Chinese herbal medicine Wuxiangcao is distributed in Suzhou, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and eastern Jiangxi. It has the functions of relieving exterior syndrome, dispelling summer heat, promoting qi circulation, and alleviating pain. It is used for cold, heatstroke, scrofula, gastric pain, sore throat, boils, and centipede bites.
[Wuxiangcao in various literatures]
1. "Folk Medicinal Herbs in Zhejiang": Opens the chest and promotes qi circulation. It is used to treat gastric pain and scrofula.
2. "Hangzhou Medicinal Plants": Used for treating cold and hemoptysis.
3. "Commonly Used Folk Medicinal Herbs in Zhejiang": Detoxifies and reduces inflammation, diuretic and analgesic. It is used to treat heatstroke, cold, and gastric pain.
[Pharmacological effects of Wuxiangcao]
1. Antibacterial effect: In in vitro experiments, the decoction of Wuxiangcao has a certain antibacterial effect. It has the strongest antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, and Shigella dysenteriae. It also has a good antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli, Shigella sonnei, and Salmonella paratyphi, but it has a slightly weaker effect against Vibrio cholerae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The effective antibacterial ingredients are mainly found in the leaves and stems, with little effect in the roots. After oral administration of the decoction to rats, their concentrated urine shows antibacterial activity in test tubes.
2. Immune regulation: Wuxiangcao can promote lymphocyte transformation in healthy individuals and patients with acute nephritis, and it has immune regulatory effects.
3. Toxicity: The LD50 of the intraperitoneal injection of Wuxiangcao decoction in mice is 0.78±0.13ml/kg. It has no obvious toxicity in rabbits at low doses, but at doses above 1ml/kg, symptoms of severe poisoning such as tremors and convulsions appear. A dose of 2ml/kg can cause rabbits to have repeated convulsions, rigid body, opisthotonus, and repetitive attacks until death. Subacute toxicity tests showed that feeding rabbits with 0.14ml/kg of volatile oil for 2 weeks did not cause any abnormalities in hemoglobin, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and blood urea nitrogen. The toxicity of Wuxiangcao may be related to the presence of thujone. Phenobarbital sodium at a dose of 30mg/kg has a certain protective effect on rabbits in the low dose group.
