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

Thursday, 14 November 2013

Chinese Herbs – Che Qian Cao (Herba Plantaginis)

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Che Qian Cao is also known as Asiatic plantain. The sweet and cold herb has been used in TCM as antibiotic and diuretic agent and to lower blood pressure and to treat painful urinary, diarrhea , red eyes and sexual dysfunction, etc., as it clears Heat, expels toxins, etc. by enhancing the functions of bladder, kidney, liver and lung channels.
Ingredients
1. Plantainoside A, B, C, D, E, F
2. Acteoside
3. Acteosideisomer
4. Esrhamnosyl acteoside
5. Leucosceptoside
6. Isomartynoside
7. Plantamajoside
8. alceoriosideB
9. Aucubin
10. Carvacrol
11. 1-oeten-3-ol
12. Linalool
13. Geranyl acetate
14. Apigenin
15. Plantaginin
16. Homoplantaginin
17. Etc.
Health Benefits
1. Antioxidant activities
In the investigation of the antioxidant activities of a water-soluble polysaccharide from the seeds of Plantago asiatica L. (P. asiatica L. polysaccharide, PLP) extracted with hot water and purified by gel filtration chromatography, found that the molecular weight of PLP was determined by HPGPC to be about 1894 kDa. PLP contained 29.2 g kg(-1) protein and 145.8 g kg(-1) uronic acid. The FTIR spectrum of PLP also revealed typical characteristics of a polysaccharide containing protein and uronic acid. Moreover, the results showed that PLP possessed antioxidant activities, but lower than those of ascorbic acid, according to “Chemical characteristics and antioxidant activities of polysaccharide purified from the seeds of Plantago asiatica L” by Yin JY, Nie SP, Zhou C, Wan Y, Xie MY.(1)
2. Immunomodulatory effects
In the examination of the immunomodulatory mechanism of phenylethanoid glycosides from the seeds of Plantago asiatica by testing its effects on the maturing of murine bone marrow derived dendritic cells (DCs), found that both acteoside and isoacteoside could increase the expression of CD11c, CD86, MHC II and CD80 on DCs surface. The ability of unstimulated DCs to uptake FITC-dextran was higher than that of phenylethanoid glycosides or LPS treated DCs, according to “[Effects of phenylethanoid glycosides from seeds of Plantago asiatica on maturation of dendritic cells]. [rticle in Chinese]” Huang D, Nie S, Tang Y, Wan Y, Chen Y, Xie M.(2)
3. Anti-hepatoma activity
In the examination of the anti-hepatoma activity on five human liver-cancer cell lines from Fifteen crude drugs, Stellaria media Cyrill. (Caryophyllaceae), Calendula officinalis L. (Compositae), Achillea millefolium L. (Compositae), Verbascum thapsus L. (Scrophulariaceae), Plantago major L. (Plantaginaceae), Borago officinalis L. (Boraginaceae), Satureja hortensis L. (Labiatae), Coptis groenlandica Salisb. (Ranunculaceae), Cassia angustifolia Vahl. (Leguminosae), Origanum majorana L. (Labiatae), Centella asiatica L. (Umbelliferae), Caulophyllum thalictroides Mich. (Berberidaceae), Picea rubens Sargent. (Pinaceae), Rhamnus purshiana D.C. (Rhamnaceae) and Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Malvaceae), found that the effects of crude drugs on hepatitis B virus genome-containing cell lines were different from those against non hepatitis B virus genome-containing cell lines. C. groenlandica was observed to be the most effective against the growth of all five cell lines and its chemotherapeutic values will be of interest for further studies, according to “In vitro anti-hepatoma activity of fifteen natural medicines from Canada” by Lin LT, Liu LT, Chiang LC, Lin CC.(3)
4. Diuretic effects
In the determination of several kinds of crude drugs are used as diuretics, in the folk-medicine,
found that Among these drugs, Atractylodis Lanceae Rhizoma (I50 = 12.8) Atractylodis Rhizoma (I50 = 15.2), Plantaginis Semen (I50 = 16.0), Plantaginis Herba (I50 = 16.0) and Alismatis Rhizoma (I50 = 22.0), have strong inhibitory effects on the kidney (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity, according to “[The effects of crude drugs using diuretic on horse kidney (Na+ + K+)-adenosine triphosphatase].[Article in Japanese]“ by Satoh K, Yasuda I, Nagai F, Ushiyama K, Akiyama K, Kano I.(4)
5. Etc.
Side effects
1. Do not use the herb if you are pregant or breast feeding
2. The herb may cause allergic effect including itching, sneezing, and watering eyes
3. Overdoses may cause gastroinstetinal discomfort
4. Che qian cao may interact with other medicine, it is adviced to take the herb 4 hours before or after taking other medicine.
5. Etc.