Wednesday 30 October 2013

Chinese Herbs – Yuan Hua (Flos Daphnes Genkwa)

Yuan Hua is also known as Lilac Daphne Flower. The acrid, warm and toxic herb has been used in TCM to treat edema, ascites and  to treat head fungus or ringworms used externally, etc., as it eliminates Water and Phlegm, transforms Phleg, calms coug, expels worms and other parasites, etc., by enhancing the functions of spleen, lung and kidney channels.

Ingredients
1, Genkwanin
2. Apigenin
3. Hydroxygenkwanin
4. Genkwabaphnin
5. Sitosterol
6. Etc.

Health Benefits
1. Anti viral effects
in the investigate the water-extract of dried buds of D. genkwa Sieb. et Zucc. (DGFW) against various strains of enterovirus 71 (EV71) by neutralization assay, researchers found that DGFW inhibits EV71 by targeting the virus. GFW exerts its anti-EV71 effects by inhibiting viral entry without producing cytotoxic side effects and thus provides a potential agent for antiviral chemotherapeutics(1).
2. Lung cancer
Yuanhuadine (1), a daphnane diterpenoid from the flowers of Daphne genkwa of traditional Chinese medicine Yuan Hua exhibited a relatively selective growth inhibition against human lung cancer cells compared to other solid human cancer cell lines. The potent antiproliferative activity by 1 was associated with cell-cycle arrest and modulation of cell-signaling pathways. Cell-cycle arrest in the G0/G1 and G2/M phase was induced by 1 in A549 human non-small-cell lung cancer cells, and these events were correlated with the expression of checkpoint proteins including the up-regulation of p21 and down-regulation of cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases 2 (CDK2) and 4 (CDK4), and c-Myc(2).
3. Anti-inflammatory activity
In the study to investigate (-)-aptosimon, isolated from flower buds of Daphne genkwa, inhibited cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, found that (-)-aptosimon inhibited LPS-induced nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation, by preventing degradation of the inhibitor kappa B-alpha (IkappaB-alpha). (-)-Aptosimon also inhibited interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) production in ConA-induced splenocytes. In conclusion, the anti-inflammatory effects of (-)-aptosimon are attributed to the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators by blocking NF-kappaB activation(3).
4. Anti-complement activity
In thge study to identify the anti-complement active compound from the flower buds of Daphne genkwa, ten flavonoids, one biscoumarin and one amide(genkwanin 5-O-beta-d-primveroside (1), apigenin 7-O-beta-d-glucuronide (2), genkwanin 5-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (3), apigenin 5-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (4), genkwanin (5), apigenin (6), luteolin 7-methyl ether (7), luteolin (8), daphnoretin (9), velutin (10), 7-methoxyacacetin (11) and aurantiamide acetate (12).) showed that daphnoretin (9) exhibited significant anti-complement activity with an IC(50) value of 11.4 microm, whereas the other compounds were not active in the assay(4).
5. Etc.

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




Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22590685
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21916433
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19328870
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16685682

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