Abstract
Saussureae Involucratae Herba is the dried ground part of Saussurea involucrata (Kar. et Kir.) Sch.-Bip, which is also named as “Snow lotus” and being used in traditional Uyghur and/or Chinese medicine. This rare herb can be found at 4,000 m elevation in western part of Tianshan Mountain, Xinjiang China. According to China Pharmacopoeia (2015), the major pharmaceutical values of “Snow lotus” (Xuě liánhuā in Chinese) are alleviating rheumatoid arthritis, accelerating blood circulation and mitigating other “cold” syndromes. Traditionally, the clinical application of “Snow lotus” includes the treatments in inflammation-associated disorder, blood circulation acceleration and heat and dampness elimination. Recent studies suggested that “Snow lotus” possessed therapeutic effects associating with anti-cancer, anti-oxidation, adipogenesis suppression and neuroprotection activities, which were proposed to be related with its bioactive constitutes, i.e. acacetin, hispidulin, and rutin. In the present review, we aim to summarize pharmacological effects and underlying cell signaling pathways of “Snow lotus” in treating various medical problems.
Highlights
The history of Traditional Uyghur medicine (TUM) spans over 2,500 years and is still being practiced today (Upur et al, 2011)
This review provides some detailed information and pharmaceutical values of TUM and/or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal materials in general, using “Snow lotus” as an example
Over harvesting in China is destroying the growing environment and causing the damage of S. involucrata species quality. These are the major reasons for rarity of “Snow lotus” in the market
Summary
The history of Traditional Uyghur medicine (TUM) spans over 2,500 years and is still being practiced today (Upur et al, 2011). This review provides some detailed information and pharmaceutical values of TUM and/or TCM herbal materials in general, using “Snow lotus” as an example. According to the China Pharmacopoeia (2015), “Snow lotus” is the dried ground part of Saussurea involucrata (Kar. et Kir.) Sch.-Bip (Figure 1), which is being used for inflammationassociated disorder treatments, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, modulating lipid metabolism, and improving. Most of the “Snow lotus”-concentrated herbal decoctions are capable of mitigating “cold” syndromes or diseases both in male and female. This materia medica is one of the major ingredients found within “Snow lotus” capsule being sold in China, which is aiming for dysmenorrhoea treatment. With S. involucrate; S. bogedaensis could act as an alternative to S. involucrata in clinical applications. Yi et al, 2010 conducted systematic experiments to demonstrate that S. laniceps was the most potent Saussurea species as the source of TCM, instead of S. involucrata or S. medusa
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