Pueraria Lobata – Kudzu Historical Use & Research Summary Pueraria Lobata 1:2 Fluid Extract Pueraria Lobata (Kudzu) Is a Leguminous Perennial Vine

New!

Pueraria lobata – Kudzu Historical Use & Research Summary Pueraria lobata 1:2 Fluid extract Pueraria lobata (Kudzu) is a leguminous perennial vine,

native to East & South East Asia, but now widely Common Names: Kudzu, Japanese Arrowroot, Gegen distributed in sub-tropical regions of the world (EPPO,

Botanical family: Fabaceae 2007). It is classified as a noxious weed in many areas, earning the monikers ‘the plant that ate the South’ and Part Used: Root, flower ‘foot-a-night vine’ due to its prolific growth (up to 26 cm

Dosage: 25-70 ml per week per day in the growing season) and capacity to smoother native flora (EPPO, 2007; Enna et al, 2012). Primary Active Constituents: Isoflavones including puerarin, The root extract has been used in Traditional Chinese daidzin, daidzein, genistin, genistein, tectorigenin, glycitin, Medicine for more than 2000 years to treat a variety of tectoridin, and other flavonoids, coumarins, & puerarols. conditions, including fever, migraine, allergies, diarrhoea, Contraindications: Avoid during pregnancy. acute dysentery, deafness, angina, heart attack, CYP450 inhibitor may affect hepatic drug metabolism. hypertension, diabetes and alcoholism (Reppert, 2008;

Actions: Zhang et al, 2013). Cellular, animal and human studies Antidipsotropic (anti-alcohol abuse) have provided support for the use of Kudzu in Anti-inflammatory cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, endocrine and metabolic conditions, and their related complications (Wong, 2011). Hepatoprotective

Hypoglycaemic Alcoholism Neuroprotective Daidzein, daidzin and puerarin reduce alcohol intoxication Phytoestrogen and suppress voluntary alcohol intake (Lin, 1996; Keung, Main Indications: 1998), by raising monoamine oxidase (MAO)/ Alcoholism mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity Cardiovascular disease ratio and reducing voluntary alcohol intake and alcohol Cognitive decline withdrawal symptoms (Zhang, 2010). Human trials using Diabetes 750mg total isoflavones demonstrated preventative and Osteoporosis long-term reduction in alcohol consumption reducing Menopause daily drinking by up to 57% (Penetar, 2012). Metabolic syndrome Continued overleaf

Research Summary continued mineral density and hepatoprotective effects (Lim, 2013).

