Secrets of ancient Chinese medicinal herb revealed by scientists

Secrets of ancient Chinese medicinal herb revealed by scientists









By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, December 23, 2012 18:00 EST

Scientist in the United States on Sunday offered a
molecular-level explanation for how a Chinese herbal medicine used for
more than 2,000 years tackles fever and eases malaria.

The herb is an extract of the root of a flowering plant called blue
evergreen hydrangea, known in Chinese as chang shan and in Latin as
Dichroa febrifuga Lour.

Chang shan’s use dates back to the Han dynasty of 206 BC to 220 AD,
according to ancient documents recording Chinese oral traditions.

In 2009, researchers made insights into its active ingredient,
febrifuginone, which can be pharmaceutically made as a molecule called
halofuginone.

They found that halofuginone prevented production of rogue Th17
immune cells which attack healthy cells, causing inflammation that leads
to fever.

A study published in the journal Nature on Sunday found halofuginone
works by hampering production of proteins for making “bad” Th17 cells,
but not the “good” ones.

Specifically, it blocks molecules called transfer RNA (tRNA), whose
job is to assemble a protein bit by bit, in line with the DNA code
written in the gene.

As for malaria, halofuginone appears to interfere with the same
protein-assembly process that enables malaria parasites to live in the
blood, the study said.

“Our new results solved a mystery that has puzzled people about the
mechanism that has been used to treat fever from a malaria infection
going back probably 2,000 years or more,” said Paul Schimmel, who headed
the team at the Scripps Research Institute in California.

Halofuginone has been tested in small-scale human trials to
treat cancer and muscular dystrophy. Drug engineers also eye it as a
potential tool for combatting inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid
arthritis, which are also autoimmune diseases.
Source:-
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/23/secrets-of-ancient-chinese-medicinal-herb-revealed-by-scientists/