Effects and functions of costusroot

Things like costusroot and amomum villosum are probably never seen or even heard of. It is mainly a kind of traditional Chinese medicine and is usually seen in Chinese medicine prescriptions. Especially when you have digestive system diseases or blood problems, you may use this traditional Chinese medicine because it can play a good auxiliary treatment effect and eliminate the lesions from the root.

1. Effects on the digestive system

Effect on isolated intestinal smooth muscle: Take a section of small intestine from rat, guinea pig or rabbit and place it in a bath of Tyrode's solution. Use a recorder to record the changes in intestinal activity and observe the effect of the drug solution on the spontaneous activity of the intestine and the antagonism of acetylcholine and BaCl2. Results: The decoction of Amomum villosum (2.5-5×10(-3) g crude drug/ml) could strengthen the contraction of the small intestine of guinea pigs and rats. Increasing the dose had an inhibitory effect on the intestine, with decreased tension and amplitude.

The decoction of Amomum villosum has a partial inhibitory effect on the tension and tonic contraction of the small intestine of rats induced by acetylcholine and barium chloride. The volatile part of Amomum villosum (1.3×10(-3)g crude drug/ml) can cause mild excitation of the rabbit intestine, and then turn into a significant inhibitory effect, with reduced tension, slower contraction frequency, and reduced amplitude. Depending on the concentration, it can partially or completely antagonize the intestinal excitation or spasm caused by acetylcholine and BaCl2.

Effect on intestinal motility: Mice weighing 20-24g were randomly divided into two groups. The treatment group was given Amomum villosum decoction (0.5g/kg), and the control group was given distilled water. The length of the intestinal segment reached by the charcoal powder/the percentage of the entire intestine was measured and calculated to measure the functional state of intestinal motility. The results showed that the drug administration group was 82.2±4.4%, compared with the control group (62.5±2.9), P<0.01, indicating that Amomum villosum can enhance intestinal motility.

2. Effects on platelet aggregation function

Rabbits weighed (2.0-2.6kg), with 3-4 rabbits in each group. The drug-treated group was divided into two dosage groups, which orally took Amomum villosum 0.6 and 1.2 g/kg, respectively, and the control group orally took the same dosage of solvent. Blood was collected from the carotid artery 15, 30, 60, and 90 minutes after administration, and PRP and PPP were prepared by centrifugation. The platelet aggregation rate (%) was measured on a platelet aggregometer using ADP as an aggregation agent. The results showed that Amomum villosum could significantly inhibit platelet aggregation (see Table 6)

3. Effects on arachidonic acid-induced acute death in mice

Mice (weight 20-22g), 10 mice in each group, two treatment groups were orally administered with 0.6 and 1.2 g/kg of Amomum villosum, respectively, and the control group was orally administered with an equal volume of solvent. Arachidonic acid was injected intravenously 1.5 hours after administration, and the mice were observed for death within 15 minutes. Results: Two and one mice died in the 0.6 and 1.2 g/kg dose groups, respectively, compared with the control group (seven mice died), P < 0.001, indicating that Amomum villosum has a significant protective effect against acute death of mice induced by arachidonic acid.