1ournal ol Tong]i Medical University 0(2):109-1II, 1986 109
The Efficacy of L O N G - D A N - X I E - G A N - T A N G
(;/~]]~_~]]-]=~j) in the Treatment of Herpes
Zoster: A Clinical Trial and Animal
Experimental Data
SHEN L i - l i n (~..~_~.)
Department of DermatoIogy, Teaching Hospital,
Hubei College of Traditionat Chinese Medicine
WU H e - s u a n ( ~ - ) , WANG Xi-yun ( _ ~ )
The Centrat Laboratory, Teaching Hospital,
Hubei College of Traditionat Chinese Medicine
Herpes zoster is caused b y the v i -
rus of C h i c k e n p o x - h e r p e s zoster, and
i n its e a r l y stage the n u m b e r of T - c e l l s
is below n o r m a l w i t h low cellular i m -
munity.
Since early 1975, 40 patients w i t h
herpes zoster have been treated w i t h
modified LONG-DAN-XIE-GAN-TANG
(.g~I_~,_~$l=~)) according to the t h e r a -
peutic p r i n c i p l e of T r a d i t i o n a l Chinese
M e d i c i n e , and at the same time i m m u n e
f u n c t i o n in e x p e r i m e n t a l animals was
tested.
CLINICAL TRIAL
A m o n g the 40 patients 37 were
o v e r 40 years of age. 28 came to us
w i l h i n 6 days after onset. I m m u n o ! o g i -
cal e x a m i n a t i o n was made in 12 cases,
in 9 of w h i c h the values of EaRFC and
E t R F C were f o u n d to be below n o r m a l .
A p a r t f r o m 1 case in late stage in
w h i c h o u r t h e r a p y was f o l l o w e d b y
other m e t h o d s , the r e m a i n i n g 39 eases
were all cured w i t h t h i s m e t h o d w i t h
the skin lesion disappearing w i t h i n 5
days on the average and p a i n s u b s i d i n g
w i t h i n 7 days, the cure rate being
97.5 ~ . The values of EaRFC and E t R F C
of the 9 cases, w h i c h were f o r m e r l y
abnormal, all r e t u r n e d to normal.
T h e composition, of m o d i f i e d LONG-
D A N - X I E - G A N - T A N G is as f o l l o w s .
R a d i x G e n t i a n a e (~]]H3~E) 6 - - 1 0 g
R a d i x Scutellariae ( ~ : ~ t : ) 10 g
Radix Rehmanniae (~) 10 g
Caulis Akebiae ( Z ~ I ~ ) 10 g
R a d i x Angelicae Sinensis ( ~ 1 ] ~ )
10 g
Rhizoma Alismatis (~j) 10 g
F r u c t u s G a r d e n i a e ( ~ ) ~ : f i ) 10 g
Rhizoma Corydalis (~i~) 10 g
R a d i x C u r c u m a e (6"[~,~) 10 g
Semen P l a n t a g i n i s (~Z-~-] ~) 10 g
R a d i x A s t r a g a l i (sou H e d y s a r i ) ( ~
~ ) 30 g
R a d i x B u p l e u r i ( ~ : i ~ ) 10 g
T h e drugs m e n t i o n e d above c o n s t i -
tuted one dose. 1 - - 2 doses were taken
daily,
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LABORATORY INVESTIGATION
1. The influence of L O N G - D A N -
XIE-GAN-TANG on the t h y m u s of
mice (table 1)
( 1 ) A s compared w i t h the control NS
group, LONG-DAN-XIE-GAN-TANG
caused e v i d e n t increase of w e i g h t o f
t h y m u s w i t h great statistical s i g n i f i -
cance.
( 2 ) L e v a m i s o l e also caused increase
of w e i g h t of the t h y m u s of y o u n g mice,
P < 0 . 0 5 s h o w i n g great statistical s i g n i f i -
cance.
( 3 ) I n the predn!solone group the
thymus s h o w e d e v i d e n t decrease in
weight (P<0.02).
2. The influence of L O N G - D A N -
X I E - G A N - T A N G on the p h a g o c y t o s i s
of m a c r o p h a g e (table 2)
LONG - D A N - X I E - G A N - T A N G
c o u l d m a r k e d l y promote the p h a g o c y t i c
rate of m a c r o p h a g e s w i t h i n 3 - - 6 h ( P <
0 . 0 5 ) , s h o w i n g great statistical s i g n i -
f i c a n c e , but it did not increase the p h a -
gocytic index.
3. The influence of L G N G - D A N -
XIE-GAN-TANG on the l y m p h o c y t e
t r a n s f o r m a t i o n rate
W i i h d i f f e r e n t do~es of L O N G - D A N -
XIE-GAN-TANG--0.05 ml, 0.1 ml,
0.15 ml - - t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of l y m p h e c y t e s
was a c h i e v e d , the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n rate
being 14 ~ , 16 ~ a n d 36 4o respecti-
vely.
4. A c u t e t o x i c i t y test on mice
with LONG-DAN-XIE-GAN-TANG
( 1 ) I n 6 mice w e i g h i n g 1 8 - - 2 2 g,
26 g / k g of the d r u g was instilled
thrc, u g h gastric tube, a n d no death was
observed w i t h i n 3 days.
( 2 ) LDs0 test: 20 mice, w e i g h i n g
1 7 - - 2 2 g, were used. The extract c~f
the drug was injected i.v. b y the sequen-
tial m e t h o d . The LD~0 dose was f o u n d
to be 71.8 g / k g .
DISCUSSION
1. 40 patients w i t h herpes zoster
have been treated w i t h m o d i f i e d L O N G -
DAN-XIE-GAN-TANG. They showed
disappearance of skin lesic,n w i t h i n 5
days and subsidence of pain w i t h i n 7
days o n the a v e r a g e . The cure rate was
97.5 ~ . I n 28 cases the course of the
disease was w i t h i n 1 week a n d in all

Table 1. Comparison of weight of thymus in mice treated by various drugs

Weight of thymus
Drug Mice Dose (mg/100 g body weight) P
mean ± SE

LONG-DAN-XIE- 8 60 g/kg/day 279.85 ± 30.4 5 < 0.01

GAN-TANG
Levamisole 8 5 mg/kg/day 252.76 ± 32.79 < 0.05
Prednisolone 9 12.5 mg/kg/day 87.24 ± 21.74 < 0.02
NS I0 0.3 ml/day 168.7 ± 19.6

Table 2. The influence of L O N G - D A N - X I E - G A N - T A N G on the phagocytosis of

macrophages (mean±SE)

Phagocytic rate Phagocytic index

Time ( h )
after i.p. SRBC Control Experimental p Control Experimental P
group group group group

0.5 1 ±0.5 3.7 ± 2 . 5 >0.05 0.018±0.4 1.18±0.9 >O.O5

3 8.8±2.96 17.66±3.63 <0.05 3.178±1.8 5.95-t-0.94 >0.05
6 14 ±1.86 44 +I0 <0.05 3.85 ± 0 . 5 6 15.86±5.7 >0.05