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Herbs with Antidepressant Effects
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
Epimedium brevicornum, often referred to as horny goat weed, is an important medicinal plant that has been used in Western herbalism and in various traditional Chinese formulations for thousands of years. Hundreds of phytochemicals, mostly flavonoids, have been identified in the genus Epimedium, with icariin being the most abundant. Icariin is pharmacologically active and has been used to strengthen bones, nervous system, and cardiovascular function. It is thought to possess anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and immunoprotective effects. Epimedium brevicornum is particularly well known in regards to its alleged ability to restore libido and sexual performance, hence the reference, horny goat weed.1
Animal studies
Published in C M Langton, C F Njeh, The Physical Measurement of Bone, 2016
Jenny Zhao, Yebin Jiang, Christopher F Njeh, Roger Bouillon, Piet Geusens, Harry K Genant
pQCT scanners specifically designed for use on animal bones have been used in the study of osteoporotic animal models, such as mice [2] but mostly in rats, with osteopenia induced by OVX [36, 37], orchidectomy [38] immobilization [39] and corticosteroid administration [40]. It has also been employed to evaluate effects of pharmaceutical intervention in osteopenic models using anti-resorptive [37] or anabolic agents [39]. pQCT can determine cortical volumetric BMD and geometry [39] which contribute significantly to the estimation of cortical bone biomechanical strength [37, 40], and trabecular volumetric BMD [36, 38, 39]. Longitudinal analysis of the proximal tibia in vivo showed a significant reduction of 17% in BMD 31 days after OVX [36]. It has been reported that pQCT volumetric BMD is more sensitive than DXA to bone loss in the rat [36]. pQCT was used in a study that found that a low dose of a Chinese herbal preparation containing epimedium leptorhizum was effective in preventing osteoporosis development in weight bearing proximal femur and tibia but not in the lumbar spine in ovariectomized rats [41]. pQCT and μCT examinations showed that the distribution of the vertebral mineral into cortical and trabecular compartments is regulated genetically in 12BXH recombinant inbred mice [82]. The CVs for bone mineral measurements in rats are in the range 1.6–5.9% in vivo, with repositioning [42, 60]. There was excellent agreement between trabecular BMD measurements in vivo and ex vivo (r = 0.91) [42].
Effects of icariin on the fracture healing in young and old rats and its mechanism
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2021
Xiaoyun Zhang, Yueping Chen, Chi Zhang, Xuan Zhang, Tian Xia, Jie Han, Shilei Song, Canhong Xu, Feng Chen
Epimedium brevicornu Maxim. (Berberidaceae) (Epimedium) has been used in Chinese ethnopharmacology for the treatment of metabolic bone diseases. Icariin is a flavonoid and the active compound in Epimedium, which has been used to cure different diseases, including bone fractures, osteoporosis and tumours (Iqbal et al. 2018; Wang et al. 2018). In osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures with different causes, oral medication of icariin can promote bone formation by inhibiting bone resorption and improve peak bone mineral density and bone quality (Cheng et al. 2014). Wu et al. (2018) found that icariin promoted bone formation, inhibited bone loss and effectively restored bone structure and strength in chronic high-dose alcohol-induced osteopenic rats. In vitro, icariin promoted the proliferation of rat BMSCs by activating the ERK and p38 MAPK signalling pathways (Qin et al. 2015). Despite the increase in the clinical usage of the Epimedium plant genus, the mechanisms underlying its therapeutic effects of the pharmacologically active constituent (icariin) on fracture healing are still not clearly understood.
Icariin inhibits the expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α induced by OGD/R through the IRE1/XBP1s pathway in microglia
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2021
Zhen-Tao Mo, Jie Zheng, Yu-ling Liao
Epimedium brevicornum Maxim (Berberidaceae) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Several clinical case reports have also shown that Epimedium-containing prescriptions can significantly improve the ability of daily living of stroke patients in recovery period, and reduce the degree of neurological deficits (Deng 2008; Wen and Zeng 2017). Pharmacological studies support its clinical application with the results of the neuroprotective effects of icariin (ICA) on cerebral ischaemic injury (Zhu et al. 2010; Liu et al. 2018). ICA is one of the major effective flavonoid glycosides extracted from the leaves and stems of Epimedium. A previous work of our laboratory showed that ICA could reduce brain oedema, cerebral infarction area and levels of inflammatory mediators including IL-1β and TGF-β1 in I/R rats (Xiong et al. 2016). ICA could also reduce the secretion of heat shock protein and inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in oxygen-glucose deprived cells in vitro (Mo et al. 2015, 2017). The results of these experiments confirmed that ICA can inhibit inflammation in vivo and in vitro. However, how ICA regulates this process remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the effect of ICA on the NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1β inflammatory signal axis mediated by IRE1α-XBP1 signalling pathway in vitro.
Icariin alleviates rheumatoid arthritis via regulating miR-223-3p/NLRP3 signalling axis
Published in Autoimmunity, 2020
Zhi-Ming Wu, Jun Luo, Xiao-Dong Shi, Shao-Xin Zhang, Xiao-Bo Zhu, Jian Guo
The herb Epimedium is a traditional Chinese medicine which is used to prevent bone dysfunction [6]. One of a major constituent of Epimedium, icariin, has been shown to have a beneficial effect on bone healing and osteoporosis treatment [6–8]. The protective role of icariin on RA was also reported during these years [8–10], but the underlying mechanism has not been well established. RA is featured by synovial inflammation, NLRP3 inflammasome is critical in inflammation and RA pathogenesis [11–13]. Recent study has found that lupus nephritis was suppressed by icariin through NF-κB pathway inhibition and NLRP3 inflammasome in MRL/lpr mice [14] and osteoarthritis was also alleviated by icariin via inhibiting NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis [15]. Whether and how icariin affects RA still needs further investigation.