Pharmacological Action And Clinical Application Of Cistanche

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Cistanche Hoffman. Et Link is a perennial herbaceous parasitic plant of the family Orobanchaceae. There are more than 22 species of Cistanche in the world. They are distributed in the warm and dry regions of Europe and Asia, from the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, through northern Africa, Asia's Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, to the northwest of my country, the former Soviet Union, Central Asia, and Mongolia. It is now generally believed that there are 4 species and 1 variant of Cistanche in my country, which are Cistanche deserticola (Cistancheserticola Y.C.Ma), and C.salsa (C.A.Mey.) G.Beck, and C.tubulosa (Schenk) R .Wight, C. sinensis G.Beck and C. salsa (C.A. Mey.) G.BeckVar.albioforaP.F.Tuet Z..C.Lou. At present, Cistanche is the main source plant of Cistanche , followed by Cistanche deserticola and Cistanche salina. Cistanche salina is rarely seen due to its small distribution and low yield. The 2005 edition of "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" included Cistanche and Cistanche as authentic medicinal materials. Mainly produced in my country's Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia, and other provinces, it is known as "desert ginseng" and has high medicinal value. The function of nourishing top grade.

What is cistanche and cistanche extract

1 The main chemical constituents of Cistanche

1.1 Phenylethanol glycosides: Phenylethanol glycosides are the main active ingredients in Cistanche, which have various functions such as anti-adverse stimulation, enhancement of learning and memory, anti-oxidation, and yang support. C, echinacea, and other phenylethanol glycosides, the research on this component are also more in-depth. A total of 22 phenethyl glycosides have been isolated, including 4 monoglycosides, 14 disglycosides, and seven triglycerides.

1.2 Iridoids and their glycosides: Japan Kobayashi Hiromi and others conducted a systematic study on C. salsa from Inner Mongolia, and obtained 8-epistrychnic acid, genipinic acid, and 8-epistrychnine 10 compounds such as zirconic acid and cistanin. In addition, there are 8-hydroxyyakol-β-D glucopyranoside, D-mannitol, β-sitosterol, succinic acid, β-sitosterol-β-D glucosyringin, pinoresinol, and other 9 compounds.

1.3 Lignans and their glycosides: When separating and extracting phenylethanol glycosides in Cistanche, a small number of lignans can often be separated by macroporous resin chromatography, silica gel chromatography, Sephadex chromatography, or preparative HPLC. Syringaresinoloβ-Dglucopyranoside has been isolated from C.sals (+) Syringaresinoloβ-Dglucopyranoside; Liriodendrin; Pinoresinol; (+) Pinoresinol O-β-Dglucopyranoside and Pinoresinic Acid. Isolation of neolignin from C. tubulosa: Dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol hγ’-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and Dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol 4’-O-β-D glucopyranoside.

1.4 Other compounds: Mainly include phenolic glycosides, monoterpene glycosides, alkaloids, sugars, sugar alcohols, sterols, and other components, as well as some reports on the volatile components, amino acids, and inorganic trace elements of Cistanche. Lei et al. isolated 7 compounds from Cistanche salinae: β-sitosterol, vanillic acid, succinimide, succinic acid (succinic acid), carotene, 2,5-dioxo-4-imidazole Alkyl-carbamic acid, and galactitol, of which vanillic acid and succinimide were isolated for the first time in Cistanche.

2 Pharmacological effects of Cistanche

2.1 Diuretic and laxative effect: Shen Lianzhong and others investigated the effect of Cistanche on the process of urination in rats, and found that it can significantly increase the excretion of urine in rats and reduce the residual urine volume, but has no significant effect on the total urine volume and the threshold of bladder pressure during urination. The effect of Cistanche is beneficial to the emptying of bladder urine and improves the function of urination. In addition, studies by Tu Pengfei et al. found that Cistanche, Cistanche salina, and Cistanche can significantly promote large intestinal peristalsis, inhibit large intestinal water absorption, and shorten defecation time in mice. The three have similar effects. In order to find the effective laxative components of Cistanche, Zhang Baishun et al. used different solvent extraction, separation, and recrystallization methods to divide Cistanche into galactitol groups, ethyl acetate extract group, n-butanol extract group, and residual water-soluble group4. The effect of galactitol on the defecation time of mice was carried out. The results showed that galactitol had a significant effect on shortening the defecation time, while the other three components had no significant effect. The main laxative active ingredient.

