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J.Health Sci., 51(2), 172-177, 2005
The Effect of Nichin-to on the Plasma Gut-Regulatory Peptide Level in Healthy Human Subjects
Fumihiko Katagiri,* Shin Inoue, Yuhki Sato, Hiroki Itoh, and Masaharu Takeyama
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Oita University Hospital, 1-1, Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan
Nichin-to, a traditional Chinese herbal (Kampo) medicine, has been used to treat nausea and vomiting.
Most of traditional herbal medicines are prepared from several different herbs. For example, Nichin-to is a
combination of five herbs: Pinelliae
Tuber, Zingiberis Rhizoma, Poria,
Glycyrrhizae Radix and Aurantii Nobilis
Pericarpium. Thus, to determine the exact pharmacological mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicines is very
difficult. However, the pharmacological effects of some Chinese herbal medicines can be elucidated from the
changes in plasma levels of neuropeptides. In this study, we investigated the effects of Nichin-to on the plasma
levels of gut-regulated peptides [gastrin, somatostatin, motilin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), calcitonin
gene-related peptide (CGRP) and substance P] in healthy human subjects. A single oral administration of
Nichin-to caused significant (p < 0.05) increases in plasma levels of gastrin-, somatostatin-, VIP-, motilin-, CGRP- and
substance P-immunoreactive substance (IS), compared with placebo group. In conclusion, these results might
indicate that the pharmacological action of Nichin-to is closely related to changes in these peptide levels in
human plasma, and we hypothesize that the pharmacological effect of Nichin-to might be due to improvement of
digestion, and accelerating the rate of gastric emptying and intestinal propulsion.
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