Where does Isaria cicadae come from? An overview of the main production areas

Isaria cicadae is an organism with both animal and plant morphological characteristics. The root is the larval body of the cicada, and the flower grows from the head of a single cicada larva or 2-3 cicada larvae. So where are the production areas of Isaria cicadae?

1. Production areas of Isaria cicadae

The production areas of Isaria cicadae are mainly in the region south of the Yangtze River in China, in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other provinces and municipalities, with a small amount also distributed in countries such as Europe, America and Japan.

2. Effects of Isaria cicadae

1. Antitumor effect: The antitumor effect, by which Isaria cicadae fights tumors and prevents the spread and metastasis of cancer cells, is achieved by improving the patient's immunity. Director Lu Di of the "China Cancer Treatment and Protection Network" and oncology experts at home and abroad believe that the fundamental cause of cancer is a decline in the patient's immunity. The immune system is the human body's own natural barrier and can produce immune protective effects such as resisting cancer and maintaining the body's physiological balance and stability. For patients receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it can increase tolerance to the toxicity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment, eliminate the severe pain peculiar to cancer, reduce or eliminate side effects caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy such as leukopenia, hair loss, loss of appetite and vomiting, improve cachexia, enhance quality of life and prolong life. Large cicada grass polysaccharide (galactomannan) also has an antitumor effect.

2. Central nervous system regulatory effect: Central nervous system effect. Intraperitoneal injection of dilute alcohol extract of natural Isaria cicadae or artificially cultured products in mice can significantly reduce their spontaneous activity, prolong the sleep time caused by pentobarbital sodium and chloral hydrate, and increase the rate at which mice fall asleep at a subthreshold hypnotic dose of pentobarbital sodium; it prolongs the latency time of convulsions in mice caused by the central stimulants strychnine and pentylenetetrazol. Chemical stimulation and hot plate methods proved that both have obvious analgesic effects. Intraperitoneal injection in normal rats and yeast-induced fever rats has an obvious cooling effect. Other data further prove that Isaria cicadae and its artificial cultures have obvious analgesic, sedative and antipyretic effects.

3. Toxic side effects: Toxicity. Acute toxicity experiments show that: after gavage administration of 60g/kg of ethanol extract of natural Isaria cicadae to mice, observed for 72h, none of the 20 mice died; after administration the animals only showed reduced activity, and all returned to normal after 24h. The LD50 of intraperitoneal injection was 12.5±2.1g/kg, and the toxic reactions manifested as writhing, reduced activity, difficulty breathing and then death. Subacute toxicity experiments show that three groups of rats were given 1g/kg, 3g/kg and 9g/kg by gavage respectively for 28 consecutive days. The results showed no abnormal changes in the animals' blood routine, liver and kidney function or electrocardiogram, and no obvious abnormal changes were seen in pathological examination of important organs such as the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney.

Isaria cicadae can be soaked in water, used in soup or cooked in porridge. It is a very common medicinal material and is suitable for middle-aged and elderly people to eat as nourishment.