2.2 Anti-fatigue effect: Cistanche can reduce the activity of LDH5, up-regulate the expression of NOS3, and promote the synthesis of liver glycogen, which can protect the liver and promote physical recovery. Gong Mengjuan and others observed the effects of Cistanche on body weight, voluntary activity, swimming time, post-exercise blood lactic acid (LAC), and urea nitrogen (BUN) of Yang-deficiency mice, and found that Cistanche decoction could significantly increase the body weight and the number of autonomous activities in Yang-deficiency mice. , It can also significantly prolong swimming time, reduce LAC and BUN after exercise, and has an anti-fatigue effect.

2.3 Antioxidative and anti-aging effects: Cistanche can effectively scavenge various active oxygen free radicals and protect DNA from oxidative damage caused by OH·, so it has the effect of delaying aging. It can also delay aging by regulating the balance of oxidative/antioxidant function in aging mice. Zhang Tao et al. found that GCs can significantly enhance the immune function of D-galactose-induced aging mice, making them recover or approach the state of young mice. Zhang Hongquan et al. observed the effect of Cistanche ergosteroside (CTWA) on malondialdehyde (MDA) content, telomerase activity, and immune function in the heart, liver, and brain tissues of experimentally aged mice, and found that CTWA could significantly reduce cardiac, The content of MDA in brain and liver tissue shows that it has a good effect in antagonizing free radical damage.

Cistanche polysaccharide (CDP) can significantly increase the SOD activity in the body's serum and lung, reduce the NO concentration, significantly inhibit the apoptosis of lung tissue cells, reduce the number of cells, and reduce the percentage of apoptosis (AP (%)), which has a significant effect on the lung of aging mice. Degenerative changes in tissue cells have to ameliorate or delay effects. The results of Xu Hui et al. showed that the alcohol-soluble components of Cistanche could significantly increase the activity of Ca2+-ATPase and the fluidity of liver mitochondrial membrane in the liver of aging model rats, and significantly reduce the content of MDA and PLA2 in liver mitochondria. Afterward, it was found that Cistanche polysaccharide also had a protective effect on the oxidative damage of liver mitochondria in D-galactose rats.

2.4 Androgen-like effects: Cistanche has a regulating effect on the aging of the hypothalamus, the regulation, and control center of the human neuroendocrine system, and improves the nutrition, body weight, endurance, and cold resistance of yang-deficiency animals. It has obvious strengthening and therapeutic effects on patients with yang deficiency. Wang Dejun and others used Cistanche decoction to gavage male mice for 2 to 3 weeks and found that it can indeed promote the spermatogenic function of the testis and improve the microenvironment of the epididymis. In addition, the ergosteroside and betaine in Cistanche were determined, and it was found that they also have androgen effects. Using hydrocortisone acetate as an animal model of "Yang deficiency" in mice, the morphological and structural changes of the kidneys and adrenal glands of mice were used as indicators to observe the protective effect of the alcohol extract of Cistanche on kidney and adrenal function. Atrophy, the thickness of zona fascicular cells is close to normal, and there is no abnormality in the kidneys. It can be seen that when animals use corticosteroids for a long time, the addition of alcohol extract of Cistanche, traditional Chinese medicine for tonifying kidneys and strengthening yang, can prevent the damage caused by single-use of hormones. Adrenal cortical atrophy.

