Influence of spleen meridian herbs on the harmonic spectrum of the arterial pulse

Pulse analysis is a powerful method in Chinese medicine. We suggest that th e effect of herbal medicine is to redistribute the blood to organs and meri dians. In this report, by injecting extracts into rats and then analyzing t he blood pressure wave measured at the caudate arteries, we studied eight i mportant spleen meridian related herbs: They were Semen Lablab, Fructus Amo mi Globosi, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Rhizoma, Atractylodis, Tube r Pinelliae, Radix Codonopsitis, Pericarpium Aurantii and Rhizoma Polygonat i. All eight herbs increased the intensity of the 3rd harmonic (C3) of the pressure pulse which is correlated to the spleen and spleen meridian, as de scribed in traditional Chinese medical literature. All of them also increas ed the 2nd harmonic (which is correlated to the kidney and the kidney merid ian) as well as decreased the heart load (DC term of pressure wave, C0). Tu ber Pinelliae, Radix Codonopsitis. Pericarpium Aurantii and Rhizoma Polygon ati decreased the 1st harmonic (correlated to the liver meridian) significa ntly, while Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae only decreased C1 slightly. Except for Semen Lablab, all the others decreased the intensity of the 5th (stomach meridian) and the 7th harmonics. The effects of kidney herbs: Cort ex Eucommiae and Radix Achyranthis were also shown for comparison.