What are the effects and functions of Notopterygium? Detailed introduction to its medicinal value
Notopterygium, also known as the protector of Qiang envoy, Hu king envoy, wind-expelling envoy, etc., is the dried root of Notopterygium incisum, a perennial herb of the genus Notopterygium in the Apiaceae family. As medicine it has the effects of relieving the exterior and dispelling cold, dispelling wind and overcoming dampness, and relieving pain. It has therapeutic effects on exterior wind-cold, headache without sweating, cold-damp painful obstruction, and upper limb rheumatic pain. Let us take a look below at the effects and functions of Notopterygium!
The medicinal effects of Notopterygium
[Nature and flavor]Pungent and bitter in flavor, warm in nature.
[Meridian entry]Bladder and Kidney meridians.
[Effects]Relieves the exterior and dispels cold, dispels wind and overcomes dampness, and relieves pain. It mainly treats wind-cold common cold, wind-cold-damp painful obstruction, stiff neck and tight tendons, aching bones and joints, wind-edema with superficial swelling, and carbuncles, abscesses, and sores.
The pharmacological effects of Notopterygium
1. Antipyretic effect: Intragastric administration or intraperitoneal injection of Notopterygium volatile oil can significantly lower the body temperature of fever-induced rats, showing a significant antipyretic effect.
2. Analgesic effect: After giving mice Notopterygium volatile oil for 3 consecutive days, followed by intraperitoneal injection of 0.5% acetic acid solution, it was seen that Notopterygium volatile oil could significantly reduce the number of writhing movements in mice, showing a significant analgesic effect.
3. Effect on the cardiovascular system: The water-soluble fraction of Notopterygium has a clear antagonistic effect on arrhythmia, can significantly shorten the duration of arrhythmia, and delay the onset time of aconitine-induced arrhythmia in mice. This effect tends to strengthen as the dose increases, but when the dose is increased to 12 g/kg, its effect instead declines somewhat.
4. Anti-shock effect: Using 50% Notopterygium decoction 0.5 mL and continuously administering it to mice by gavage 12 times showed an obvious anti-shock effect, but a single administration of a large dose (100% concentration, 1 mL dose) was ineffective, that is, a single large dose could not improve the anti-shock effect in animals.
5. Antibacterial effect: When the dilution of Notopterygium injection was 0.008 mL of Notopterygium oil per mL and 0.004 mL of Notopterygium oil per mL, it had obvious inhibitory effects on Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.
Related discussions on Notopterygium
1. Tang Bencao: For treating wind, largeleaf gentian root should be used; when combined with water, Notopterygium should be used.
2. Bencao Gangmu: Both Notopterygium and largeleaf gentian root can expel wind and overcome dampness, open the joints and free the passages, but their qi differs in rigidity and inferiority.
3. Leigong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie: Notopterygium has clear qi and belongs to yang, is good at moving in the qi aspect, disperses without astringing, rises yet can also sink, is vigorous and good at dispersing, and can release external pathogenic factors, so it enters the Hand Taiyang Small Intestine. The Foot Taiyang Bladder governs wandering wind; although its functions appear different from those of largeleaf gentian root, they actually complement each other externally and internally.
4. Bencao Beiyao: Drains liver qi, searches out fat wind, treats wind-damp contention, headache of this meridian (Taiyang), diseases of the Du meridian, spinal rigidity and reversal, rigid and soft tetany, apoplexy with inability to speak, dizziness and blurred vision.
5. Benjing Fengyuan: Notopterygium is the commander that restores order from chaos. Wind can overcome dampness, so Notopterygium can treat water-dampness. Used together with Ligusticum chuanxiong, it treats Taiyang and Jueyin headache, induces sweating and releases the exterior, opens the joints and frees the passages, and is a wonder drug for seasonal common cold. In the past, people treated strain combined with cold damage by using it in Buzhong Yiqi Tang, deeply grasping the meaning of supplementing while including draining.
Medicinal contraindications of Notopterygium
1. Notopterygium is pungent, aromatic, warm, and dry, so it should be used with caution in those with yin-blood deficiency.
2. Those with weak spleen and stomach should not consume Notopterygium.
3. Consuming too much Notopterygium can cause vomiting; therefore, the dosage should be used carefully when taking Notopterygium.
Selected medicinal formulas of Notopterygium
1. To treat wind-damp contention with generalized pain, cramping pain, inability to bend and stretch, or slight generalized swelling and numbness: Notopterygium (remove the reed), prepared aconite (processed, remove skin and umbilicus), Atractylodes macrocephala, and honey-fried licorice in equal parts. For each dose, take 20 g, 1.5 cups of water, and 5 slices of fresh ginger; decoct until reduced to 70%, remove the dregs, and take warm, without restriction as to time.
2. To treat common cold with fever and tonsillitis: Notopterygium 20-25 g, Isatis root and dandelion 50 g each. Decoct in water, one dose per day, taken in two divided doses.
3. To treat Taiyang cold damage without sweating: Notopterygium, largeleaf gentian root, Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Saposhnikovia divaricata, tangerine peel, and licorice. Decoct and take.
4. To relieve toothache from cold: Notopterygium, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Atractylodes lancea, Asarum sieboldii, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Angelica dahurica, Rehmannia glutinosa, Scutellaria baicalensis, and licorice. Decoct in water and take. If rapid sweating is desired, take hot and follow with gruel; if slow sweating is desired, take warm and do not follow with decoction.
5. To treat Taiyang meridian headache: Saposhnikovia divaricata 1 g, Notopterygium 1.5 g, and two red beans. Grind into powder and insufflate into the nose.
6. To treat shoulder and back pain with inability to turn the head, spinal pain and stiff neck, waist as if broken, and neck as if pulled: Notopterygium and largeleaf gentian root 1 qian each, Ligusticum sinense, Saposhnikovia divaricata, honey-fried licorice, and Ligusticum chuanxiong 2.5 g each, and Vitex trifolia fruit 1.5 g. Make into one dose, use 2 cups of water, decoct until reduced to 1 cup, remove the dregs, and take very warm on an empty stomach before meals.
Common uses of Notopterygium