Dinggongteng, also known as Baogongteng, is the dried stem of the plant Dinggongteng or Guangye Dinggongteng in the family Apocynaceae. Both the root and stem can be used as medicine. It has the effects of dispelling wind and dampness, reducing swelling and relieving pain, and is mainly used for rheumatism, hemiplegia, and traumatic swelling and pain. However, due to the toxicity of Dinggongteng, it needs to be used with extra caution.
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【Morphological characteristics of Dinggongteng】
Dinggongteng, also known as Baogongteng, is a climbing vine. The young branches are densely covered with soft hairs, while the old branches are hairless. The leaves are opposite, leathery, elliptical, oblong, or inverted ovate, 5-15cm long and 2-6cm wide, with blunt or acute tips;
The base is wedge-shaped, with entire margin, and appears iron blue or dark green when dry, with a glossy underside and small spots. The inflorescence is a cyme in axils or terminal, densely covered with rusty short hairs;
The flowers are small, golden yellow or yellow-white; the sepals are 5, covered with brownish hairs; the corolla is shallowly bell-shaped, 9-10mm long, 5 deeply lobed, with 2 lobes, and closely covered with orange hairs;
The stamens are 5, borne on the corolla tube, with an ovate triangular anther and a conical tip; the ovary is 1-celled with 4 ovules. The fruit of Dinggongteng is globular with persistent calyx. There is one seed. It flowers from June to August and fruits from August to October.
Dinggongteng is a section or slice cut obliquely, with a diameter of 1-4cm. The outer skin is grayish-yellow, grayish-brown, or light brown, slightly rough, with shallow grooves and irregular longitudinal or cracked wrinkles.
The skin has pore-like or wart-like spots in yellow-white color. The old corky layer peels off in thin flakes. It is hard and not easy to break.
The cross-section is elliptical, yellow-brown or light yellow-brown, with a wide wood section and irregular patterns (heterogeneous vascular bundles) and numerous small holes. It has no odor and a light taste.
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【What to do in case of Dinggongteng poisoning】
Dinggongteng belongs to the family Apocynaceae and its root and stem are used as medicine. It has a warm nature, spicy taste, and is toxic.
1. Clinical manifestations
Excessive sweating, bleeding, limb paralysis, etc.
2. Treatment methods
The key points for treating Dinggongteng poisoning are:
If sweating does not stop, you can use glucose saline solution; 60g of licorice, decocted in water to make 150-200ml, and add 30g of honey to take; wash the body with warm water.
3. Precautions
Dinggongteng has a certain toxicity, so it should be used with caution in daily life, preferably under the guidance of a physician.
Pregnant women should not use Dinggongteng, as it may cause bleeding and miscarriage.
Dinggongteng has a strong diaphoretic effect, so it should be used with caution in the weak.
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【Pharmacological effects of Dinggongteng】
1. Anti-inflammatory effects
After inducing foot swelling in rats with formaldehyde, intraperitoneal injection of the effective component of Dinggongteng extract (25mg/kg·d of scopolamine) for 7 consecutive days showed significant anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling effects.
2. Effects on immune function
Subcutaneous injection of Dinggongteng injection can increase the percentage of acid α-naphthyl acetate esterase-positive lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of rats, indicating that Dinggongteng has a promoting effect on both cellular and humoral immune responses.
3. Miotic effect
The effective miotic component extracted from the stem of Dinggongteng is scopolamine. It is clinically used to treat glaucoma and is now synthesized artificially. The synthetic product is a racemate, with half the intensity of the natural form. Its miotic effect is stronger, and it can be used as a substitute for scopolamine and pilocarpine.
4. Cardiovascular effects
Observations on rats' hearts in situ and in vitro show that scopolamine from Dinggongteng significantly slows heart rate, increases myocardial contractility, and reduces myocardial oxygen consumption, indicating an improvement in cardiac function.
5. Effects on the central nervous system
Scopolamine from Dinggongteng has a synergistic effect when used in combination with tremorine and an antagonistic effect when used in combination with atropine, suggesting that scopolamine and its synthetic products may become tool drugs for replicating Parkinson's disease animal models and traditional Chinese medicine anesthetics and wake-up agents, with the ability to promote learning and memory functions.