Alcoholism - continued Cancer-protective Kudzu root extract is also protective against alcohol-induced Puerarin has been shown to induce apoptosis and suppress and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by reducing oxidative tumour cell proliferation in a number of cancer cell studies stress and inflammatory cytokines, reversing liver fibrosis in a dose and time dependent manner, including colon (Peng, 2012), and through hepatic leptin signalling activation, cancer, oesophageal cancer, hepatocellular cancer, breast improving mitochondrial function, and reducing hepatic lipid cancer, lymphoma and glioblastoma (Yang, 2015). accumulation by suppressing lipogenesis (Qiu, 2015). Potential benefits including anti-proliferative effects in endometriosis have also been suggested (Ji, 2013). Cardiovascular & neuroprotective actions Animal studies have demonstrated Kudzu’s protective effects References Carlson S et al, Gend Med 2008; 5(Suppl A):S76-S90 against sodium-induced hypertension (Carlson, 2008), whilst Dodda D et al, Indian J Pharm Sci 2014; 76(2):97-106 puerarin has been shown to inhibit plasma renin activity in Enna et al (2012), Herbal supplements and the brain, Pearson Education spontaneously hypertensive rats, and reduce angiotensin II- EPPO, Bulletin OEPP/EPPO Bulletin 37 2007; 37:230-235 induced cardiac hypertrophy in mice (Zheng, 2015). The anti- Ji M et al, J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2013; 138:421-6 Jia M et al, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2012; 2012:364604 inflammatory and hypolipidaemic effects of Kudzu protect [Type a quote from the document or Kamiya, T et al, J Health Sci 2011; 57(6):521-531 against inflammatory-mediated vascular smooth muscle cell the summary of an interesting point. 1 Keung WM et al, Photochemistry 1998; 47(4):499-506 proliferation that causes arteriosclerosis (Li , 2015, Sham, 1 You can position the text box Li H et al, Exp Ther Med 2015, 9(1):257-261 anywhere in the document. Use the 2014), and reduces the inflammatory cascade responsible for Li2 H et al, Pharm Biol 2015; Apri 10:1-7 Drawing Tools tab to change the the progression of traumatic brain injury following cerebral Lim DW et al, Nutrients 2013; 5:2734-2746 formatting of the pull ischaemia (Su, 2011). Kudzu root extract decreased cognitive Lin R et al, Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1996; 20(4):659-663 quote text box.] impairment in animal models, with Kudzu supplemented mice Liu X et al, Neural Regen Res 2013; 8(34):3203-3215 & rats displaying improved learning and memory abilities Penetar, DM et al, Drug Alcohol Depend 2012; 126(1-2):251-256 compared with control groups (Carlson, 2008). Peng JH et al, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2012; 2012:234987 Qiu LX et al, World J Gastroenterol 2015; 21(4):1099-1107 Reppert A et al, J Agric Food Chem 2008; 56(17):7860-7865 Diabetes / Metabolic syndrome Sham TT et al, BioMed Res Int 2014; 2014:925302 Kudzu root has potent anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, and Su SY et al, Chinese Medicine 2011; 6:26 hypolipidoaemic effects, being shown to inhibit carbohydrate Wang1 Z et al, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013; 2013:343594 2 absorption, increase peripheral glucose uptake and glucose Wang N et al, Chinese Medicine 2013; 8:17 tolerance, increase insulin sensitivity in adipose, skeletal Wong KH et al, J Ethnopharm 2011; 134(3):584-607 Yang JA et al, Int J Clin Exp Med 2015; 8(6):10132-10142 muscle and liver tissue and decrease peroxidation/apoptosis 1 Zhang Z et al, J Clin Pharmacol 2013; 53(8):878-811 of pancreatic β-islet cells (Wang , 2013, Carlson, 2008). Zhang Z et al, Chinese Medicine 2010; 5:36 Puerarin also reduces diabetic complications including Zheng G et al, PLoS One 2015; 10(3):e0122925 alleviating diabetic neuropathy (Zheng, 2015) and protecting

against diabetic cataract (Dodda, 2014). Puerarin showed a j Pueraria lobata dose-related decrease in serum and hepatic levels of total

) cholesterol, triglycerides and leptin, plus a significant Suggested Combinations reduction in fat accumulation and body weight gain by enhancing lipolysis and supressing fat synthesis, as well as Alcoholism protecting against liver injury associated with a high fat diet in Dan Shen animal and human studies (Zheng, 2015, Kamiya, 2011). St John’s Wort

Fatty Liver Disease Menopause / Osteoporosis (Verbascumthapsus Dan Shen The reduction of oestrogen levels during menopause results Astragalus in a number of psychological and physiological changes for Milk thistle

Mullein women including the increased risk of osteoporosis, breast cancer, hot flushes, obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension Cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease. Kudzu has demonstrated a Dan Shen preventative effect on bone loss by increasing bone mineral Hawthorn density and bone mineral content in ovariectomised and orchidectomised animal studies, without exhibiting Menopause oestrogenic effects (Jia, 2012). Puerarin has also Dong Quai Black cohosh demonstrated a significant increase in blood calcium, blood phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase (ALP, a biochemical marker Diabetes 2 2 for bone turnover) and osteoprotegerin (Wang 2013; Li Holy basil 2015). Kudzu also demonstrated multiple metabolic effects in Gymnema ovariectomised rats, including an increase in serum oestrogen Fenugreek levels, decreased blood fats, significantly improved bone