Quanhuo ambassadors, Hwangwang ambassadors, and Tui Feng ambassadors are dried roots of perennial herb Quanhuo, which belongs to the Umbelliferae family. It has the effects of dispersing cold, dispelling wind and dampness, and relieving pain. It is used to treat symptoms such as external wind and cold, headache without sweating, cold and damp arthralgia, and rheumatic pain in the upper limbs. In this chapter, let's take a look at the legends and pharmacological effects of Quanhuo.
1. Legends of Quanhuo's origin
Legend has it that during the Tang Dynasty, there was a man named Liu Shizhen. His brother suffered from rheumatism for many years and was bedridden. The family visited various places and tried different remedies, but none of them worked.
One night, Liu Shizhen dreamed that he was searching for a cure for his brother's illness. He met an old man and asked for advice, "My brother has a serious rheumatic disease, and despite many treatments, there has been no improvement. Is there any way to treat it?" The old man replied, "Your brother's rheumatism cannot be cured by ordinary medicine, but there is a medicine that can. It is called Hwangwang ambassador. Soak it in alcohol and take it." After saying that, the old man disappeared. Shizhen realized that this was a dream sent by a deity, so he quickly memorized the name of the medicine. However, despite searching through all the medical books, he couldn't find any information about Hwangwang ambassador. He had to visit famous doctors and pharmacists, but none of them knew what kind of medicine it was. Shizhen was very anxious and couldn't sleep. Just then, Shizhen had another dream. He dreamed of his deceased mother, to whom he told his brother's condition and asked, "There was a deity who appeared in my dream and gave me a prescription. He said that soaking Hwangwang ambassador in alcohol can cure the illness. But no one knows what Hwangwang ambassador is." His mother quickly told him, "Hwangwang ambassador is Quanhuo."
After waking up, Shizhen soaked Quanhuo in alcohol and gave it to his brother to drink. His brother's stubborn illness gradually improved. Since then, people have come to know about the wind-dispelling effects of Quanhuo.
2. Four pharmacological effects of Quanhuo
1. Antipyretic and analgesic effects:
The volatile oil of Quanhuo can significantly reduce the body temperature of feverish rats and has a significant analgesic effect. The water extract of Quanhuo can also significantly reduce fever and relieve pain in rabbits.
2. Anti-inflammatory effects:
The volatile oil of Quanhuo, when administered orally, has a significant inhibitory effect on footpad swelling in rats and ear swelling in mice. It can also significantly reduce the permeability of capillaries in the abdominal cavity and reduce inflammatory exudation. Quanhuo decoction has a strong anti-inflammatory effect. Its water extract can significantly inhibit the excessive permeability of capillaries in the abdominal cavity and effectively suppress inflammatory reactions such as footpad swelling in rats and ear swelling in mice. It also shows significant inhibitory effects on early joint swelling in rats induced by adjuvant.
3. Immunomodulatory effects:
Quanhuo exhibits significant inhibitory effects on delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions and can significantly enhance the immune function of rat models of arthritis. It can promote the phagocytic capacity of rat whole blood leukocytes and increase the conversion rate of peripheral blood lymphocytes.
4. Anti-arrhythmic and myocardial ischemia protective effects:
The water extract of Quanhuo can delay the onset of arrhythmia induced by aconitine in mice and significantly shorten the duration of arrhythmia. The volatile oil of Quanhuo can counteract acute myocardial ischemia induced by posterior pituitary extract. This may be the result of its dilation of coronary arteries and increased coronary blood flow. The volatile oil of Quanhuo can significantly increase myocardial nutritional blood flow, thereby improving myocardial ischemia.
