Research Article

Live-Imaging Analysis of Target Vessels and Nitric Oxide Production Associated with Gosha-Jinki-Gan and Keishi-Bukuryo-Gan: Two Herbal Preparations with Clinically Proven Blood Flow-Improving Effects but with Different Traditional Clinical Indicative Patterns

Figure 6

Changes in NO levels following the administration of Gosha-jinki-gan and Keishi-bukuryo-gan. Panel (a) depicts the representative DAF-2 fluorescence images of the upstream (upper panels), midstream (mid panels), and downstream (lower panels) of a mesenteric artery perfusion area, before and at 60 min after the administration of GJG (two rows on the left side) and KBG (two rows on the right side). The scale bar shown at the top of each panel corresponds to 50 μm. Panel (b) depicts changes in fluorescence intensities 60 min after the administration of Kampo prescriptions. Black, white, and hashed bars indicate the control (n = 3), GJG (n = 6), and KBG (n = 3) groups, respectively. Lower, mid, and upper correspond to the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the mesenteric artery perfusion area, respectively. Panel (c) depicts changes in fluorescence intensities with or without KBG (n = 3 each) and an addition of NOS inhibitor L-NMMA. All panels are expressed as percentages and those before administration as 100%. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM. : vs. control, ns:.
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