What are the main functions of Astragalus?

Living in this society where stress and competition coexist, we should learn to take care of ourselves and avoid various diseases in our old age. So when we are not busy, we should learn more about some Chinese medicines that are good for our body. Astragalus is a commonly used plant in our lives. Astragalus can treat many diseases, such as breathing problems or colds. Let us learn about the effects and indications of Astragalus.

It can tonify Qi and raise Yang, consolidate the exterior and stop sweating, promote diuresis and reduce swelling, promote the production of body fluids and nourish blood, relieve stagnation and numbness, expel toxins and discharge pus, and heal sores and promote tissue regeneration. It is used for fatigue due to qi deficiency, loose stools due to poor appetite, sinking of qi in the middle, prolapse of the anus due to long-term diarrhea, bloody stool and metrorrhagia, spontaneous sweating due to superficial deficiency, edema due to qi deficiency, internal heat and thirst, sallow complexion due to blood deficiency, hemiplegia, pain and numbness, carbuncles that are difficult to heal and carbuncles that do not heal for a long time.

Main Ingredients

1. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS)

The main ones are glucans and heteropolysaccharides. Among them, glucan includes water-soluble glucan and water-insoluble glucan, which are α-(1→4)(1→6) glucan and α-(1→4) glucan respectively. The heteropolysaccharides contained in Astragalus are mostly water-soluble acidic heteropolysaccharides, mainly composed of glucose, rhamnose, arabinose and galactose, and a small amount of uronic acid composed of galacturonic acid and glucuronic acid; while some heteropolysaccharides are composed only of glucose and arabinose.

2. Saponins

Saponins are important active ingredients in Astragalus. At present, more than 40 saponins have been isolated from Astragalus and its closely related plants, mainly including astragaloside I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, isoastragaloside I, II, IV and soybean saponin I. Except for soybean saponin I and astragalosacin VIII, the rest have 9,19-cyclolanolinane-type tetracyclic triterpenoid saponins as aglycones, collectively known as astragalosacin or astragalosacin total saponins.

3. Flavonoids

There are more than 30 kinds, mainly including quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, rhamnosin, hydroxyisoflavones, isoflavones, rutin, formononetin, and verbascosin.

4. Amino Acids

There are 25 kinds in total, such as γ-aminobutyric acid, asparagine, aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, proline, glycine, alanine, cystine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, etc.

5. Others

Astragalus also contains trace elements, sterols, folic acid, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, betaine, cholecalciferol, caffeic acid, coumarin, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin P, starch E, etc.

Pharmacological Action

1. Effects on the immune system

(1) Effects on nonspecific immune function

Astragalus can significantly increase the total number of white blood cells in the blood and promote the phagocytic and bactericidal ability of neutrophils and macrophages. Astragalus decoction can significantly enhance the activity of natural killer cells (NK cells); Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) can stimulate the proliferation of NK cells and enlarge their cell bodies, and has a synergistic effect when used in combination with interleukin-2 (IL-2). Astragalus can also promote the production of interferon by viruses. Moreover, Astragalus itself can induce interferon in mouse spleen cell culture.

(2) Effects on specific immune function

Astragalus can significantly promote cellular immunity, promote lymphocyte transformation caused by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM), and enhance the local graft-versus-host reaction of rats caused by lymphocytes of malignant tumor patients. Astragalus polysaccharide has IL-2-like effects. It can reduce the amount of IL-2 that promotes spleen cell proliferation in vitro and increase the activity of lymphokine-activated killer cells (K cells). Astragalus decoction and APS can completely restore the ability of spleen cells to produce IL-2 in rhubarb-induced deficiency mice. Astragalus can significantly promote the production of antibodies in the normal body and significantly increase the number of antibody-forming cells in the spleen of mice.

After reading the above diseases that Astragalus can treat, we must keep them in mind and use them when needed in the future. Especially those who are in weaker bodies should eat Astragalus regularly, because it can enhance resistance and immunity and avoid being harmed by diseases. We must learn how to recuperate our bodies so that we can work and study more happily.