Fructus Psoraleae
- Name
- Origin
- Where Does It Grow?
- Nature and Flavor
- Identified Active Components / Major Chemical Constituents
- Drug Actions in TCM
- Traditional Uses in TCM
- Pharmacological Actions
- Toxicology
- Administration and Dosage
- Adverse Effect, Side Effects and Cautions
- References
Name
Latin Name: Fructus Psoraleae
Common Name: Psoralea
Scientific Name: Psoralea corylifolia L.
Chinese Name: 補骨脂
Pinyin Name: bu gu zhi
Origin
The ripe fruit of Psoralea corylifolia L., an annual herbal plant of the Leguminosa family.1
Where Does It Grow?
Psoralea is mainly produced in Shaanxi, Henan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Shanxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Yunnan and Shanxi provinces of China.1
Nature and Flavor
Psoralea is pungent and bitter in flavor, warm in nature; and mainly manifests its therapeutic actions in the kidney and spleen meridians.1
Identified Active Components / Major Chemical Constituents
Psoralea contains volatile oil, coumarin, flavones, monoterpene phenols, lipid compounds, resins and stigmasteroids.
- Volatile oils include limonene, terpin-4-ol, linalool, β-caryophyllene and geranyl acetate.6-8
- Coumarin derivatives include psoralen, isopsoralen, psoralidin, isopsoralidin, corylidin, bavacoumestan A, bavacoumestan, B sophoracoumestan A and 8-methoxypsoralen.
- Flavones include coryfolin, corylifolinin, bavachinin, isobavachin, neobavaisoflavne, bavachromene, corylin, bavachalcone and neobavachalcone.
- Mono-terpane-phenol includes bakuchiol.
- Lipids include triglycerides, diglycerides and monoglycerides.
Others include free fatty acids, stigmasterol, daucosterol, triacontane, glucose and saponin.2
Drug Actions in TCM
Psoralea invigorates kidney, supports yang, consolidates essence, reduces excessssive urination, warms spleen, stops diarrhea, supports the grasping of qi and relieves asthmatic symptoms. 1 Traditional Uses in TCM
Psoralea is often used to treat seminal emission, lumbar soreness, knee coldness, frequent urination, incontinence, morning diarrhea, and asthmatic symptoms.1
Problems due to kidney yang deficiency or fire depletion of vital gate
Individuals tend to experience soreness and cold pain in the lumbar and knee regions, impotence, seminal emission and frequent urination. For soreness and cold pain in the lumbar and knee regions, psoralea can be selected with eucommia bark and walnut; for impotence, psoralea can be selected with dodder seed, Chinese eaglewood and walnut; for seminal emission, psoralea can simply be mixed and ground with halite for regular consumption; for frequent urination, psoralea is selected with fennel.
Morning diarrhea due to yang deficiency of spleen and kidney
Psoralea is usually selected with schisandra, nutmeg and medicinal evodia fruit for the situation, a representative prescription of this is Four-god Decoction.
Asthmatic symptom due to kidney fails to grasp qi
Psoralea is selected with ginseng, cassia bark and Chinese eaglewood for the situation.
Psoralea is ground and made into tincture (20~30%) for topical application.
The Chinese name of the herb suggests it can provide fat (rich materials) for nourishing the bones. Modern TCM also uses it for leucopenia, intermenstrual flow or excess mense flow, eczema, alopecia areata, bedwetting and salivation in child.
