Herbal Burdock, the Potent Hepatoprotective Remedy

By Kyle J. Norton

Herbal Burdock may process a liver protective activity against the onset of liver disease, according to the studies.

The liver is a large organ that processes the function in detoxifying various metabolites, synthesizing proteins, and producing bile for digestion.

Liver diseases are medical conditions of liver damage, leading to reduced function of the liver.

There are many risk factors that cause liver diseases, including genetic preposition, viral infections and long-term use of medication and excessive alcohol drinking.

Liver diseases in most case progress slowly. However, over time the damage can lead to cirrhosis, the main cause of liver failure, and a life-threatening condition.

According to the statistic, in the US, cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases are common disease-related causes of death.  Approximately 31,000 people in the U.S. die each year from cirrhosis.

Sadly, approximately, 3.5 to 4.6 million people in the U.S. are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus.

If you are experiencing symptoms of jaundice, persistent abdominal pain, and swelling, dark urine color, pale stool color, or bloody or tar-colored stool, please check with your doctor to rule out the possibility of liver diseases.

A most common cause of liver disease in the third world is hepatitis viral infection, it may be a result of drinking contaminated water and food and lack of clean water.

However, in the Western world, obesity is the major cause of nonalcoholic liver disease. Dr. Sandra Milić, the lead scientist in the concern of the non-alcoholic liver disease in obese wrote,
"Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in the world. Presentation of the disease ranges from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NAFLD is a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome that includes central abdominal obesity along with other components. Up to 80% of patients with NAFLD are obese, defined as a body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/m2."

These result clearly suggested if you are obese you are at 80% most likely to be infected by non- alcoholic liver disease.

Burdock is a plant in the group of biennial thistles, genus Arctium, belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to the Euro. The herbal has been used over thousands of years in China and other traditional herbal medicine as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying agent and to treat wounds and infections stomach ulcers and other digestive problems.


The herbal plant contains carbonated water, sugar,, manloid colorings, phosphoric acid, citric acid and a good amount of dietary fiber, calcium, potassium, and amino acids and chemicals compounds of guaianolide, arctinone, arctinal, methyl arctate，11-tridecadien-3，5，7，9-tetraynde-hydrocostus lactone，dehydrodihydrocostus lactone, 3-octenoic acid, 3-hexenoic acid etc.

On finding a natural remedy for the treatment of liver diseases, researchers at the Taipei Medical University examined the Arctium lappa Linne (burdock)hepatoprotective effects.

The experiment included a group of rats (n = 10) fed a liquid ethanol diet (4 g of absolute ethanol/ 80 ml of liquid basal diet) for 28 days and another group (n = 10) received a single intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 ml/kg carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) in order to potentiate the liver damage on the 21st day (1 day before the beginning of A. lappa treatment).

Control group rats were given a liquid basal diet which did not contain absolute ethanol.

Before administrating of herbal Burdock, ethanol group and the groups receiving ethanol supplemented with CCl(4). showed significant damage to the liver.

However, treated rat groups with a dose of 300 mg/kg A. lappa administered orally 3 times per day in both the 1-day and 7-day displayed significantly improved various pathological and biochemical parameters which were worsened by ethanol plus CCl(4)-induced liver damage, including decreased levels of serum triglyceride and lipid peroxidation and serum transaminase levels.

Where the elevated levels of serum transaminase is an indication of liver damage.

The finding clearly suggested that hepatotoxicity induced by ethanol and potentiated by CCl(4) could be alleviated with 1 and 7 days of A. lappa treatment.

Dr. Lin SC, the lead author wrote in the final report, "The hepatoprotective mechanism of A. lappa could be attributed, at least in part, to its antioxidative activity, which decreases the oxidative stress of hepatocytes, or to another unknown protective mechanism(s)".

Moreover, in male ICR mice injected with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4, 32 microl/kg, i.p.) or acetaminophen (600 mg/kg, i.p.) to induce liver damage, researchers found that injection of A. lappa significantly suppresses the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) elevations induced by CCl4 or acetaminophen in a dose-dependent manner.

Furthermore, A. lappa also alleviated the severity of liver damage based on histopathological observations.

Where the elevation of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) is the indication of liver damage.

The efficacy of A. lappa in the in-depth analysis assays was found to attribute to the antioxidant activity in inhibiting the expression of free radicals induced by CCl4 or acetaminophen 

A. lappa also was found to decrease the oxidative stress marker, malondialdehyde (MDA) content in CCl4 or acetaminophen-intoxicated mice.

Dr. Lin SC the lead scientist after taking into account co and confounders said, "A. lappa could protect the liver cells from CCl4 or acetaminophen-induced liver damages, perhaps by its antioxidative effect on hepatocytes, hence eliminating the deleterious effects of toxic metabolites from CCl4 or acetaminophen".

Taken altogether, herbal Burdock may be considered a natural remedy for the prevention and treatment of liver disease without inducing any side effects, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
References
(1) Hepatoprotective effects of Arctium lappa Linne on liver injuries induced by chronic ethanol consumption and potentiated by carbon tetrachloride by Lin SC, Lin CH, Lin CC, Lin YH, Chen CF, Chen IC, Wang LY.(PubMed)
(2) Hepatoprotective effects of Arctium lappa on carbon tetrachloride- and acetaminophen-induced liver damage by Lin SC, Chung TC, Lin CC, Ueng TH, Lin YH, Lin SY, Wang LY.(PubMed)
(3) Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obesity: Biochemical, metabolic and clinical presentations by Sandra Milić, Davorka Lulić, and Davor Štimac. (PubMed)