[Clinical and experimental studies on treatment of menopausal syndrome with geng nian shu]

370 cases of menopausal syndrome (MS)patients with the Syndrome Differentiation of "Excessive Fire in the Heart and Liver" were studied and divided into 4 groups randomly, 3 of them were treated with Geng-Nian-Shu(GNS) of different forms administered double-blindly with placebo. The effective rates of 3 therapeutic groups were 80.3-91.3% and the placebo group 48.6%, the difference was statistically significant. FSH, LH, E2, Te, ACTH, corticosteroid, CA, TSH, FT3, FT4, and beta-EP were assayed before and after treatment. The results were as follows:ACTH, FT3, FT4 lowered after treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.05, P < 0.01) respectively, CA and corticosteroid in urine and beta-EP in plasma somewhat lowered (P < 0.05). Assays of the vegetative nerve balance factors (Y) showed that patients changed from the state of sympathetic hyperfunction to normal after treatment. No statistical difference of FSH, LH, E2, Te before and after treatment was observed. Animal experiment: mono-amino-neurotransmitter in hypothalamus, beta-EP in pituitary gland and blood plasma, plasma ACTH, cAMP and serum TSH, FT3, FT4, FSH, E2, Te of normal and ovariectomized white rats were studied, and the effect of GNS on these parameters were observed. In ovariectomized white rats: (1) The amount of NE in the hypothalamus increased, and NE, 5-HT, DA, plasma cAMP, ACTH, serum FT3, beta-EP in pituitary gland markedly lowered in the treatment group. The differences were statistically Significant (P < 0.05-0.001). (2) Serum TSH increased with no statistical difference, it was not lowered in the treatment group. (3) No significant difference for FT4, plasma beta-EP was observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)