Shakuyakukanzoto

Shakuyakukanzoto (SKT) is a traditional Japanese kampo medicine, which consists of two herbal medicines, namely Paeoniae radix and Glycyrrhizae radix. SKT has been used to treat muscle pain, muscle spasms, joint pain, and numbness.

In addition, SKT inhibits diabetes-induced hyperalgesia  and paclitaxel-induced mechanical allodynia in mice. Thus, SKT is thought to be effective against peripheral neuropathy.

References

Carlson, K., Ocean, A.J. (2011) Peripheral neuropathy with microtubule-targeting agents: Occurrence and management approach. Clin. Breast Cancer 11: pp. 73–81.

Chang, A.Y., Garrow, G.C. (1995) Pilot study of vinorelbine (Navelbine) and paclitaxel (Taxol) in patients with refractory breast cancer and lung cancer. Semin. Oncol.  22: pp. 66–70.

Dougherty, P.M., Cata, J.P., Cordella, J.V., Burton, A., Weng, H.R. (2004) Taxol-induced sensory disturbance is characterized by preferential impairment of myelinated fiber function in cancer patients. Pain ; 109: 132–142

Hidaka, T., Shima, T., Nagira, K. et al. (2009) Herbal medicine Shakuyaku-kanzo-to reduces paclitaxel-induced painful peripheral neuropathy in mice. Eur. J. Pain 13: pp. 22–27

Hinoshita, F., Ogura, Y., Suzuki, Y. et al. (2003) Effect of orally administered shao-yao-gan-cao-tang (Shakuyaku-kanzoto kanzoto) on muscle cramps in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a preliminary study. Am. J. Chin. Med. 31: pp. 445–453.

Hosokawa, A., Ogawa, K., Ando, T. et al. (2012) Preventive effect of traditional Japanese medicine on neurotoxicity of FOLFOX for metastatic colorectal cancer: A multicenter retrospective study. Anticancer Res. 32: pp. 2545–2550.

Hyodo T, Taira T, Kumakura M et al. (2002) The immediate effect of Shakuyaku-kanzo-to, traditional Japanese herbal medicine, for muscular cramps during maintenance hemodialysis. Nephron 90: 240.

Omiya Y, Suzuki Y, Yuzurihara M et al. (2005) Antinociceptive effect of shakuyakukanzoto, a Kampo medicine, in diabetic mice. J. Pharmacol. Sci. 2005; 99: 373–380.

Wolf, S., Barton, D., Kottschade, L., Grothey, A., Loprinzi, C. (2008) Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: Prevention and treatment strategies. Eur. J. Cancer  44: pp. 1507–1515.

Yamamoto, K., Hoshiai, H., Noda, K.  (2001) Effects of shakuyakukanzo-to on muscle pain from combination chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin. Gynecol. Oncol. 81: pp. 333–334.