Herba Epimedii

Introduction:

Herba Epimedii is a group of related plant species that can be seen in Asia and Europe. Some of these species are used for medicinal purposes. The Chinese call the herb "Yin Yang Huo", or it was translated into "horny goat weed". Originally it was referring to the species of Epimedium brevicornuum Maxim. The other species of the same genus that are included in the same medicinal list by the Chinese are Epimedium sagittatum (Sieb. et Zucc.), Epimedium koreanum Nakai, Epimedium pubescens Maxim., and Epimedium wushanense T.S. Ying. The species of Epimedium acuminatum Maxim was not included in the list although there were suggestions that the species have the same medicinal actions.

The earliest written record of Herba Epimedii as a medicinal herb is a Chinese Materia Medica called "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing", which was compiled about 2000 years ago. The herb was classified as medium grade by this early medical work, which means it is either non-toxic or low-toxic herbal medicine that should be applied with care. The herb is harvested in the seasons of summer and autumn; it is interesting to note that in China it is the leaves of the herb are most commonly used and referred to as "Yin Yang Huo", and the roots of the herb are used for slightly different medicinal purposes under different name. The majority of scientific researches on this herb regarding it's safety and medicinal actions are performed in China, Korea and Japan. The results indicate that Epimedium is a rather safe herb with great medical potential.

Medical Use:

Traditionally Chinese uses this herb either alone or in most cases in combination with other different herbs to treat impotence, spermatorrhea, frequent urination, fatigue, forgetfulness, neurasthenia, asthma, osteoporosis, and disorder of heart, Liver, and joints. It is also considered to have anti-aging effect.

Today, the popular Western dietary use of this herb is primarily a single herbal preparation for sex drive boosting and anti-fatigue.

Chemical components:

The main ingredients of the herb are flavone type of compounds, fat, saponins and essential oil.

List:

• Ceryl alcohol, hentriacontane, phytosterol, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, bilobanol, magnoflorin, glucose, fructose, icariin, icariside I), Icariside II (epimedoside A).
• Epimedin A, Epimedin B, Epimedin C, Epimedokoreanoside I, Epimedokoreanoside II, Epimedoside A, I-karisoside A, (quercetin), 4'-methoxy-5-hydroxy-8-3, 3-dimethylallylflavone-3-glucosyl (1--2) rhamnoside-7-glucoside), 4'-methoxy-5-hydroxy-8-3, 3-dimethylallylflavone-3-xylosyl (1--2) rhamnoside-7-glucoside), 4'-methoxy-5-hydroxy-8-3, 3-dimethylallylflavone-3-rham-nosyl (1--2) rhamnoside-7-glucoside.
• Isoquercetin, icaritin-3-O-α-rhamnoside, hyperin, sagittatoside A, sagittatoside B, sagittatoside C, sagittatin A, sagittatin B, Anhydroicaritin-3-O-α-rhamnoside, Icariside E6, Icariside E7, Icaride A1, Icaride A2, Icariside D3, Icariside H1, Icariside B9.
• Epimedoside C, baohuoside VI, baohuoside I, rouhuoside.
• Wushanicariin.

Scientific Researches:

Research has indicated that Herba Epimedii can inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE). This shows the herb supports higher levels of the key cholinergic neurotransmitters associated with sexual arousal. The herb also contains some flavonoids, which have estrogen-inhibiting actions, and it's water-extracts has androgen like action. It explains why epimedium has been applied to treat sexual disorder and it was able to boost sex drive for patients with kidney failure in clinical tests.

Icariin, an extract of epimedium shows the effects of osteoblasts stimulation, liver cells protection, and causing cancer cells to act more normal.

Epimedium also shows the potential of anti-cancer through the inhibition of new blood vessel growths. The water extract of the herb also appear to decrease blood pressure and cholesterol level in animal test.

Suggested Dosage:

The most common preparation form of the herb is water decoction, and the other forms of preparation including powder pills, extracts pills, alcohol extracts, and electuary extract. The herb is usually used in combination with other herbs for best medicinal performance; according to TCM the herb has to be combined with herbs that are "Yi" in nature if used long term: If not it can cause problems such as aggressiveness, irritability, fever, and racing heart beat. When used alone, it is suggested to use in the form of water extracts or alcohol extracts. The suggested dosage is 3-9 gram in water extracting form according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 2005 edition. The suggested dosage for other forms of preparation are not available, but high dosage of up to 30 gram a day (80% concentrate water extracts and 20% powder form) was seen in a clinical study of 1000 cases of Chronic bronchitis treatment, the study shows a 74.6% effective rate without report of adverse effects. However, it is strongly suggested that when use alone, any dosage that is over 9 gram in water extract form or over 3 gram in powder pill form should be applied in a closely administered environment.

Safety:

Various animal and clinical tests of Herba Epimedii herb were conducted and so far there was no major side effects discovered.

In one animal toxicity test, the alcohol extract of Epimedium (450 g/Kg) was given orally to mice, and the result indicates there was no toxic reaction. Another toxicity test conducted using acute toxicity, cellular toxicity and genotoxicity experiments including mice bone marrow micro-nuclear test, Ames test and TK gene mutation experiment, shows that all toxicity tests were negative, and the researchers concluded that the herb did not have mutagenic effects. However, it did show some toxic effects on the CHO and CHL cells at high doses. In other animal studies, prolonged use of excessive amounts of Herba epimedii was associated with decreased thyroid activity.

The results of all the studies and tests suggest that Herba Epimedii is a rather safe herb if administered with normal dosage.

References:

1. Yap SP, Shen P, Butler MS, et al. New estrogenic prenylflavone from Epimedium brevicornum inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. Planta Med 2005;71:114–9.
2. Liao HJ, Chen XM, Li WG. Effect of Epimedium sagittatum on quality of life and cellular immunity in patients of hemodialysis maintenance. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi 1995;15:202–4.
3. Meng FH, Li YB, Xiong ZL, et al. Osteoblastic proliferative activity of Epimedium brevicornum Maxim. Phytomedicine 2005;12:189–93.
4. Lee MK, Choi YJ, Sung SH, et al. Antihepatotoxic activity of icariin, a major constituent of Epimedium koreanum. Planta Med 1995;61:523–6.
5. Zhao Y, Cui Z, Zhang L. Effects of icariin on the differentiation of HL-60 cells. Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi 1997;19:53–5.
6. Wang S, Zheng Z, Weng Y, et al. Angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis activity of Chinese medicinal herbal extracts. Life Sci 2004;74:2467–78.
7. Chen JK, Chen TT. Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. City of Industry, CA: Art of Medicine Press, Inc., 2003.
8. Chinese Pharmacology, Beijing, People’s Hygiene Press, 2nd Edition, January, 2006
9. SUI Hai-xia,GAO Peng,XU Hai-bin. The Safety Evaluation of Herba Epimedii Water Extract. National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, China CDC, Beijing 100021, 2006.
10. Jiangshu New Medical Institute, The Chinese Medicinal Dictionary, Shanghai, Shanghai Science and Technology Press, 2nd Edition, 2004, P 2250-2253.
11. The Medical University of China, Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, Chinese Medical Science and Technology Press, 1997.
12. Xu Guojun, Wang Qing. Colored Illustrations of Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs. Fuzhou, Fujian Science and Technology Press, 2nd Edition, 2004.
13. Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 2005 edition