Yokukansan

Yokukansan

Chinese: Yi Gan San

English: Restrain the Liver Powder

Source: Bao ying cuo yao (Synopsis of Caring for Infants)

Pulse: bowstring, fine, soft

Tongue: red, white coating

Abdomen: fukuchokukinrenkyu, saijyoki

Indications: This herbal formula has been used for patients with following health conditions and symptoms:

  • Irritability
  • Nervousness
  • Easily upset
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Insomnia
  • Muscle cramps
  • Facial twitching
  • Hands, legs tremors

There are many other health conditions that may respond well to this herbal formula, in particular patients exhibiting indicative traditional diagnostic signs and symptoms.

Herbs in This Formula

Note: Suggested dosages of each herb in Kampo formulas are often smaller than those of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Individual dosages of herbs may be adjusted depending on each patient’s condition, constitutional patterns, quality of the herbs, and other factors involved.

Basic and Clinical Research on Yokukansan (Yi Gan San) – Updated on Feb. 23, 2011

1.         Miyaoka, T., et al. Yi-gan san for treatment of charles bonnet syndrome (visual hallucination due to vision loss): an open-label study. Clinical neuropharmacology 34, 24-27 (2011).

2.         Fujiwara, H., et al. Yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, ameliorates memory disturbance and abnormal social interaction with anti-aggregation effect of cerebral amyloid beta proteins in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice. Neuroscience (2011).

3.         Tamano, H., Kan, F., Oku, N. & Takeda, A. Ameliorative effect of Yokukansan on social isolation-induced aggressive behavior of zinc-deficient young mice. Brain research bulletin 83, 351-355 (2010).

4.         Shinno, H., et al. Successful treatment of restless legs syndrome with the herbal prescription Yokukansan. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 34, 252-253 (2010).

5.         Sekiguchi, K., et al. Effects of yokukansan and donepezil on learning disturbance and aggressiveness induced by intracerebroventricular injection of amyloid beta protein in mice. Phytother Res (2010).

6.         Saito, S., Kobayashi, T., Osawa, T. & Kato, S. Effectiveness of Japanese herbal medicine yokukansan for alleviating psychiatric symptoms after traumatic brain injury. Psychogeriatrics 10, 45-48 (2010).

7.         Okahara, K., et al. Effects of Yokukansan on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in regular treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 34, 532-536 (2010).

8.        Nogami, A., et al. Effects of yokukansan on anxiety-like behavior in a rat model of cerebrovascular dementia. Journal of natural medicines (2010).

9.         Mizoguchi, K., Tanaka, Y. & Tabira, T. Anxiolytic effect of a herbal medicine, yokukansan, in aged rats: involvement of serotonergic and dopaminergic transmissions in the prefrontal cortex. Journal of ethnopharmacology 127, 70-76 (2010).

10.       Mizoguchi, K., Shoji, H., Tanaka, Y. & Tabira, T. Ameliorative effect of traditional Japanese medicine yokukansan on age-related impairments of working memory and reversal learning in rats. Neuroscience (2010).

11.       Kawanabe, T., et al. Successful treatment with Yokukansan for behavioral and psychological symptoms of Parkinsonian dementia. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 34, 284-287 (2010).

12.       Kawakami, Z., Kanno, H., Ikarashi, Y. & Kase, Y. Yokukansan, a kampo medicine, protects against glutamate cytotoxicity due to oxidative stress in PC12 cells. Journal of ethnopharmacology (2010).

13.       Kato, S., et al. Successful treatment of chronic urticaria with a Japanese herbal medicine, yokukansan. The Journal of dermatology 37, 1066-1067 (2010).

14.       Hayashi, Y., et al. Treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer-type dementia with Yokukansan in clinical practice. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 34, 541-545 (2010).

15.       Doo, A.R., et al. Neuroprotective effects of an herbal medicine, Yi-Gan San on MPP+/MPTP-induced cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Journal of ethnopharmacology 131, 433-442 (2010).

16.       de Caires, S. & Steenkamp, V. Use of Yokukansan (TJ-54) in the treatment of neurological disorders: a review. Phytother Res 24, 1265-1270 (2010).

17.       Uchida, N., et al. Yokukansan inhibits social isolation-induced aggression and methamphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion in rodents. Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin 32, 372-375 (2009).

18.       Tanaka, Y. & Mizoguchi, K. Influence of aging on chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan expression and neural stem/progenitor cells in rat brain and improving effects of a herbal medicine, yokukansan. Neuroscience 164, 1224-1234 (2009).

