Herbal Research

Qiang Huo

RHIZOMA SEU RADIX NOTOPTERYGIT (NOTOPTERYGIUM ROOT)

Qiang Huo consists of the dried rhizome and root of Notopterygium incisum Ting ex H.T. Chang or Notopterygium forbesii Boiss. (Umbelliferac). N. incisum may be found in Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces among scrub and grass in the high mountains. N. forbesii grows on alpine sunny slopes and among scrub in the provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Henan. The herb is collected in the spring and autumn, and is dried in the sun. It is mainly produced in Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai.

CHEMISTRY

The rhizome and root of N. incisum contains 1-6.8 % of essential oil. The main components of the oil are limonene, terpineol-4, bomylacetate, a-terpinolene, a-copaene and cterpinene. The main components of the essential oil of the rhizome of N. forbesii are a- and b-pinene, limonene and sabinene1.
Recently, three new coumarins named ethylnotopterol, notoptolide and anhydronotoptoloxide were isolated from N. incisum together with 12 known coumarins, i.e., bergapten, isoimperatorin, demethylfuropinnaein, bergaptol, notopterol, notoptol, anhydronotoptol, xanthotoxol, bergamottin, 7-isopentenyloxy-6-methoxy coumarin, 7-(3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienyloxy)-6-methoxy coumarin and nodakenin2. Two other coumarins, columbiananin and columbianetin, together with daucosterol, c-aminobutyric acid, aspartic acid and leucine were also isolated from the root3. Furthermore, phenethyl ferulate, q-hydroxy-m -methoxy benzoic acid, trans-ferulic acid and pregnenolone have also been found in the root and rhizome of N. incisum4.
From the underground part of N. forbesii, two new coumarin glycosides, bergaptol-O-b-D-glucopyranoside and 6'-O-trans-feruloylnodakenin, were isolated along with twelve known compounds, bergamottin, isoimperatonin, cnidilin, q-hydroxyphenethyl anisate, notopterol, bergapten, trans-ferulic acid, demethylfuropinnarin, bergaptol, nodakenetin, b-sitosterol glucoside and nodakenin5.
N. forbesii contained large amounts of p-hydroxyphenethyl anisate, bergaptol glucoside, nodakenin and 6'-O-trans-feruloylnodakenin and a less amount of notopterol, while N. incisum contained a large amount of notopterol and less amounts of the others5.

PHARMACOLOGY

Oral administration of 1 ml/kg of the essential oil antagonized the acute myocardial ischemia in rats caused by pituitrin. It also increased blood flow of myocardium. The essential oil showed inhibition on Brucella ssp1.
Notopterol was identified as the analgesic component of the herb by using the acetic acid-induced writhing method. Notopterol also indicated an antiinflammatory activity by its inhibitory effect in the vascular permeability test6.
Intraperitoneal administration of carbon tetrachioride (Cd4) to mice led to significant increase of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBA-RS), free malondialdehyde (MDA), lipid conjugated dienes and fluorescent lipid peroxidation products in the liver. Subchronic pretreatment with oral doses of the methanolic extract of the underground part of N. incisum or that of N. forbesii appreciably suppressed the formation of CCl4-induced lipid peroxidation. The suppressing potency was more remarkable in the former7.

FUNCTIONS AND APPLICATIONS

Qiang Huo has pungent and bitter tastes and a warm property, acting on the urinary bladder and kidney channels. It has the functions of:

(i) inducing diaphoresis and dispelling cold, used for the headache of corrunon cold; and
(ii) relieving pain and rheumatic conditions, used in the treatment of rheumatic arthralgia and aching of the back and shoulders.

DOSAGE

3-9g.

SIDE EFFECTS AND TOXICITY

In the acute toxicity test, oral administration of 7.5 g/kg of the essential oil produced no toxic reaction in rats

REFERENCES

1. Hu, S.L., Chi, Q., Zhang, Z.-Z. (1989) The indigenous and Superior Chinese Herbal Drugs, pp. 465-467. Harbin: Heilongjiang Science & Technology Press.
2. Xiao, X.Q., Baba, K., Taniguchi, M., Liu, X.H., Sun, Y.F., Kozawa, W. (1995) Coumarins from Notopterygium incisum Ting. Acta Pharmaceutica Sin ica, 30, 274-279.
3. Xiao, Y., Sun, Y., liu, X. (1994) Studies on the chemical constituents of Notopterygium incisu,n Ting. China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica, 19. 421-422, 447.
4. Sun, Y., Xiao, Y., Lin, X. (1994) Studies on the chemical constituents of Notoptecvgium incisum Ting. China Journal of Chinese Materia Medico, 19, 357-358, 383-384.
5. Gu, Z.M., Zhang, DX., Yang, X.W., Hattori, M., Namba, T. (1990) Isolation of two new coumarin glycosides from Notopterygium forhesii and evaluation of a Chinese crude drug, Qiang-Huo, the underground parts of N. incisum and N. forbesli, by high-performance liquid chromatography. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 38, 2498-2502.
6. Okuyama, E., Nishimura, S., Obmori, S., Ozaki, Y., Satake, M., Yamazuki, M. (1993) Analgesic component of Notopterygium incisum Ting. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 41, 926-929.
7. Yang, X.W., Gu, Z.M.. Wang, EX., Hattori, M., Namba, T. (1991) Comparison of anti-lipid peroxidative effects of the underground parts of Notoptervgium incisum and Notopterygium forbesii in mice. Planta Medico, 57, 399-402.