Food and Chemical Toxicology
Food and Chemical Toxicology
5 years ago

Hepatoprotection and hepatotoxicity of Heshouwu, a Chinese medicinal herb: Context of the paradoxical effect

Hepatoprotection and hepatotoxicity of Heshouwu, a Chinese medicinal herb: Context of the paradoxical effect
Heshouwu (Polygonum multiflorum Thunb.) has been a common Chinese medicine and a folk Taoist medicine for over a thousand years. There are two drug forms, Shengshouwu (Polygoni Multiflori Radix) and Zhiheshouwu (Polygoni Multiflori Radix Prapaerata) in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In this review, we retrieved articles with such keywords as Heshouwu, liver protection and liver toxicity in the databases of PubMed and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Hepatoprotection and hepatotoxicity of Shengshouwu and Zhiheshouwu in vitro and in vivo, and their clinical settings and adverse drug reactions (ADR) were summarized, analyzed and critically reviewed. In bench research, both drug forms had effects against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, oxidation, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Clinically, Heshouwu was used for treating fatty liver disease (FLD), hyperlipidemia, cirrhosis and hepatitis B. In contrast, both drug forms could lead to drug-induced liver injury and even death in vitro, in vivo and in clinical settings. In addition, the active components of both drug forms had hepatic benefits and toxicity in interaction with emodin, physcion, and probably 2,3,5,4′-tetrahydroxy-stilbene-2-O-beta-d-glucoside (TSG). In conclusion, Heshouwu exhibited both hepatoprotection and hepatotoxicity. It is essential to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages when Heshouwu is in clinical use.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S0278691516302642

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.