Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CHINESE MEDICINE
Volume 31, Issue 3, Pages 445-453Publisher
WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD
DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X03001144
Keywords
Shakuyaku-kanzo-to; muscle cramp; hemodialysis; phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparations; twitch response
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Muscle cramps are one of the most common complications of hemodialysis (HD), and often are a source of great pain in spite of various clinical measures. The traditional herbal medicine, Shao-Yao-Gan-Cao-Tang (Japanese name: Shakuyaku-kanzo-to), consists of equal amounts of paeony and licorice roots, and has been used in Japan and China for muscle pain or skeletal muscle tremors. To determine whether this medicine is able to prevent frequent and unendurable muscle cramps in patients undergoing HD, Shakuyaku-kanzo-to at 6 g per day was prospectively administered for 4 weeks to five patients on HD who were suffering from frequent muscle cramps. The frequency and severity of cramping before and after the treatment treatment were carefully observed and compared. Skeletal muscle cramps completely disappeared in two of the treated patients after the start of oral administration of Shakuyakukanzo-to. Moreover, the frequency of cramping was significantly decreased in two of the remaining three patients after persistent administration. The severity of muscle cramps was also decreased by this treatment in the responsive patients. No serious side effects were detected during the treatment period. The inhibitory effect of Shakuyaku-kanzo-to on muscle contraction was also experimentally examined by using phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparations from male Wistar rats. Differences between the twitch responses were determined when the diaphragms and the nerves were stimulated in the presence and absence of the extract of Shakuyakukanzo-to. The results demonstrated that extracts of paeony and licorice roots inhibit contraction of skeletal muscles in rats. Taken together, we suggest that administration of Shakuyakukanzo-to is a safe, effective treatment for preventing muscle cramps in patients undergoing HD.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available