Laboratory of Plant Resources for Medicine

Pharmacognostical studies on medicinal plants

1. Pharmacognostical study on Taraxacum spp.Taraxacum plants have been used as a medicine all over the world. It grows wild inJapan and other Asian and European countries, however Taraxacum plants growing inthe Himalayan region are found to be unique. In Europe, the roots of this plant have beenused for stomach and liver diseases. It has been used for promoting lactation as aKampo prescription named “Hokoei-to” in Japan. We have been conducting apharmacognostical (morphological and microscopic) study on the crude drug “Hokoei”since last 30 years mainly on the problems on Taraxacum classification to ascertain thequality and efficacy of “Hokoei”. But, the identification of Taraxacum spp. is still remainedunclear. Currently, we have been doing the DNA-based analysis on Taraxacum plantsfrom Hokkaido to clarify its identification.
2. Pharmacognostical study on Coptis spp. in Japan.

Experimental cultivation of medicinal plants

1. We have been doing the research on the cultivation and proliferation of Ephedra plant.Ephedra plants have been known as one of the most important materials for Kampoformulations “Kakkon-to”, “Mao-to” and others. Recently Ephedra drug supply is reducedfrom its traditional sources. So, in order to maintain a sustained use of Kampoprescriptions, development of a new method on the cultivation of Ephedra plant inJapanese climate and environment is necessary. We have initiated the experimental pilotscale cultivation for Ephedra plants in our University garden. Our aim is to propagate themethod of cultivation for the industrials scale to other locations in Japan.

Field Surveys on Natural Resources for Medicine

1. Field survey on Himalayan Medicinal Resources in NepalBecause of the ecosystem and geographical nature the Himalayan plants aremysterious and unexplored. We have been making field surveys on the medicinal plantsin Nepal since 1983 in collaboration with Nepalese researchers.
   We have been doing an experimental cultivation of some Nepalese and also Japanesemedicinal plants at Daman, Nepal as a joint study in cooperation with Nepaleseresearchers since 2015.

Exploration of a novel material for improving the symptoms of Dry Eye disease.

1. Selection of the drug candidates for research based on Kampo philosophyIn the “Kampo philosophy” it has been mentioned that if a patient has some “KAN (liver,not equal to real liver) ” disorders (one of five organs named “GOZO”), some symptomscan be seen in Eye. The medicine having sour taste (one of five tastes named “GOMI”) isrecommended for the treatment of “KAN” disorder in Kampo.
   Based on this principle, we selected natural medicines, having sour taste and beingused for "KAN" disorder treatment, for our study purpose of the first screening of“experimental dry eye”.
   After the first phase of screening, we are focusing on some selected drug materials fortheir detail chemical analysis to isolate and identify the active ingredients and leadmolecules for their pharmaceutical application.
2. Selection of the crude drugs candidates in NepalThe main cause of “Dry eye symptom” is the stress generated by the modern life stylehabits in the present society including the heavy use of VDT. So, we also collected somedrugs which are used traditionally for the treatment of mental tranquility from the marketin Nepal. The drugs of this category are under first phase screening for the Dry eyesymptom.
   A part of the research work for the screening of “Dry eye symptom” has been carrying out in collaboration with the researchers in Keio University, Japan.