Ayurveda

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Ayurveda and Liver Damage

Volume 1, Number 1

Ayurveda and Liver Damage

Wagner H, Geyer B, Yoshinobu K, Govind SR.

Eclipta alba and Wedelia calendulacea are traditional Ayurvedic herbs which

grow abundantly in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. In

Ayurvedic medicine Eclipta alba is said to be the best drug for the

treatment

of liver cirrhosis and infective hepatitis. Both of these medicines are

widely used in India for liver enlargement, jaundice and other ailments of

the liver and gall bladder.

Using fresh extracts of rat liver, researchers studied the protective

effects

of the plants against treatment with known liver toxins carbon tetrachloride

and the toxin from the Amanita mushroom (phalloidin). The results showed

that

at therapeutic concentrations Eclipta conveyed complete protection on the

liver cells. In fact the hepato protective effect was the most prominent of

any natural extract that the researchers had ever screened. In vivo studies

on phalloidin-treated mice resulted in

no losses, as compared to 70% mortality in non-treated controls. Wedelia

showed considerable anti-hepatotoxic and protective effects against carbon

tetrachloride induced liver destruction, far in excess of those observed

with

silybin.

The researchers concluded that the active ingredient in both cases was a

coumestan extracted from both plants called wedelolactone. A separate study

showed that wedelolactone was a potent and selective inhibitor of the potent

inflamatory chemical, 5-lipoxygenase, the inhibition occurring via extremely

aggressive oxygen radical scavenging. A Peruvian herb, Mutista acuminata

( " cinchicurma " ) also showed protective effects on the liver, and is a

traditional Chilean remedy reputed to be of use in kidney and liver

disorders. The coumarins isolated from the herb behaved in a

similiar protective manner as Wedelia and Eclipta. Other members of the

Mutista tribe are medically noteworthy: Mutista viciaefolia has traditional

use in heart disease, hysteria and epilepsy.

Mutista retrorsta, a reported cancer remedy, has many traditional uses: a

tea

of the flowers as a diuretic, the bark for malaria and the leaves as a

poultice for ulcers.

Wagner H, Geyer B, Yoshinobu K, Govind SR. Coumestans as the Main Active

Principles of the Liver Drugs Eclipta alba and Wedelia calendulacea.

Planta Medica 1986:5: 370-2

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[Guest guest]

Ayurveda and Liver Damage

Volume 1, Number 1

Ayurveda and Liver Damage

Wagner H, Geyer B, Yoshinobu K, Govind SR.

Eclipta alba and Wedelia calendulacea are traditional Ayurvedic herbs which

grow abundantly in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. In

Ayurvedic medicine Eclipta alba is said to be the best drug for the

treatment

of liver cirrhosis and infective hepatitis. Both of these medicines are

widely used in India for liver enlargement, jaundice and other ailments of

the liver and gall bladder.

Using fresh extracts of rat liver, researchers studied the protective

effects

of the plants against treatment with known liver toxins carbon tetrachloride

and the toxin from the Amanita mushroom (phalloidin). The results showed

that

at therapeutic concentrations Eclipta conveyed complete protection on the

liver cells. In fact the hepato protective effect was the most prominent of

any natural extract that the researchers had ever screened. In vivo studies

on phalloidin-treated mice resulted in

no losses, as compared to 70% mortality in non-treated controls. Wedelia

showed considerable anti-hepatotoxic and protective effects against carbon

tetrachloride induced liver destruction, far in excess of those observed

with

silybin.

The researchers concluded that the active ingredient in both cases was a

coumestan extracted from both plants called wedelolactone. A separate study

showed that wedelolactone was a potent and selective inhibitor of the potent

inflamatory chemical, 5-lipoxygenase, the inhibition occurring via extremely

aggressive oxygen radical scavenging. A Peruvian herb, Mutista acuminata

( " cinchicurma " ) also showed protective effects on the liver, and is a

traditional Chilean remedy reputed to be of use in kidney and liver

disorders. The coumarins isolated from the herb behaved in a

similiar protective manner as Wedelia and Eclipta. Other members of the

Mutista tribe are medically noteworthy: Mutista viciaefolia has traditional

use in heart disease, hysteria and epilepsy.

Mutista retrorsta, a reported cancer remedy, has many traditional uses: a

tea

of the flowers as a diuretic, the bark for malaria and the leaves as a

poultice for ulcers.

Wagner H, Geyer B, Yoshinobu K, Govind SR. Coumestans as the Main Active

Principles of the Liver Drugs Eclipta alba and Wedelia calendulacea.

Planta Medica 1986:5: 370-2

______________________________________________________

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