title: Can Hedysari Radix replace Astragali Radix in Danggui Buxue Tang, a Chinese herbal decoction for woman aliment?
abstract: Astragali Radix (AR) has been used for over 2000 years in China for the enrichment of "Qi". Hedysari Radix (HR), a herb having similar chemical composition with AR, has been commonly used as a substitute of AR in herbal decoction. In order to evaluate the possible replacement of HR for AR in Chinese herbal decoction, systematic comparison of AR and HR was done by chemical and biological assessments. The water extract of AR contained higher levels of calycosin, calycosin-glucoside, ononin, astragaloside III and astragaloside IV, while higher amount of formononetin was found in the HR extract. The estrogenic, erythropoetic and osteogenic effects were compared between the water extracts of AR and HR, and in all cases AR extract showed higher biological activities. Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is a very common herbal decoction for woman aliment, and which contains AR and Angelica Sinensis Radix. Here, we generated two forms of DBT having either AR or HR as the major herbs. Chemically, AR-contained DBT showed higher amounts of various active chemicals, except formononetin that was higher in HR-contained DBT. In parallel, the estrogenic, osteogenic and erythropoetic effects of DBT containing AR showed better activities than that of DBT having HR. Thus, AR and HR showed distinct differences in terms of chemical and biological properties. In order to achieve the best therapeutical effect, as well as to guarantee the safety, AR is recommended here to be used for making DBT.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science and Center for Chinese Medicine, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Wendy Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Roy Chi-Yan
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Janis Ya-Xian
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wilson Kin-Wai
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Luk
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Tina Ting-Xia
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Karl Wah-Keung
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Tsim
mesh_terms: D029971:Angelica sinensis / Q000737:chemistry*; D027883:Astragalus Plant / Q000737:chemistry; D027885:Astragalus propinquus; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D005960:Glucosides / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000032:analysis; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D012503:Saponins / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004967:Estrogens; D005960:Glucosides; D007529:Isoflavones; D012503:Saponins; D014315:Triterpenes; C526426:calycosin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside; C477279:danggui buxue decoction; C121707:7,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone; C007768:formononetin; C052064:astragaloside A; C027492:Huang Qi; C044613:angelicae sinensis extract; C586938:astragaloside III
keywords: AR; Astragali Radix; DBT; Danggui Buxue Tang; HR; Hedysari Radix; TCM; Traditional Chinese medicine; traditional Chinese medicine