Wednesday 30 October 2013

Chinese Herbs – Yin Chen Hao (Herba Artemisiae Capillaris)

Yin Chen Hao is also known as Capillaris. The acrid, bitter and cool herb has been used in TCM asantipyretic agent and to treat liver infection of liver and gallbladder,  jaundice, difficulty in urination headaches, etc., as it clears Heat and Damp-Heat, drains Heat and damp-Heat, etc., by enhancing the functions of liver, spleen, gallbladder and stomach channels.

Ingredients
1. 6, 7-dimethoxycoumarin
2. scopeletin
3. 4′-methylcapillarisin
4. 6-demethoxycapillarisin
5.  6-demethoxy-4′-methyl-capillarisin
6. Eupatolitin
7. Hyperin
8. Cacticin
9.  Rutin
10. Quercetin-3-glucogalactoside
11. Quercetin-3, 7-rutinosodigalactoside
12. Etc.

Health Benefits
1. Anticomplement activity
Various organic solvent extract from eight Artemisia plants (Artemisia capillaris Thunb., Artemisia fukudo Makino., Artemisia japonica Thunb., Artemisia montana (Nakai) Pamp., Artemisia keiskeana Miq., Artemisia rubripes Nakai., Artemisia stolonifera (Maxim.) Kom., and Artemisia sylvatica Max.) have extered the anticomplement activity on the CP. A. rubripes and A. montana chloroform extracts showed inhibitory activity against complement system with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) values of 54.3 and 64.2 μg/mL(1).
2. Anti-obesity effects
In the study to investigate the inhibitory effect of Ob-X on obesity in genetically obese ob/ob mice, found that Ob-X inhibited angiogenesis in a dose-dependent manner, as evidenced by decreased blood vessel density in a mouse matrigel plug assay. Administration of Ob-X to ob/ob mice for 5 weeks produced a significant reduction in body weight gain by 27% compared with control (12.1 ± 3.01 vs. 16.6 ± 2.24 g, respectively). Ob-X also significantly decreased visceral adipose tissue mass by 15% (0.87 ± 0.12 vs. 1.02 ± 0.15 g, respectively)(2). other suggested thatsuggest that the anti-angiogenic herbal composition Ob-X inhibits differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes. These events may be mediated by changes in the expression of genes involved in lipogenesis, angiogenesis, and the MMP system. Thus, by reducing adipogenesis, anti-angiogenic Ob-X provides a possible therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of human obesity and its related disorders(3).
3. Antioxidant activity
In the study to investigate the antioxidant properties and inhibitory effects on the inflammation-related cytokines of plant extracts fermented with Lactobacillus paracasei LS-2 in comparison with the unfermented aqueous plant extract, showed that the plant extract of Artemisia capillaris Thunb. induced a dramatic increase in the induction of anti-inflammatory mediators with no cytotoxicity through fermentation. Our findings suggest that fermented A. capillaris holds promise for use as a valuable natural non-cytotoxic antioxidant and immuno-modulating agent(4).
4. Obesity and lipid disorders
Investigation of Ob-X, a mixture of three herbs, Morus alba, Melissa officinalis and Artemisia capillaris improves lipid metabolism, body weight gain and adiposity indicated that Ob-X elevated the endogenous expression of a luciferase reporter gene containing three copies of a PPAR response element (PPRE) in NMu2Li liver cells. These data demonstrate that Ob-X regulates body weight gain, adipose tissue mass, and lipid metabolism in part through changes in the expression of hepatic PPARalpha target genes(5).
5. Etc.

Side Effects
1. Do not use in case Qi deficiency with jaundice
2. Do not use the herb in newborn, children or if you are pregnant or breast feeding without first consulting with the related field specialist.
3. Etc.

Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21612564
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21554004
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21449830
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20839635
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18023310

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