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Bupleurum Chinense
''Bupleurum chinense'' (Chai Hu, , ''Thorowax'') is a plant of the family Apiaceae. Distribution and appearance ''Bupleurum chinense'' is native to East Asia. The leaves of the plant are long and thin and resemble fennel. Use in traditional Chinese medicine The root of ''B. chinense'', known as Radix Bupleuri, is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its proposed use is to strengthen the liver. There is no good evidence that Chinese herbal medicines, including those derived from ''B. chinense'', are of any benefit in treating fatty liver disease, and the safety of these drugs is unknown. Chemical constituents ''Bupleurum chinense'' roots, also known as Radix Bupleuri, contain Polyacetylene, polyacetylenes and saponins/Triterpene, triterpenoids. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q1031631 Bupleurum, chinense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apiaceae
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,700 species in 434 generaStevens, P.F. (2001 onwards)Angiosperm Phylogeny Website Version 9, June 2008. including such well-known and economically important plants as ajwain, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly, as well as silphium, a plant whose identity is unclear and which may be extinct. The family Apiaceae includes a significant number of phototoxic species, such as giant hogweed, and a smaller number of highly poisonous species, such as poison hemlock, water hemlock, spotted cowbane, fool's parsley, and various species of water dropwort. Description Most Apiaceae are annual, biennial or perennial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fennel
Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea-coast and on riverbanks. It is a highly flavorful herb used in cooking and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Florence fennel or finocchio (, , ) is a selection with a swollen, bulb-like stem base that is used as a vegetable. Description ''Foeniculum vulgare'' is a perennial herb. It is erect, glaucous green, and grows to heights of up to , with hollow stems. The leaves grow up to long; they are finely dissected, with the ultimate segments filiform (threadlike), about wide. (Its leaves are similar to those of dill but thinner.) The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels wide, each umbel section having 20–5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action. Medicine in traditional China encompassed a range of sometimes competing health and healing practices, folk beliefs, literati theory and Confucian philosophy, herbal remedies, food, diet, exercise, medical specializations, and schools of thought. In the early twentieth century, Chinese cultural and political modernizers worked to eliminate traditional practices as backward and unscientific. Traditional practitioners then selected elements of philosophy and practice and organized them into what they called "Chinese medicine" (''Zhongyi''). In the 1950s, the Chinese government sponsored the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, and in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, promoted Chinese medicine as inexpensive a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatty Liver Disease
Fatty liver disease (FLD), also known as hepatic steatosis, is a condition where excess fat builds up in the liver. Often there are no or few symptoms. Occasionally there may be tiredness or pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. Complications may include cirrhosis, liver cancer, and esophageal varices. There are two types of fatty liver disease: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease. NAFLD is made up of simple fatty liver and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The primary risks include alcohol, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Other risk factors include certain medications such as glucocorticoids, and hepatitis C. It is unclear why some people with NAFLD develop simple fatty liver and others develop NASH. Diagnosis is based on the medical history supported by blood tests, medical imaging, and occasionally liver biopsy. Treatment of NAFLD is generally by dietary changes and exercise to bring about weight loss. In those who are severely affe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyacetylene
Polyacetylene (IUPAC name: polyethyne) usually refers to an organic polymer with the repeating unit . The name refers to its conceptual construction from polymerization of acetylene to give a chain with repeating olefin groups. This compound is conceptually important, as the discovery of polyacetylene and its high conductivity upon doping helped to launch the field of organic conductive polymers. The high electrical conductivity discovered by Hideki Shirakawa, Alan Heeger, and Alan MacDiarmid for this polymer led to intense interest in the use of organic compounds in microelectronics (organic semiconductors). This discovery was recognized by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000. Early work in the field of polyacetylene research was aimed at using doped polymers as easily processable and lightweight "plastic metals". Despite the promise of this polymer in the field of conductive polymers, many of its properties such as instability to air and difficulty with processing have led t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saponins
Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed but found particularly in soapwort (genus Saponaria), a flowering plant, the soapbark tree (''Quillaja saponaria'') and soybeans (''Glycine max'' L.). They are used in soaps, medicinals, fire extinguishers, speciously as dietary supplements, for synthesis of steroids, and in carbonated beverages (the head on a mug of root beer). Structurally, they are glycosides, sugars bonded to another organic molecule, usually a steroid or triterpene, a steroid building block. Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin, licorice flavoring; and quillaia (alt. quillaja), a bark extract used in beverages. Uses The saponins are a subclass of terpenoids, the larges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triterpene
Triterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of three terpene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of six isoprene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the precursor to all steroids. Structures Triterpenes exist in a great variety of structures. Nearly 200 different skeletons have been identified. These skeletons may be broadly divided according to the number of rings present. In general pentacyclic structures (5 rings) tend to dominate. Squalene is biosynthesized through the head-to-head condensation of two farnesyl pyrophosphate units. This coupling converts a pair of C15 components into a C30 product. Squalene serves as precursor for the formation of many triterpenoids, including bacterial hopanoids and eukaryotic sterols. Triterpenoids By definition triterpenoids are triterpenes that possess heteroatoms, usually oxygen. The terms ''triterpene'' and ''triterpenoid'' oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