Pharmacological Actions
1. Effect on Cardiovascular System
Animal studies
Corylifolinin, an identified active ingredient of Fructus Psoraleae was shown to increase coronary blood flow in isolated guinea pig hearts. Psoralen derivatives were also reported to increase blood volume in coronary arteries and peripheral blood vessels of dogs.5
2. Anti-cancer Effect
2. Anti-cancer Effect
Animal studies
Direct anti-tumor effects were measured by adding 0.1ml Fructus Psoraleae solution to 0.9ml of different tumor cell suspensions. They were then each inoculated subcutaneously into the right axilla (armpit) of mice. Afterwards, Fructus Psoraleae was injected intraperitoneally(i.p.) at a dose of 0.05mg/kg once daily for ten days. The in-vitro results showed that inhibitory rates on S180, EAC or H22 tumor cells were 100%, 100% and 98% respectively.6
In another study mice inoculated with S180, EAC or H22 cells were given Fructus Psoraleae intraperitoneal(i.p.) injection at a dose of 0.5mg/kg, once daily for ten days. The inhibitory rates for S180, EAC or H22 tumors were 40.2%, 68.0% and 20.5%, respectively.6
In-vitro studies
Application of 1.25mg psoralen (an active ingredient of Fructus Psoraleae) to sarcoma (S180) cells cultured at 2x107 cells/ml at 37°C for ninety minutes showed 100% cell death rates.7
In another separate study, 0.1ml of S180, mouse Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (EAC) and mouse liver cancer cell (H22) cultures (2x107 cells/ml) were cultured with 5μg of psoralen respectively. The percentage proportion of radioactivity of 1 mL supernatant fluid among the total radioactivity incorporated into the cancer cells was then calculated. Results showed that psoralen treatment could increase the radioactivity release rate on S180, EAC and H22 cells.6
3. Estrogen-like Effects
Animal studies
When ovariectomized (ovaries removed) female mice were fed with 0.35 or 0.175g Fructus Psoraleae seed powder everyday, reversible vaginal keratinization (keratin formation on the surface layer of skin or mucosa) was noted to occur. It appeared that Fructus Psoraleae possessed some very weak estrogen-like effects and such effects were not attributable to the active ingredient psoralen. When immature female mice were fed with 0.25g Fructus Psoraleae, their vagina opened prematurely. In another study where mature female mice were fed with 0.35g Fructus Psoraleae seed powder for 37 to 77 seven days, their reproductive ability was impaired. One week following resumption of normal diet, their reproductive ability resumed. In contrast, when male mice were fed with Fructus Psoraleae for 46 days, no abnormality was observed.9
4. Effects on white blood cells
Clinical observations
When 19 leucopenia (abnormally low number of white blood cells in the circulating blood) patients were treated with three to nine pills of Fructus Psoraleae honey pills (9mg per pill), 14 patients showed complete recovery, four patients showed improvement while one patient experienced no change.10
Human subjects orally administered with 2mg/kg and 1mg/kg Fructus Psoraleae, followed by fifty minutes of light illumination, showed a decreased lymphocyte transformation rate.11
Animal study
Subcutaneous injection of a 75% ethanol extract of Fructus Psoraleae (twice a day for three days) to cyclophosphamide immuno-suppressed mice was able to restore decreased white cell numbers and to promote the growth of granulocytes.12-13
5. Effects on skin conditions
Clinical observations
An ethanol extract of 30% Fructus Psoraleae was applied topically to 36 cases of verruca vulgaris several times a day. The effective rate was reported to be 94.4% with the remaining 5.56% of cases showing improvement. The effective treatment rate of Verruca plana was reported to be 85% with 15% of cases showing improvement.14
In another study, an i.m. injection of 4ml/day of Fructus Psoraleae for ten days reported an effective treatment rate of 93% for psoriasis. The mean time for cure and/or alleviation of symptoms was 33.5 days.15 A separate study showed a combination of orally administered 8-methoxypsoralen (0.5mg/kg), an active ingredient of Fructus Psoraleae, followed by light illumination resulted in an effective treatment rate of 97.8% for psoriasis vulgaris.16
When 0.2ml of Fructus Psoraleae was directly injected into 163 cases of people with corns (a painful, cone-shaped, overgrowth and hardening of the epidermiswith the point of the cone in the deeper layers. It is produced byfriction or pressure.), the successful treatment rate after one single injection was reported to be 84%.17
Cell-culture study
