Anti-Inflammatory Effects of 81 Chinese Herb Extracts and Their Correlation with the Characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Table 3

Percentage distribution of herbs with the ability to inhibit over 50% NO production in each TCM characteristics.

TCM characteristic	Hit extracts (inhibition over 50%)	Percentage of effective herbs (32)	Herbs sharing same flavors	Percentage (in 81 herbs)
Four properties
Cold	9	28.13	30	37.04
Cool	1	3.13	2	2.47
Warm	11	34.38	33	40.74
Hot	3	9.38	4	4.94
Moderate	8	25	12	14.81
Five flavors
Pungent	20	62.5	42	51.85
Sweet	9	28.13	30	37.04
Bitter	20	62.5	47	58.02
Sour	0	0	3	3.70
Astringent	2	6.25	6	7.41
Salty	3	9.38	3	3.70
Mild	2	6.25	3	3.70
Meridian distributions
Liver	18	56.25	43	53.09
Lung	17	53.13	35	43.21
Spleen	13	40.63	29	35.80
Heart	10	31.25	30	37.04
Kidney	8	25	25	30.86
Stomach	7	21.88	22	27.16
Intestinum crassum	4	12.5	9	11.11
Urinary bladder	2	6.25	7	8.64
Gallbladder	2	6.25	6	7.41
Intestinum tenue	1	3.13	2	2.47