Thursday 31 October 2013

Chinese Herbs - Xiong Huang (Realgar)

Xiong Huang is also known as Realgar. The acrid, bitter, warm and toxic herb has been used in TCM to treat intestinal parasites (taken orally) and  damp rashes, abscesses, ulcerations, snake bites (topical application), etc. as it expels toxins, eliminates parasites, etc. by enhancing the functions of heart, liver and stomach channels.

Ingredients
1. As2S2
2.  As2S3
3. As4S4
4. As2O3
5. Etc.

Health Benefits
1. Respiratory syncytial virus type A
in the study to establish a model to explore anti- RSV effect of different administration method of Chinese medicine realgar on respiratory syncytial virus type A (RSV-A) replication in Hep-2 cells, showed that Realgar nano-particles was found to be a potential inhibitor of RSV-A in a concentration-dependent manner with the median toxic concentration(TC50) of 0.649 microg/mL in Hep-2 cell culture. The median inhibition concentration (IC50) was 0.20 microg/mL when drug was added before virus infection(1).
2. Anti-adenovirus
in another study to establish a model that adenovirus type 3 (HAdV-3) infected on Hep-2 cell in order to explore anti-adenovirus3 (HAdV-3) effect of Chinese medicine realgar, using high-energy ball milling with distilled water to prepare realgar nanoparticles. indicated that the drug was found to be a potential inhibitor of HAdV-3 in a concentration-dependent manner with the median toxic concentration (TC50) of 0.649 microg/ml in Hep-2 Cell culture(2).
3. Anti tumors
In the investigation to prepare a new nano-sized realgar particle and characterize its anti-tumor effect on tumor cells, researchers at the Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, found that ealgar nanoparticles significantly inhibited C6 glioma cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis by inducing the upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2 expression. Realgar nanoparticles are a promising in vitro anti-cancer strategy and may be applicable for human cancer therapy studies(3).
4. Anti cancers
Researchers at the East China University of Science and Technology showed that realgar nanoparticles (RN) may provide a strong antiproliferation effect in the MG-63 and HepG-2 cells. Elutriation processing is a suitable approach to limit the dangerous side-effects of As₂O₃, while maintaining the effectiveness of RN(4).
5. Neuro-protective effects
In the study to investigate Wan-Sheng-Hua-Feng-Dan (WSHFD), a traditional Chinese medicine used for the treatment of neurological disorders consistig Cinnabar (HgS) and realgar (As(4)S(4))showed that WSHFD (original) significantly attenuated LPS-induced decrease of DA uptake capacity and TH-positive neuron number, inhibited microglial activation, decreased LPS-induced ROS production, ameliorated LPS-induced elevations of the mRNA expressions of TNFα, iNOS, IL-1β and COX-2 and the subsequent production of TNFα, NO, IL-1β and PGE(2) in neuron-glia cultures. However, WSHFD (removed) and (reduced) failed to protect against LPS-induced neurotoxicity(5).
6. Etc.

Side Effects
1. Do not use the herb in case of Yin and blood deficiency and leukemia with low white blood cell count.
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/22416349
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22734223
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22238507
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21845047
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22207210

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