19.       Tabuchi, M., et al. Ameliorative effects of yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, on learning and non-cognitive disturbances in the Tg2576 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of ethnopharmacology 122, 157-162 (2009).

20.       Sekiguchi, K., Yamaguchi, T., Tabuchi, M., Ikarashi, Y. & Kase, Y. Effects of yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, on aggressiveness induced by intracerebroventricular injection of amyloid beta protein into mice. Phytother Res 23, 1175-1181 (2009).

21.       Monji, A., et al. Effect of yokukansan on the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 33, 308-311 (2009).

22.       Mizukami, K., et al. A randomized cross-over study of a traditional Japanese medicine (kampo), yokukansan, in the treatment of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology / official scientific journal of the Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum (CINP) 12, 191-199 (2009).

23.       Miyaoka, T., et al. Charles Bonnet syndrome: successful treatment of visual hallucinations due to vision loss with Yi-gan san. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 33, 382-383 (2009).

24.      Miyaoka, T., et al. Yi-gan san as adjunctive therapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia: an open-label study. Clinical neuropharmacology 32, 6-9 (2009).

25.       Kawakami, Z., et al. Neuroprotective effects of yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, on glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity in cultured cells. Neuroscience 159, 1397-1407 (2009).

26.       Kanno, H., et al. Effect of yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, on social and aggressive behaviour of para-chloroamphetamine-injected rats. The Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology 61, 1249-1256 (2009).

27.       Kamei, J., Miyata, S. & Ohsawa, M. Involvement of the benzodiazepine system in the anxiolytic-like effect of Yokukansan (Yi-gan san). Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 33, 1431-1437 (2009).

28.       Jiang, J., et al. Oral administration of Yokukansan inhibits the development of atopic dermatitis-like lesions in isolated NC/Nga mice. Journal of dermatological science 56, 37-42 (2009).

29.       Izumi, M., Seki, T., Iwasaki, K. & Sakamoto, K. Chinese herbal medicine Yi-Gan-San decreases the lipid accumulation in mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes by modulating the activities of transcription factors SREBP-1c and FoxO1. The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine 219, 53-62 (2009).

30.       Ikarashi, Y., et al. Effects of yokukansan, a traditional Japanese medicine, on memory disturbance and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in thiamine-deficient rats. Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin 32, 1701-1709 (2009).

31.       Tateno, M., et al. Neuroprotective effects of Yi-Gan San against beta amyloid-induced cytotoxicity on rat cortical neurons. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 32, 1704-1707 (2008).

32.       Takeda, A., Tamano, H., Itoh, H. & Oku, N. Attenuation of abnormal glutamate release in zinc deficiency by zinc and Yokukansan. Neurochemistry international 53, 230-235 (2008).

33.       Takeda, A., Itoh, H., Tamano, H., Yuzurihara, M. & Oku, N. Suppressive effect of Yokukansan on excessive release of glutamate and aspartate in the hippocampus of zinc-deficient rats. Nutritional neuroscience 11, 41-46 (2008).

34.       Shinno, H., Kamei, M., Nakamura, Y., Inami, Y. & Horiguchi, J. Successful treatment with Yi-Gan San for rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 32, 1749-1751 (2008).

35.       Shinno, H., Inami, Y., Inagaki, T., Nakamura, Y. & Horiguchi, J. Effect of Yi-Gan San on psychiatric symptoms and sleep structure at patients with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 32, 881-885 (2008).

36.       Miyaoka, T., et al. Yi-gan san for the treatment of neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia: an open-label study. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 32, 761-764 (2008).

37.       Miyaoka, T., et al. Yi-gan san for the treatment of borderline personality disorder: an open-label study. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 32, 150-154 (2008).

38.       Egashira, N., et al. Repeated administration of Yokukansan inhibits DOI-induced head-twitch response and decreases expression of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2A receptors in the prefrontal cortex. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 32, 1516-1520 (2008).

39.       Shinno, H., et al. Successful treatment with Yi-Gan San for psychosis and sleep disturbance in a patient with dementia with Lewy bodies. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 31, 1543-1545 (2007).

40.       Iwasaki, K., et al. A randomized, observer-blind, controlled trial of the traditional Chinese medicine Yi-Gan San for improvement of behavioral and psychological symptoms and activities of daily living in dementia patients. The Journal of clinical psychiatry 66, 248-252 (2005).

41.       Iwasaki, K., et al. Effects of the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Yi-Gan San for cholinesterase inhibitor-resistant visual hallucinations and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies. The Journal of clinical psychiatry 66, 1612-1613 (2005).