Biol. Pharm. Bull. 30(6) 1042—1047 (2007)

tory form of arthritis. It is known that the activity of daily living is constrained by joint pain, and that joint function can become severely affected with long-term RA. Also, the average life span of RA patients is reported to be shorter than that of healthy people, based on the apparent increase in diseases of the cardiovascular system in RA patients. Further, it was recently reported that one of the causes of vascular diseases is clearly related to inflammation, and that the development of vascular injury is remarkable in a systemic inflammatory disease like RA. Keishibukuryogan is the one of the Kampo formulas often used clinically in Japan. It is used against many diseases, such as gynecologic and psychiatric diseases, and so on. Moreover, as it improves the microcirculation, it is used for cerebro-vascular and cardio-vascular diseases to improve blood circulation. Keishibukuryogan has been shown to have a vasoprotective effect in animal models of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. We reported that keishibukuryogan improved the symptoms of RA patients, and it was determined that the soluble form of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) of RA patients decreased by the administration of keishibukuryogan. As sVCAM-1 is one of the predictive factors of atherosclerosis, keishibukuryogan is suggested to have an inhibitory effect against atherosclerosis in patients with RA. In the present study, we examined the effects of keishibukuryogan on arthritis and vascular function in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS