Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

Med i cal News HK $ 31 M i l l i o n for Research o n Treatment of I r r i t a b l e Bowel S y n d r ome w i t h A c u p u n c t u re and He r b al Me d i c i n e The N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e s of H e a l th i n US is a l l o c a t i ng U S $3.96 m i l l i o n ( H K $ 3 1 m i l l i o n ) f o r the establishment of an International Center for Research o n Comp l eme n t a r y a n d A l t e r n a t i v e Me d i c i n e to research o n the use of traditional Chinese medicine to treat irritable b owe l syndrome. The research w i l l be le d by The Chinese University of H o n g Kong. Partner institutions are the University of Ma r y l a nd and the Un i v e r s i ty o f Illinois i n the US, and th e Un i v e r s i ty of Western Sydney i n Australia. Irritable b o w el s y n d r ome, characterized b y frequent attack s of a b d om i n a l p a in a n d change i n b o w el habits, is a c o mm o n disorder amo ng Asia' s y o u n g adults a n d one w h i c h, because o f the need for repeated examination s and treatments, is h i g h l y d i s r u p t i ve to d a i l y life. A n d there is no Western me d i c a t i on w i t h p r o v en efficac y for its treatment. A t e a m o f g a s t r o e n t e r o l o g i s ts f r o m C U H K a nd th e U n i v e r s i t y of Ma r y l a n d was f o r med t w o years ago to investigate th e use of t r a d i t i o n al Chinese medicine i n the treatmen t of i r r i t a b l e b o w e l s y n d r o m e . T h e i r i n i t i a l f i n d i n g s, u s i n g a rat m o d e l experiment, s h owed that by a p p l y i ng a c u p u n c t u r e o n f o u r a c u p o i n t s (Zusanli 足三里 ST36 ， Zhongwan 中 脘 CV 12, Pishu 脾 俞 BL20, Tinshu 天 樞 ST25) i n t h e b o d y , t h e p a i n receptors i n the a n i mal we re d o w n - regulated and the a b d om i n al muscle relaxed. The g r o u p is n o w conducting c l i n i c a l t r i a l s o n t he s a f e ty a n d efficacy o f herbal preparations. From left: Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, chairman, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, CUHK, Prof. Brian M. Berman, professor, Centre for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland, Prof. Chun Tao Che, director, School of Chinese Medicine, CUHK, and Prof. Harry H.S. Fong, professor emeritus of pharmacognosy, University of Illinois at Chicago Un i v e r s i t y - I n d u s t ry Co l l a b o r a t i on t o Treat Insomnia w i t h Herbs I n s omn i a , c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y d i f f i c u l t y f a l l i n g asleep a nd stayin g asleep, w a k i n g too early, or e x p e r i e n c i ng n o n - r e f r e s h i n g s l e e p , a f f e c ts between 30 to 50 per cent o f the adult p o p u l a t i on w o r l d w i d e . The University and Bright Future Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. announced on 11th October 2005 the key f i n d i n gs o f a H K $ 9 m i l l i o n , three-year research project to develop globally marketable herbal products for treatin g insomnia. The project w a s c o n d u c t e d b y researchers at the C U H K Epithelial Cell Biology Research Centre and jointly f u n d e d b y Brigh t Future and the I n n o v a t i on and T e c h n o l o gy C o mm i s s i o n of the H K S A R . Its objective w as to i d e n t i fy a nd characterize th e action mechanism, efficacy an d safety of a certain h e r b - d e r i v ed s e d a t i v e so t h a t an a l t e r n a t i ve treatment for insomnia may be developed . U s i n g a d v a n c ed t e c h n o l o g i es i n c l u d i n g D N A array, telemetry EEG recording , a n d b r a i n s l i ce r e c o r d i n g , t h e C U H K r e s e a r c h t e a m d emo n s t r a t e d the effectiveness o f the herb i n treating insomnia. The y also identified the active c o m p o n e n ts o f the h e rb a n d t h e ir mo l e c u l ar targets i n the brain. Thi s enables the development of tailor-made f o r mu l a t i o ns that w o u l d p r o v i d e a l t e r n a t i ve t r e a t me n t s to i n s o m n i a as w e l l as pharmaceuticals w i t h a global market. 66 Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 2005