Chinese Herb May Ease Arthritis

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Chinese Herb May Ease Arthritis

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Aug. 13, 2002 -- One of its folk names is " Thunder God Vine. " Another is

" Walk Seven Steps and Die. " It's been used in China for more than 400 years.

And one day soon it may be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

The herb is Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F or TWHF. As its colorful name

suggests, it contains a deadly poison. It also contains a medicine. Properly

extracted, this medicine is used in China to treat rheumatoid arthritis and

other ills. Clinical trials at the U.S. National Institutes of Health suggest

that it really may work.

" It was pretty dramatic, " E. Lipsky, MD, tells WebMD. Lipsky and

colleagues at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and

Skin Diseases report the findings in the July issue of the journal Arthritis &

Rheumatism. Lipsky is scientific director of the NIAMS Autoimmunity Branch's

intramural research program

All 35 people in the study had longstanding rheumatoid arthritis. They did

not get relief from conventional treatment. Twelve people received low-dose

TWHF, 11 got high-dose TWHF, and 12 received a placebo. Treatment continued

for 20 weeks.

" We saw an 80% response rate in the groups that got TWHF, " Lipsky says.

" These patients are sufficiently better so they can get back to the

activities of daily living and work with minimum impairment. It is a

significant improvement in a large percentage of people. "

These results don't surprise researcher Xuelian Tao, MD. Before joining the

NIH, she worked as a physician in Beijing, where she used TWHF extracts to

treat patients. She also conducted an earlier clinical trial that had similar

results to the NIH study.

" TWHF very well reduces the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, " Tao tells

WebMD. " The side effects are gastrointestinal disturbances, mostly diarrhea.

It won't bother patients very much. If they continue, the side effects stop.

That's why mostly the whole treatment course can be completed. "

This doesn't prove that TWHF actually works, warns Doyt Conn, MD, director of

allergy, immunology, and rheumatology at Emory University and chief of

rheumatology at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital.

" The numbers are so small -- and treatment was only for 20 weeks, " Conn tells

WebMD. " You can't tell for sure what is going on here. But sure, this is

worth going on with. Let's see what happens when they treat more patients for

a longer period of time. "

That's exactly what Lipsky and Tao intend to do. They are also planning

clinical trials to see whether TWHF can be used to treat lupus. Lipsky says

the herbal extract has a powerful biological action: It turns off the genes

that trigger inflammation. He thinks it might be useful in a wide range of

diseases, including psoriasis and rare inflammatory kidney diseases.

Right now, the NIH buys TWHF in China. That's about to change. Phytomedics

Inc. is growing the plant. They call the extract PMI-001, and have an

agreement to co-develop the product with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.

Lipsky warns patients not to try to get the herb themselves. It is not

commonly available, but might be found in Chinese medicine shops in large

U.S. cities. If so, be careful: the plant isn't nicknamed " Walk Seven Steps

and Die " for nothing. The flowers and leaves are highly toxic. Even the

medicinal root may yield poisons if the extract isn't made properly.

" We are concerned about people treating themselves with this potentially

toxic plant, " Lipsky says. " There is a real danger of making an extract in

your home by making a tea, and extracting some of the toxic chemicals from

this plant. An extract is available in China, but we can't vouch for the

quality of this medicine. We advise patients to wait until we finish our

testing. We are doing everything we can to produce this as a medicine, but

right now, high-quality material is not available. "