Dang Shen

Dang Shen - Codonopsis pilosula
		Professional Data

Pin Yin
Dang Shen

Latin
Radix Codonopsis pilosulae

Introduction

Radix Codonopsis pilosulae is officially listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as the dried root of C. pilosula (Franch.) Nannf., var. modesta (Nannf. ) L.T. Shen or Codonopsis tangshen Oliv. (Fam. Campanulaceae). The drug is collected in autumn, washed clean and dried in the sun. In traditional Chinese medicine it is used mainly as a tonic. It is one of the best known traditional Chinese Medicines and is often used as a substitute for ginseng.

Western medical

Shortness of breath, palpitations, cough, anorexia, diarrhoea, diabetes, physical weakness, loss of appetite.

Eastern medical

Pattern: Tonifies qi, spleen and lungs.
Properties: Sweet, neutral.
Channels Entered:Spleen and lung meridians.

Chemical constituents

Comparative thin-layer chromatographic studies on the butanol extracts of the roots of C. pilosulae from different areas were found to be similar to each other but quite different from those of the roots of P. ginseng and P. pseudoginseng.
The water soluble components of the root of C. pilosulae contain sugars, amino acids and inorganic elements.
Essential mineral elements for humans detected in the root include K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Co, Zn, Mn, Cr, and Mo.
The monosaccharide content in the root was 4.3g/10g.
At least 17 amino acids were detected in the root including threonine, aspartic acid, isoleucine, alanine, asparagine, glutamic acid, glycine, serine, valine, proline and glutamine.
The sterols and triterpenes in the root of C. pilosulae include x-spinasterol and stigmasterol, taraxerol, taraxeryl acetate and friedelin.

Pharmacological actions

Phagocytic actions

Daily intragastric administration of the C. pilosulae decoction 0.25g for 1-2 weeks, accelerated the clearance of the intravenously injected 131I-plasma protein colloidal particles from the blood, suggesting an enhancement of reticuloendothelial phagocytosis. Both in vitro and in vivo studies proved that Linctus of C pilosulae markedly promoted the phagocytic function of the peritoneal macrophages on mice.

Blood and hematopoietic system effect

Subcutaneous injection of the aqueous or ethanol extract, and especially oral administration caused an increase of erythrocytes, decrease of leukocytes and relative increase of neutrophils and decrease of lymphocytes. It also increased the amount of hemoglobin.

Cardiovascular system effect

Research has shown that the herb extract markedly antagonized the pressor effect of epinephrine.

C. pilosulae injected intravenously at doses exceeding 20mg/kg decreased the blood pressure.

Gastrointestinal effect

C. pilosulae has been shown to increase the tonicity and slighlty decrease the contraction amplitude of the isolated small intestine of rabbits.

Endocrine effect

The decoction of C. pilosulae 6g/kg PO markedly elevated serum glucose levels when injected subcutaneoulsy into rabbits.

Anti-fatigue

A study has shown that intragastric doses of C.pilosulae markedly enhanced the swimming ability of mice.

Clinical Studies

Neurosis

A compound of C. pilosulae and Vitamin B was clinically trialled in 144 cases. The daily dose of 2ml of (1g C. pilosulae and 50mg of Vitamin B per ml) was given for two weeks as a therapeutic course with certain effectiveness.

Hematopoietic Diseases

Either used alone or with other drugs, C. pilosulae showed therapeutic value in the treatment of the management of anemia, chlorosis, leukemia and thrombocytopenia.

Gastrointestinal Function

C. pilosulae was effectively used to treat "asthenia of the spleen and stomach", poor appetite with loose bowel, scanty saliva and polydipsia.

Nephritis

Nephritis and albuminuria were reported to have been effectively treated with C. pilosulae and the root of Astragalus membranaceus.

References

Except those noted, all references come from Weng Weiliang, et al., Clinical Chinese materia medica, Henan Science & Technology Press, 1998