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COVID-19 Pandemic and Traditional Chinese Medicines
Published in Hanadi Talal Ahmedah, Muhammad Riaz, Sagheer Ahmed, Marius Alexandru Moga, The Covid-19 Pandemic, 2023
Roheena Abdullah, Ayesha Toor, Hina Qaiser, Afshan Kaleem, Mehwish Iqtedar, Tehreema Iftikhar, Muhammad Riaz, Dou Deqiang
Shengmai injection constitutes Radix ophiopogonis, Schisandra chinesis (five flavor berry) and Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma and is clinically prescribed for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease treatments. It plays protective role in many organs. Shengmai injection in combination with traditional treatment of systemic inflammatory response syndrome improve breathing and vascular microcirculation by reducing the levels of endothelin (ET) and atrial natriuretic peptides (ANP) and upregulate the levels of PG12/TXA2 and plasma prostacyclin (PG12). The results of a clinical study showed that Shengmai injection improved cure rate in elderly patients suffering from pulmonary infections and multiple organs dysfunction. Schisandra chinensis in Shengmai enhance body’s immune function and increase splenic white nucleus pulposus lymph node cortex volume. Clinical trial proved that Schisandra chinensis in Shengmai when administered in immunosuppressed mice increases their splenic and lymph node weight [21].
Herbs with Antidepressant Effects
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
Schisandra chinensis, known as magnolia-vine or schisandra, and in China as wu wei zi, is a deciduous woody vine native to forests of Northern China and the Russian Far East. The fruit of the plant, called magnolia berry, and known by the Chinese as five-flavor-fruit, is used the manufacture of juices, wines, sweets, and for medicinal purposes. It is one of many plants evaluated by Russians scientists for having characteristics of an adaptogen, that is, for an apparent ability to give non-specific stress resistance and resiliency to cells and organ systems. Many such plants have been used in folk medicine for treatment of weakness, depression, and the ravages of age. Schisandra chinensis is alleged to increase work capacity and protect against a broad spectrum of harmful factors including heat shock, skin burn, cooling, frostbite, immobilization, aseptic inflammation, irradiation, and heavy metal intoxication.1
Functional Foods
Published in Datta Sourya, Debasis Bagchi, Extreme and Rare Sports, 2019
Kamesh Venkatakrishnan, Chin-Kun Wang
Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) is a climbing plant and belongs to the Schisandraceae family. The S. chinensis fruit has been commonly used in TCM for many years especially for anti-aging and as a rejuvenating tonic. The lignans (dibenzocyclooctadiene-Schisandrol) are the major ingredients of S. chinensis with various biological properties (Chan, 2012; Chun et al., 2014). S. chinensis blocks the ACTH and thus suppresses the cortisol production as well as reduces the production of nor-adrenalin and serotonin (stress responders) and thus acts as an adaptogen. Moreover, S. chinensis is reported to exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and therefore abolishes exercise-induced muscle fatigue (injury) and eventually increases endurance and physical performance (Dilshara et al., 2013; Panossian and Wikman, 2009). The anti-athletic effect of Schisandra chinensis was demonstrated by escalating hemoglobin concentration and swimming time with decreased blood lactate level in mice model (Cao et al., 2009). Zhang and Xu (2012) concluded that polysaccharide present in the S. chinensis is the major contributor to anti-fatigue property and thus increases physical performance.
Evaluation of the inhibition of human carboxylesterases (CESs) by the active ingredients from Schisandra chinensis
Published in Xenobiotica, 2019
Qiang Fu, Kai Yang, Rui-Xia Hu, Zuo Du, Cui-Min Hu, Xibo Zhang
Schisandra chinensis, also called wuweizi in Chinese, is the fruit of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., and has been officially utilized as a Chinese medicine for more than two thousand years. Schisandra chinensis has been utilized as a sedative and tonic to treat various diseases such as chronic cough and dyspnea, nocturnal emission, spermatorrhea, enuresis, and frequent urination. Schisandra chinensis can also be used as flavoring agent of foods (Alexander & Wikman, 2008; Chen et al., 2013). It can be used for the treatment of viral and chemical liver injuries with an obvious therapeutic effect (Ali et al., 2018). Schisandra chinensis can also be used to treat cancer and some inflammation diseases (Zhao et al., 2013). Through isolation from Schisandra chinensis, many bioactive ingredients (e.g., lignans, nortriterpenes, sesquiterpenes, phenolic acids, etc.) have been obtained. Among these ingredients, lignans have been widely accepted to be one of the most important pharmacological ingredients. For example, Schisandrol B has been demonstrated to play an important role in the protection of liver toxicity (Jiang et al., 2016; Zeng et al., 2017). Another lignan Schisandrin A has been reported to exert anti-tumor activity toward multiple types of cancers, such as ovarian cancer (Lee et al., 2018). Schisandrin B has been also demonstrated to show therapeutic function towards cancers, such as glioma (Jiang et al., 2017).
Bioactivation of herbal constituents: mechanisms and toxicological relevance
Published in Drug Metabolism Reviews, 2019
Schisandra fruit (Schisandra chinensis) has been used in traditional Chinese medicines for centuries as a sedative, antitussive and general tonic agent. The major pharmacological active lignans in Schisandra fruit extract include schizandrin, γ-schizandrin, gomisins A, B, C, G, and N. Of note, all lignans showed inhibitory effects on CYP3A4, except for schizandrin (Iwata et al. 2004). The structure-activity relationship analysis suggested that for the dibenzocyclooctadiene-based lignans, the MDP group is a prerequisite for CYP3A4 inhibition. Time- and NADPH-dependent CYP3A4 inhibition by gomisins were demonstrated (Iwata et al. 2004; Zhai et al. 2017). For example, gomisin C inactivated CYP3A4-mediated erythromycin N-demethylation with KI = 0.399 µM and kinact = 0.092 min−1. Spectral scanning of the reaction between CYP3A4 and gomisin C revealed the formation of an absorption spectrum at 455 nm, suggesting formation of the MDP carbene complexes with ferrous heme iron (Iwata et al. 2004).
Interaction of deoxyschizandrin and schizandrin B with liver uptake transporters OATP1B1 and OATP1B3
Published in Xenobiotica, 2019
Yanli Lu, Qingqing Hu, Lin Chen, Hong Zhang, Shibo Huang, Yuqing Xiong, Chunhua Xia
Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill has been widely used as traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, owing to its diverse pharmacological effects. Clinically, Schisandra fruit extract has been used as an adjuvant drug in China for decades. It would be meaningful to discuss the pharmacokinetic interaction of Schisandra monomers and other clinical drugs during their hepatic metabolism and transport. Our data showed that deoxyschizandrin and schizandrin B exhibited a high affinity to OATP1B1 and had distinct effects on OATPs-mediated uptake of different kinds of compounds. Deoxyschizandrin and schizandrin B could significantly stimulate the uptake of statins mediated by OATP1B1. This may provide important insights into the hepatic transport of statins when they are co-administered with SMI that is often used in Chinese clinical practice. Conversely, deoxyschizandrin competitively inhibited the uptake of TCNa, an OATP1B1 substrate, suggesting that deoxyschizandrin may be a specific substrate of OATP1B1. From these two results, we suppose that multiple active sites or coenzyme binding sites may exist in OATP1B1. The binding of deoxyschizandrin and schizandrin B to OATP1B1 may lead to conformational changes in OATP1B1 and subsequently cause pharmacokinetic changes in clinical drugs.