Kampo, the traditional Japanese Medicine, is an indispensable treatment methodology practiced by more than 70% of Japanese doctors. However, proper Kampo Medicine education for Japanese pharmacist still needs to be established. To better grasp how pharmacy students understand Kampo Medicine, we conducted a questionnaire survey with 1 st to 6 th year students at Kyushu University of Health and Welfare. The students answered that they were interested in Kampo Medicine (80.8%) and that Kampo education at college was a necessity (91.1%). Many (60.2%) of them were aware of their lack of Kampo medical knowledge, and 76.1% were willing to study it in future. In the free-written responses, some of the 1 st to 4 th year students wanted practical lessons in the handling of actual crude drugs. On the other hand, 5 th to 6 th year students wanted to know more about clinical evidence. A system of college education that meets these demands would surely boost post-graduate education in Kampo Medicine.

The crude drug Aconite Root (bushi in Japanese) contains toxic compounds called bushi diester alkaloids(BDA), and the raw material with high BDA content has been considered suitable for processing into prepared bushi. Moreover, processing methods and an upper BDA content limit are prescribed in the 16th edition of Japanese Pharmacopoeia. In this study, we closely examined descriptions of high quality bushi in ancient herbal literature, and elucidated the relationship between bushi forms and BDA contents. The results showed that large-sized bushi with enlarged rootlets called “horns” (tsuno in Japanese) were considered higher quality, and the horns and the root tops (hozo in Japanese) were cut off when used as bushi. Meanwhile, chemical studies have shown that larger bushi contains less BDA, and the root tops and the horns contain more BDA than the root body. These results suggest that selecting larger roots and cutting off the more potent parts were processes for reducing BDA. Therefore we conclude that consistently less toxic bushi was considered a higher quality product in ancient times.

Objectives: The relationship between weight-related load and bone mineral density (BMD)/bone microstructure under normal load conditions using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) remains unconfirmed. The study aims to investigate the differences in effect of body mass index (BMI) on BMD/bone microstructure of loaded and unloaded bones, respectively, in Japanese postmenopausal women. Methods: Fifty-seven postmenopausal women underwent HR-pQCT on the tibia and radius. Correlation analysis, principal component (PC) analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression were performed to examine the relationship between BMI and HR-pQCT parameters. Results: Several microstructural parameters of the tibia and radius correlated with BMI through a simple correlation analysis, and these relationships remained unchanged even with an age-adjusted partial correlation analysis. PC analysis was conducted using seven bone microstructure parameters. The first PC (PC1) reflected all parameters of trabecular and cortical bone microstructures, except for cortical porosity, whereas the second PC (PC2) reflected only cortical bone microstructure. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that BMI was more strongly related to BMD/bone microstructure in the tibia than in the radius. Furthermore, BMI was associated with trabecular/cortical BMD, and PC1 (not PC2) of the tibia and radius. Thus, BMI was strongly related to the trabecular bone microstructure rather than the cortical bone microstructure. Conclusions Our data confirmed that BMI is associated with volumetric BMD and trabecular bone microstructure parameters in the tibia and radius. However, although BMI may be more related to HRpQCT parameters in the tibia than in the radius, the magnitude of association is modest.

Objectives: The relationship between weight-related load and bone mineral density (BMD)/bone microstructure under normal load conditions using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) remains unconfirmed. The study aims to investigate the differences in effect of body mass index (BMI) on BMD/bone microstructure of loaded and unloaded bones, respectively, in Japanese postmenopausal women. Methods: Fifty-seven postmenopausal women underwent HR-pQCT on the tibia and radius. Correlation analysis, principal component (PC) analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression were performed to examine the relationship between BMI and HR-pQCT parameters. Results: Several microstructural parameters of the tibia and radius correlated with BMI through a simple correlation analysis, and these relationships remained unchanged even with an age-adjusted partial correlation analysis. PC analysis was conducted using seven bone microstructure parameters. The first PC (PC1) reflected all parameters of trabecular and cortical bone microstructures, except for cortical porosity, whereas the second PC (PC2) reflected only cortical bone microstructure. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that BMI was more strongly related to BMD/bone microstructure in the tibia than in the radius. Furthermore, BMI was associated with trabecular/cortical BMD, and PC1 (not PC2) of the tibia and radius. Thus, BMI was strongly related to the trabecular bone microstructure rather than the cortical bone microstructure. Conclusions Our data confirmed that BMI is associated with volumetric BMD and trabecular bone microstructure parameters in the tibia and radius. However, although BMI may be more related to HRpQCT parameters in the tibia than in the radius, the magnitude of association is modest.