ABSTRACT
Shengmai San (SMS) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine formula, and has been used in China for more than eight hundred years. SMS is comprised of Radix Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), Radix Ophiopogonis (Ophiopogon japonicus Ker-Gawl) and Fructus Schisandrae (Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill) and is prescribed for replenishing the Qi (vital energy) and promoting the production of body fluid, retaining the Yin and halting the excessive perspiration. Traditionally, SMS is used for the treatment of body disorders including: (1) heat-induced damage of the Qi and the deficiency of both the Qi and the Yin caused by the depletion of the Yin-fluid, with symptoms of profuse sweating, thirst, throat dryness, dyspnea, tiredness, weak pulse, red and dry tongue without saliva, and (2) heart and lung weakness and the deficiency of the Qi and the Yin due to protracted illness, with symptoms of cough with little phlegm, shortness of breath with spontaneous perspiration, dry mouth and hot tongue, and weak and faint pulse. Concomitant with a huge amount of clinical research having been done since the 1970s, SMS is commonly used in clinical practices with a prudent therapeutic efficacy, and its area of clinical application is being rapidly extended. Nowadays, SMS is clinically used for the treatment of shock caused by cardiovascular diseases, contractile heart failure, and myocardial ischemia etc. With regard to pharmacological studies, a lot of experimental work has also been done on SMS. In one of the large-scale cooperative research projects, SMS (prepared by standardized manufacturing procedures) was used for investigating the effect on cardiovascular system. Four main categories of experimental models were adopted, including those for contractile heart failure, myocardial ischemia, arrhythmia and shock. Experimental methods of different levels and standards were used for investigations, in which various physiological and pharmacological markers were measured. Other pharmacological studies on SMS have demonstrated the effect on experimentally-induced atherosclerosis and blood lipid content, the stimulatory action on immune system, the prevention against anaphylaxis, tissue injury and mutation induced by toxins, and the effect on the central nervous system. Recently, antioxidant activities of SMS have been investigated, which further provide a pharmacological rationale for preventive and therapeutic effect of SMS on cardiovascular diseases as well as for health safeguarding.
