3. Elucidation of Kampo mibyo control from the standpoint of modern medicine

Our objective was to provide scientific evidence that incorporating Kampo medications, crude drugs, and functional agricultural products into everyday life improves mental and physical health at every stage of life, from youth to retirement, and that this not only extends healthy longevity but also revitalizes society as a whole.

Issues to be Resolved

As awareness of the importance of preventive medicine has been increasing, mibyo, a longstanding concept in Oriental medicine, is coming to the fore. The effective control of mibyo would prevent the appearance of a range of diseases and ultimately extend healthy lifespans, enabling people to live fuller lives both mentally and physically. Traditional remedies containing Kampo medications are still used today on the grounds that they can control mibyo. However, the control of mibyo remains unclear in scientific research. In this study, we used mibyo model mice (Ito et al., Exp. Gerontol. 142, 111109, 2020) to address the following questions about the control of mibyo from a modern medical standpoint.

  1. Control of mibyo using Kampo medicines
  2. Effectiveness of Hokkaido-grown Perilla frutescens (shiso) in combatting mibyo

Research Overview

1.Control of mibyo using Kampo medicines

The newly generated mibyo model mice develop a number of abnormalities (including depression/anxiety, circadian rhythm disruption, and neuroinflammation) when they reach a certain age (Figure 1). We administered hot-water extracts of the Kampo medicines kososan (KS), kososan with a high nobilectin content (NKS), and hachimi-jiogan (HJG) to these model mice for 13 weeks and evaluated their effects using behavioral tests (Figure 2). We found that listlessness (an index of depression) improved significantly in all of the treated mice and that NKS had a stronger effect than HJG (Figure 3). However, none of the medications improved anxious behavior or differences in activity levels during light and dark periods (an index of circadian rhythm abnormalities). Their effect on neuroinflammation is currently under investigation.

Figure 1 Mibyo model mice
Figure 2　Experimental schedule
Figure 3　Beneficial effect on depression-like behavior

2. Effectiveness of Hokkaido-grown Perilla frutescens (shiso) in combatting mibyo

We also administered hot-water extracts of Hokkaido-grown red and green shiso to mibyo model mice for 10 weeks and evaluated their effects using behavioral tests. We found that the age-related circadian rhythm disruption was only improved by treatment with red shiso (Figure 4). However, neither type of shiso had any effect on depressive or anxious-like behavior.

Figure 4　Improvement in circadian rhythm disruption
Figure 4　Improvement in circadian rhythm disruption

Conclusion

Although some of our work is still in progress, the above results suggest that Kampo medication or the consumption of functional agricultural products at the mibyo stage may be effective against symptoms that appear with advancing age, and we are hopeful for the further development of these medications. We are currently crowd-funding for support for our research on Kampo medications and mibyo with the aim of obtaining scientific evidence for the beneficial effects of Kampo medications against mibyo, extending the scope of healthcare. We are also moving forward with preparations for further research on the characterization of mibyo.（https://readyfor.jp/projects/mibyo-kitasato）

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