Is the Chinese medicine motherwort an anti-inflammatory drug?

Motherwort has a strong effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and it also has important effects such as regulating menstruation and eliminating water. Therefore, many women choose motherwort for treatment when they have menstrual problems or other gynecological diseases. Motherwort can also be used together with other medicines to treat other diseases. So is motherwort an anti-inflammatory drug? Let us introduce it to you in detail below.

The tender stems and leaves of motherwort contain various nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates. It is pungent and cool in nature, and has the effects of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, regulating menstruation and eliminating water. Treat irregular menstruation, edema, hematuria, hematuria, dysentery and hemorrhoids.

Anticoagulant effect

Motherwort has an inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation, platelet thrombosis, fibrin thrombosis and red blood cell aggregation. Experiments show that motherwort and its extracts have an antagonistic effect on ADP-induced platelet aggregation in normal animals. It can also significantly reduce the total number of platelets in the peripheral circulation and the platelets and their aggregates in the alveolar wall capillaries. It also has a significant inhibitory effect on the increased platelet aggregation activity caused by ice water swimming or large-area scalding in rats. Gavage of Leonurus japonicus decoction to rats can prolong thrombosis time, shorten its length, and reduce its weight. It can also reduce platelet count, weaken aggregation function, shorten prothrombin time and kaolin partial thromboplastin time, reduce plasma fibrinogen, and shorten euglobulin dissolution time. Some reports suggest that the mechanism of Leonurus japonicus's anti-platelet aggregation effect may be due to its ability to inhibit phosphodiesterase activity or to act through hormones. Motherwort can significantly reduce the aggregation of red blood cells. It has a significant dissolving effect on red thrombi in the rabbit's pulmonary circulation and can, to a certain extent, reduce the tendency of white thrombi to continue to grow in the body, but the dissolving effect is not obvious.

Effects on respiratory center

Some reports suggest that motherwort alkaloids have a direct stimulating effect on the respiratory center. Intravenous injection into anesthetized cats and rabbits can increase their respiratory amplitude and frequency; but at large doses, breathing changes from excitement to inhibition, and becomes weak and irregular. The stimulating effect of motherwort on respiration is not affected by vagus nerve severance.

Antifungal effect

The water extract of motherwort (1:4) has different degrees of inhibitory effects on skin pathogenic fungi such as Trichophyton thunbergii, Microspore tinea versicolor, Epidermophyton rubrum, and Nocardia asteroides in vitro.

After fully understanding the effects of motherwort, you will be able to use motherwort correctly when treating diseases in the future. This can not only treat the symptoms of the disease, but also make the use of the medicine safer. In addition, when using motherwort, it is best to use it under the guidance of a doctor, so that the treatment of diseases can be safer, more reliable and effective.