Ephedra herb is a traditional Chinese medicine with a long history. Conventionally, it was used as a folk phytomedicine in many ancient medical books and traditional prescriptions. Up to date, a variety of specific ingredients have been found in Ephedra herb, mainly including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, polysaccharides, organic acids, volatile oils, and many other active compounds. These components from Ephedra herb account for its use as the accurate treatment of cold, cough, cardiovascular and immune system disease, cancer, microbial infection, and other diseases. Moreover, with the fast development of novel chemistry and medicine technology, new chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of Ephedra herb are increasingly identified, demonstrating their great potential for various diseases treatment. Therefore, further detailed understanding and investigation of this ancient herb will offer new opportunities to develop novel therapeutics. This study systematically reviews its progress of phytochemistry, traditional and modern pharmacology based on research data that have been reported, aiming at providing useful insight for commercial exploitation, further study and precision medication of Ephedra herb in future.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1875-5364(20)30040-6 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Preventive and therapeutic effects of ephedrine alkaloids-free Ephedra Herb extract on paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain.
J Nat Med
January 2025
Oriental Medicine Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Kitasato University, Tokyo, Japan.
Currently, there are no effective prophylactic or therapeutic drugs for the treatment of paclitaxel (PTX)-induced peripheral neuropathic pain (PTX-PNP), highlighting the urgent need for the development of effective prophylactic and therapeutic drugs. In this study, we initially compared the efficacy of Ephedra Herb extract (EHE) with that of ephedrine alkaloids-free Ephedra Herb extract (EFE), which lacked ephedrine alkaloids (EAs)-associated side effects, against the onset of PTX-induced mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, and cold allodynia in mice. EHE and EFE demonstrated comparable preventive effects on the PTX-PNP in a dose-dependent manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExploring medication rules and mechanism of Chinese medicine for children with cough variant asthma based on data mining, network pharmacology, and molecular docking.
Medicine (Baltimore)
October 2024
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Henan Children's Hospital Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Cough variant asthma (CVA) is a common disease with high incidence among children. Cough is the main clinical symptom and Chinese medicine (CM) has an exact effect on CVA. However, the rules of herb formulation, the pharmacodynamic substances, and the mechanism remained unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch on the quality evaluation of crude drugs.
J Nat Med
January 2025
Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, Tsukuba Division, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 1-2 Hachimandai, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, 305-0843, Japan.
As crude drugs are natural products, their quality may vary. However, the degradation of the active ingredients in the compositional changes that occur during processing and preparation also affects the medicinal properties of the Kampo formula, which uses herbal medicines; therefore, a detailed investigation of the effects of compositional changes during preparation is required. Plant constituents vary in content depending on the year of cultivation and the plant part; however, detailed studies have rarely been reported for some crude drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh-resolution X-ray computed tomography for identifying herbal medicines was as effective as microscopic examination.
J Nat Med
January 2025
Division of Drugs, National Institute of Health Sciences, 25-26 Tonomachi 3-Chome, Kawasaki-Ku, Kawasaki, 210-9501, Japan.
Article Synopsis
- Microscopic examination is a key method for identifying crude drugs but is time-intensive and requires skilled techniques.
- High-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) is a new method that shows promise for visualizing the internal structure of small herbal products with less technical skill required.
- In this study, HRXCT effectively illustrated the internal structures of Artemisia Capillaris Flower and Plantago Seed, proving to be a simpler and more efficient alternative to traditional microscopic examination.
Antiviral effect of alkaloids-free Ephedra Herb extract on respiratory syncytial virus infection.
Front Pharmacol
July 2024
Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory tract infection in children. Despite decades of efforts, no effective therapies are available. We recently reported that extracts of Ephedra Herb and Cinnamon Bark interacted with the G attachment protein of RSV to inhibit infectivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!