Ameliorating effects of Juzentaihoto on restraint stress and P. gingivalis-induced alveolar bone loss.

OBJECTIVE Juzentaihoto (JTX) is a traditional Japanese medicine that consists of 10 herbs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of multi-herbal medicine JTX as a preventive and therapeutic drug for periodontal bone resorption and for reducing restraint stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS Porphyromonas gingivalis ATCC 33277 was used for testing the antibacterial activity of JTX and a rat experimental periodontitis model. To evaluate the effect of JTX against P. gingivalis infection, we determined the differences in alveolar bone loss among experimental groups. The concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormones were measured as stress markers, and atrophy of the thymus and spleen was assessed. RESULTS JTX had antibacterial activity against P. gingivalis ATCC 33277. JTX treatment of mouse bone marrow cells at a concentration of 0.1 μg/ml significantly inhibited osteoclast formation. Administration of JTX to rats with P. gingivalis infection and restraint stress significantly reduced alveolar bone loss compared with the case with just the combination of P. gingivalis infection and restraint stress. In the restrained groups, stress markers were elevated, and the thymus and spleen were atrophied. The groups with administration of JTX showed not only inhibition of the decrease of weight but also normalization of corticosterone and cortisol values. CONCLUSION JTX effectively inhibited restraint stress and osteoclastogenesis. It appears that the effects of JTX inhibit the destruction of periodontal tissue by suppressing stress. Our study demonstrated that JTX affects the correlation between restraint stress and periodontitis.