%0 Journal Article
%T Effects of Panax ginseng-containing herbal plasters on compressed intervertebral discs in an in vivo rat tail model
%A Daniel H Chow
%A Alon Lai
%A Fuk-Hay Tang
%A Mason C Leung
%J Chinese Medicine
%D 2013
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1749-8546-8-4
%X Using an in vivo rat tail model, intervertebral disc compression was simulated in the caudal 8--9 discs of 25 rats by continuous static compression (11 N) for 2 weeks. An herbal medicine plaster (in which the major ingredient was tienchi) was externally applied to the compressed disc (n=9) for three weeks, and held in place by an adhesive bandage, in animals in the Chinese Medicine (CM) group. The effect of the bandage was evaluated in a separate placebo group (n=9), while no intervention with unrestricted motion was provided to rats in an additional control group (n=7). Disc structural properties were quantified by in vivo disc height measurement and in vitro morphological analysis.Disc height decreased after the application of compression (P < 0.001). The disc height decreased continuously in the control (P = 0.006) and placebo (P = 0.003) groups, but was maintained in the CM group (P = 0.494). No obvious differences in disc morphology were observed among the three groups (P = 0.896).The tienchi-containing herbal plaster had no significant effect on the morphology of compressed discs, but maintained disc height in rats.
%U http://www.cmjournal.org/content/8/1/4/abstract