Abstract
Bamboo plants play a significant role in traditional Asian medicine, especially in China and Japan. Biomedical investigations on the health-benefiting effects as well as toxicity of different parts and species of bamboo have been carried out worldwide since the 1960s, and documented a wide range of protective effects of bamboo-derived products, such as protection against oxidative stress, inflammation, lipotoxicity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Some of these products may interfere with male and female reproductive function, thyroid hormone metabolism, and hepatic xenobiotransformation enzymes. The diversity of bamboo species, parts of the plants available for medicinal use, and different extraction methods suggest that bamboo has great potential for producing a range of extracts with functional utility in medicine.
Highlights
Bamboo refers to plants in the subfamily Bambusoideae, which is a part of the true grass family
When through with his meal, which has been cooked over a bamboo fire, the table may be washed with a bamboo cloth, and he can fan himself with a bamboo fan, take a siesta on a bamboo bed, lying on a bamboo mat with his head resting on a bamboo pillow...He might take a walk over a bamboo suspension bridge, drink water from a bamboo ladle, and scrape himself with a bamboo scraper.”
This review documents the medicinal use of bamboo in traditional Asian medicine, and summarizes current scientific findings on the biological effects of bambooderived products
Summary
Bamboo refers to plants in the subfamily Bambusoideae, which is a part of the true grass family. The author summarizes recent findings on both health benefits and toxicity of extracts derived from different parts and species of bamboo. This bamboo extract (termed as BEX) protects a variety of cells against lipotoxicity induced by high levels of palmitic acid (Panee et al, 2008).
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