Fructus Psoraleae ethanol extracts (5, 10, 15 and 20mg) and tyrosinase (1200u/ml) were mixed together and put into a 37°C water bath for five minutes. Results showed that Fructus Psoraleae could increase tyrosinase (an essential enzyme in the biological synthesis of the pigmentmelanin) activity. It is thought that Fructus Psoraleae exerts its therapeutic effects on vitiligo, by increasing the rate of synthesis and amount of melanin, and hence encouraging skin to recover from a vitiliginous state.18
Toxicology
Acute toxicity: When mice were treated by gavage with organic extracts of Fructus Psoraleae, bakuchiol (an active ingredient of Fructus Psoraleae) and psoralen, the LD50 was found to be 38.0±3.5g (raw herb), 2.3±0.18ml/kg and 180±29.6mg/kg, respectively for each extract. 19
Sub-acute toxicity: This was investigated in rats by feeding the animals with a 100mg/kg corylifolinin (an active ingredient of Fructus Psoraleae) preparation by gavage for one month. No significant effects on blood pressure, ECG, hemogram, liver function and blood glucose were detected. 19
When mice were administered by gavage 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0mg/kg bakuchiol (an active ingredient of Fructus Psoraleae) for one to four weeks, pathological changes in the kidneys were observed. In the high dosage groups, pathological changes appeared to be progressive. No abnormality was found in other major organs. 19
Mice administered by gavage 50, 100, 200mg/kg of Isopsoralen for three days showed no pathological changes in the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys. Dogs administered with 10-100mg/kg Isopsoralen for ten to fourteen days showed no alteration in liver and kidney functions, ECG readings or major pathological organs damage. 19
Administration and Dosage
For decoction, the usual dose of psoralea is 6～15g.1
Adverse Effect, Side Effects and Cautions
Psoralea is not suggested for those have yin vacuity with internal heat, chronic kidney problems, skin rashes caused by abnormal immune functions, infertility or habitial abortion in women.3
References
- Lui Daiquan, ed. Chinese Medicine. Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers, 2000-6.
- Li Jiashi, ed. Chinese Medicine Identification. Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers, 2000-6.
- Wu Yiluo. Bencao Congxin (New Compilation of Materia Medica), 1757AD.
- Li Shizhen, Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) 1578AD.
- Jiangsu Medical College, Pharmacopoeia of Chinese medicine (The First Volume), Shanghai People Hygiene Publisher, Shanghai, China 1997;2006.
- Yang Yishan, et al. Experimental study of the anti-cancer effects of six Chinese Medicine preparations, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Material Medica of Shanxi 1983;12(10):49.
- Zhao Jianbin, et al. The killing effects of Fructus Psoraleae and radiation on Sarcoma cells, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Shanxi 1990;11(9):427.
- Lu Zehua, et al. The in-vitro observation of the killing effects of Fructus Psoraleae on human leukemic cells, Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1987;7(12):736.
- Wang Yusheng, ed. The application and pharmacology of Chinese Medicine 1st edition, Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 1983:547.
- Hua Shizuo, Treatment of leucopenia with Fructus Psoraleae, Modern Meicine, 1975:6(10):497.
- Zhang Yongsheng, et al. The experimental study of the effects of isomeric structure of psoralen and black light on human lymphocytes, Journal of Dermatology of China 1983:16(2):106
- Ma Rou, et al. The effects of paired and single ingredient Chinese Medicine on the hematopoietic cells, Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine 1984:4(9):533
- Sun Yan, et al. The cancer treatment effects of the principle of normal qi support in Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, Journal of Medicine of China 1981:61(2):97
- Zhao Jiying, et al. Common wart treatment with ethanol extract of Fructus Psoraleae, Journal of Dermatology of China 1989:22(2):116
- Lu Yongtian, et al. Observation of 800 cases of Psoriasis treatment efficacy with Fructus Psoraleae injection, Journal of Chinese Medicine 1982:23(9):31
- Wei Jicheng, et al. Clinical trial of treatment common Psoriasis with 8-methoxypsoralen in combination with black light radiation, Chinese Herbal Medicine 1980:11(5):212
- Guo Chaoguang, Observation of corn treatment efficacy with local injection of Fructus Psoraleae ethanol extract, Newsletter of Chinese Herbal Medicine 1978:9(8):34
- Xu Jianguo, Effects of Fructus Psoraleae on tyrosinase activation, Chinese Herbal Medicine 1991:22(4):169
- Zhou Jinhuang, Pharmacology of Chinese Medicine, 1st version, Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers 1986:257
- Quoted in "Wang BX ed. Modern Pharmacological studies on Chinese Medicine. Tianjin Scientific Technology Publishing, 1999: 1248-1250"