2.5 The memory-enhancing effect of the defense department: Guo Luolan et al. explored the subcutaneous injection (sc) of total glucosides (GCs) of Cistanche to aluminum trichloride (A1C13) in model mice learning and remembering mice to simulate Alzheimer's disease (AD) model mice The protective effect of learning and memory impairment and its mechanism. The results showed that GCs could improve learning and memory impairment caused by A1C13, increase SOD activity in brain tissue, reduce MDA content, and increase brain weight coefficient. The total glucosides of Cistanche have a protective effect on learning and memory impairment induced by A1C13 in mice, and its mechanism of action may be related to its antioxidant effect. Wang Hu et al. observed the neuroprotective effect of Cistanche extract on Parkinson's disease and its mechanism and found that Cistanche deserticola extract significantly improved the survival rate of SH-SY5Y cells after MPP+ treatment for 48h, decreased the mRNA and protein expression of GADD153, and had a significant effect on MPP+ mediation. GADD153 has a protective effect on induced cell damage, and its mechanism may be related to the expression of GADD153 at the mRNA and protein levels.

3 Medicinal efficacy and clinical application of Cistanche

3.1 The properties, taste, and efficacy of single herbs: Cistanche was first published in "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", "Ben Cao Jing Shu": Cistanche, the essential medicine for nourishing the kidney and nourishing the essence and blood, has a slightly warm qi, and it is said that people who think it is hot are wrong. Sweet can remove heat and invigorate the middle, acid can enter the liver, salt can nourish the kidney, the kidney and liver are yin, and yin qi grows, then the five Zang organs are overworked, and heat spontaneously subsides... If the kidney and liver are insufficient, the essence and blood will be prosperous. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Cistanche, nourishing life, nourishing kidney qi, nourishing essence, and blood is also a medicine. "Medicinal Solution of Jade Cinnamon" "Cistanche nourishes the mind, nourishes the blood and moistens the intestines, and is good for smoothing the large intestine". "Materia Medica Justice" "can improve blood and yang qi, so it is becoming more and more essential." It can be seen that Cistanche is a Chinese medicine storehouse. It is recorded in the Mongolian medicine "Inner Mongolian Chinese Herbal Medicine": "Sweet, salty, warm in nature. "Efficacy has the effect of suppressing the sun, digestion, nourishing, and strengthening the body. Indications are headache, pantothenic acid, stomach pain, impotence, nocturnal emission, excessive leucorrhea, and waist and leg pain. "Inner Mongolia Chinese Herbal Medicine" "invigorating the kidney, nourishing essence, and nourishing blood, moisturizing and smoothing stool. "

3.2 Cistanche Yishen Granules: produced by Inner Mongolia Lantai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Ingredients: Schisandra (wine), Cistanche (wine), Dodder (wine fried), Poria, Psyllium (salt), Morinda Officinalis (salt). Function: Invigorating the kidney and filling the essence. For deficiency of kidney qi, weak waist, and knees, memory loss, dizziness, tinnitus, weakness of limbs.

3.3 Clinical application research of Cistanche: Cong rongCistanche is a tonic with high medicinal value. It can be used as a single drug or as a compound for the treatment of male yang deficiency, impotence, female infertility, weak waist and knees, senile dementia, Parkinson's disease, intestinal dryness, and constipation can also be used as functional foods to improve immune function, anti-fatigue, anti-oxidation, improve memory, prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease, anti-aging, etc. Professor Tu Pengfei's research group has long been committed to the development of Cistanche. On the basis of finding that phenethyl alcohol glycosides of Cistanche have anti-senile dementia effects, the total phenylethyl alcohol glycosides of Cistanche as raw material were extracted, and it was successfully developed into a second-class new drug for the treatment of vascular dementia; after further in-depth research, the invention developed a high-content (more than 20%) echinacoside processing technology of Cistanche decoction pieces, established an industrialized production process of echinacoside, and developed it into a new active ingredient drug (class 1) for the treatment of vascular dementia. In 2006, it applied for clinical application; at the same time, it conducted research on the production process and quality standards of high-quality decoction pieces, extracts, and formula granules, providing technical support for the extension of the Cistanche industry chain. cistanche suppliers such as Hetian Tianli Shasheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Hetian Dichen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Co., Ltd. have also developed health care products including Cistanche capsules, tea bags, instant tea, and Cistanche wine.