| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| thanks01 |
Posted - 01/19/2008 : 19:31:19
Taken from Dan's post on the "Cancer Prevention" forum, to start this new thread:
I find the Mercola newsletter sometimes to be very useful as well. The article above talks about a study result of the chemical Wogonin found in the root of the Chinese medicine herb huang qin, AKA scutellaria baicalensis and baikal skullcap. Wogonin was found to cause apoptosis in cultured leukemia cells without affecting healthy blood cells.
A picture of the beautiful flowering herb baikal skullcap can be seen at http://www.one-garden.org/Chinese/baikalsk.htm The plant root extract is said to have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic, diuretic hypotensive, anti-allergic, cholagogue, hemostatic, lowers blood lipids, calming, bronchodilator, anti-abortive, immune stimulant, and interferon inducent properties, according to http://www.herbalists.on.ca/resources/freeman/SCUTELLA.html . Wow, it looks like it could solve all my problems!
Dr. Min Li-Weber of the Division of Immunogenetics at the German Cancer Research Centre has found that wogonin works by radically increasing the formation of hydrogen peroxide in tumor cells compared to healthy cells. The peroxide, in turn, produces a calcium response, which triggers the apoptosis reaction.
Taken from my reply to Dan's post on that forum, to get this new thread going:
Without meaning to quibble, I followed the links in the post above on the Chinese herb wogonin and also went back to the Mercola article. Following the link he indicates as his source (Chinese Medicine News December 28, 2007 - sorry the link is masked on his web page) the herb mentioned in the SOURCE article is identified as Scutellaria radix, not its cousin scutellaria baicalensis.
Scurrying around the Internet, one difference seems to be, unfortunately, that I can't find the "S. radix" plant available in a nursery to purchase for the garden if someone is interested, whereas the "baicalensis" is available at the link given above http://www.one-garden.org/Chinese/baikalsk.htm ).
As in the current very interesting thread on SPURGE (Euphorbia) titled - "Petty Spurge Herb sap for skin cancers" in the Topical Treatments forum, Scutellaria is a large plant family, with many species, each with its specific properties. See link http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-580.html -- where "S. radix" is mentioned, but does not show up in the chart given for the Scutellaria family.
The reason that I am bothering to reply to the above post is not to be fussy, but because in a case like the Euphorbia family, the plant properties to either heal or damage may be different enough that we have to be very careful to distinguish the species as we discuss them.
Apparently "S. radix" -- wogonin is too unknown in the West and also, hardly available. Interesting subject here, but don't have any more time. If someone else can dig deeper, it's always interesting, especially if we learn more about this plant and people could order it and grow it in their gardens, etc. Thank you.
(P.S. I'm starting to think that going any deeper into this particular plant's healing properties may belong in one of the other discussion threads and I am copying this wogonin discussion over to the Topical Treatments forum as a new thread.) |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| thanks01 |
Posted - 01/20/2008 : 13:58:18
Post for above added by Dan:
Well, the confusion over the plant name may be solved. I'm pretty sure that Scutellaria baicalensis is the name of the plant, and radix simply means root. http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/60/3/507 has the sentence "Wogonin (Wog) is an active component isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis radix, a Chinese herbal remedy widely used in clinical treatment of inflammatory diseases, including atopic dermatitis, hyperlipemia, and atherosclerosis." So scutellaria radix is short for the root of the scutellaria baicalensis plant, which you can find in nurseries.
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