Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals : Chinese Herbs

Saturday 16 November 2013

Chinese Herbs – Ai Di Cha (Herba Ardsiae Japonicae)

Traditional Chinese medicine
Ai Di Cha, a tender deciduous shrub native to southeastern North America and provinces south of Yangzi River, is also known as Maleberry. The acrid, bitter and neutral herb has been used in TCM as diuretic in urinary promotion and to treat pain caused by amenorrhea, rheumatoid arthritis and bruises as it expels phlegm, inhibits coughing, invigorate blood and get rid of stasis by promoting the function of liver and lung channels.
Ingredients
1. Ardisinol I
2. Ardisinol II
3. Ardisin
4. Dergenin
5. Embelin
6. Rapanone
7. Quercitrin
8. Essential oil
9. Saponins
10. Coumarins
11. Quinones
12. Bergenin
13. Etc.
Health benefits
1. Quercitrin
Quercitrin, a flavonol found in the plant Ai Di Cha helps to enhances the immune function in fighting against the forming of free radicals and inflammatory properties due to it antioxidant effects.
2. Embelin
Besides containing chemopreventive, the inflammatory and apoptotic properties, the chemical embelin also enhances the inhibition of tumor due tonecrosis factor (TNF) α-induced NF-κB activation by regulating the gene products that prevents the proliferation, invasion, and spreading of the tumor.
3. Saponin
Saponin is a natural chemical found in plant and marine organisms involved its complexion with cholesterol to form pores in cell membrane bilayers and it is used to develop of Gypsophila saponins for use in combination with immunotoxins to treat leukaemia, lymphoma and other cancers.
4. Bergenin
Bergenin is trihydroxybenzoic acid glycoside found to have a potent immunomodulatory effect by increasing the immune response against infections oimmunodeficiency (for example, AIDS) and cancers.
5. Quinones
Quinones shows a biological or pharmacological activity, and some of them show antimalarial activity.
6. HIV-1 and HIV-2
A dimeric lactone, ardimerin digallate was isolated from the whole plants of Ardisia japonica has showed to inhibit HIV-1 and HIV-2 RNase H in vitro with IC50 values of 1.5 and 1.1 microM, according to the study of “A dimeric lactone from Ardisia japonica with inhibitory activity for HIV-1 and HIV-2 ribonuclease H” by Dat NT, Bae K, Wamiru A, McMahon JB, Le Grice SF, Bona M, Beutler JA, Kim YH., posted in PubMed(1)
7. Cancer
Triterpenoid saponins, the chemicals ingredients of Ardisia japonica, containg Eleven new triterpenoid saponins, ardisianosides A (1), B (2), C (4), D (5), E (6), F (7), G (15), H (16), I (17), J (18), and K (19), together with 10 known saponins have showed anti cancer activities against three human cancer cell lines, namely, HL-60 myeloid leukemia, KATO-III stomach adenocarcinoma, and A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells, according to the study of “Biologically active triterpenoid saponins from Ardisia japonica.” by Chang X, Li W, Jia Z, Satou T, Fushiya S, Koike K., posted in PubMed(2)
8. Liver hepatocellular carcinoma
Ai Di Cha also showed a property of anti liver cancer in some researches, according to the study of “Comparative in vitro bioactivities of tea extracts from six species of Ardisia and their effect on growth inhibition of HepG2 cells” by Newell AM, Yousef GG, Lila MA, Ramírez-Mares MV, de Mejia EG., posted in PubMed(3), researchers found that although the mechanism is not entirely clear, AC, ACR, and AJ are the Ardisia species with the greatest anticancer potential against liver cancer cells in vitro and deserve further investigation.

Side effects
Large doses of the plant as medicine can be toxic to the kidney.