The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Invigorating Kidney and Supplementing Qi Chinese Herbal Formulae in Asthma Patients

Figure 4

Effects of 6 months of treatment with the two formulae or placebo on the HPA axis. (a) CRH, (b) ACTH, and (c) cortisol levels (7:30–8:30 AM) were determined by ELISA. Venous blood samples were obtained from all patients before and 6 months after treatment. Plasma CRH, ACTH, and cortisol levels were measured using commercial ELISA kits (Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Burlingame, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The CRH data were log-transformed, and all data are the means ± SDs for the variable with unbalanced baseline using the baseline correction in the analysis of covariance. .

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