Deciphering the Formulation Secret Underlying Chinese Huo-Clearing Herbal Drink.

Jianan Wang,Xiaohua Li,Shuang Dong,Alexander N Shikov,Jian Chen,Xuebo Hu,Ming Hong,Bo Zhou,Jiuliang Zhang,Qiyun Zhang,Jun Wang,Xiangdong Hu,Sheng Hu

doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.654699

Abstract

Herbal teas or herbal drinks are traditional beverages that are prevalent in many cultures around the world. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, an herbal drink infused with different types of medicinal plants is believed to reduce the ‘Shang Huo’, or excessive body heat, a status of sub-optimal health. Although it is widely accepted and has a very large market, the underlying science for herbal drinks remains elusive. By studying a group of herbs for drinks, including ‘Gan’ (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. Ex DC.), ‘Ju’ (Dendranthema morifolium (Ramat.) Tzvelev), ‘Bu’ (Microcos paniculata L.), ‘Jin’ (Lonicera japonica Thunb.), ‘Xia’ (Prunella vulgaris L.), and ‘Ji’ (Plumeria rubra L.), the long-term jargon is connected with the inflammation of modern immunology through a few pro-inflammatory markers. In vitro studies have indicated that cellular inflammation is lowered by Ju and Jin either individually or synergistically with Gan. Among all herbs, only Gan detoxicated cellular toxicity of Bu in a dose dependent manner. The synergistic formulation of Ju and Gan, or Jin and Gan, in a reduction of Shang Huo, was tested in vivo. Both combinations exhibited a lower percentage of neutrophils, monocytes, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the blood, as well as inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, body weight in the combinatory groups was more stable than treatments using single herbs. The combination of old traditional oriental methods with Western science logistics, has resulted in the formulation of different herbs into one concoction for the use of detoxification and synergism.

Highlights

A great variety of herbal drinks are appreciated across the world
To explore the underlying rationale of herbal drinks, we selected a group of popular herbs, including licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) or “Gancao” in Chinese (“Gan” for short, hereafter used), chrysanthemum, “Juhua” or “Ju” (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.), honeysuckle, “Jinyinhua” or “Jin” (Lonicera japonica Thunb.), frangipani, “Jidanhua” or “Ji” (Plumeria rubra L.), shiral, “Buzhaye” or “Bu” (Microcos paniculata L.), and self-heal, “Xiakucao” or “Xia” (Prunella vulgaris L.), to test their effectiveness against Shanghuo (Figure 1)
Referring to The Chinese Pharmacopoeia, one to two chemicals from each herb were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for quality control and standardization (Supplementary Figure S1; Supplementary Table S1)

Summary

Introduction

A great variety of herbal drinks are appreciated across the world. Besides the well-studied green tea which is used for the mitigation of oxidative stress (Serafini et al, 2011), many other kinds of herbs are used as beverages. Along with the increase in urbanization and industrialization, the rapid pace of living and a high-pressure society have placed more and more people in extended periods of anxiety, tension, insomnia, and melancholy. These signs are characteristic of a state of decreased resistance to stress, which could be ameliorated by adaptogens (Panossian et al, 2021). These symptoms of suboptimal health are commonly associated with the above Shang-huo indicators of TCM, which are similar to the phenomena of topical inflammation in immunology (Pan et al, 2020). In accordance with the observation, many studies have indicated that herbs used in herbal drinks present a certain anti-inflammatory activity (Wang et al, 2008; Huang et al, 2012)

Methods

Results

Conclusion