Li, Yew, Rudd, & Mak, 2008).…”

“…In many cases, cancer patients had benefited from herbal drug treatment with significantly enhanced survivability (Ho, Leung, & Chan, 2002). Pien Tze Huang is a traditional Chinese medicine first formulated by a court doctor of the Ming Dynasty around 1555 A.D. and was used to treat liver diseases, cancer, and adverse inflammation (Lee, Kwong, Chau, Yew, & Chan, 2002). Its main ingredients are musk (now replaced by artificial musk), calculus bovis (gallstone of the ox), snake's gall, and Tienchi (also known as Sanqi, the root of Panax notoginseng).…”

Acute Kidney Injury Associated with Hepato-protective Chinese Herb – Pien Tze Huang

“…1 Pien Tze Huang, a complex mixture of Panax notoginseng (PNS) (85%), snake's gall bladder (7%), cow bezoar (dried cattle gall bladder stones) (5%), and musk (3%) has long been produced in China, and it is also widely used by Chinese immigrants in the United States for fatty liver, chronic hepatitis, inflammatory diseases, and detoxification. 2 PNS belongs to Panax, the same genus as Asian ginseng. The root of PNS in traditional Chinese herbs is nextracted for analgesic and hemostatic regiments.…”

Inhibition of ovarian cancer cell proliferation by Pien Tze Huang via the AKT-mTOR pathway

“…Clinical practices have also shown that a number of TCMs exhibit antitumor activity, which provides a novel therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment (6). Pien Tze Huang (PZH) is a well-known TCM that was identified ~450 years ago and has been applied to the treatment of liver diseases, cancer, stroke and inflammation (7). Similar to a number of other TCMs, PZH contains numerous ingredients, including musk, calculus bovis, snake’s gall and tienchi.…”