Abrus cantoniensis

Background

Chinese Name (pinyin): Jigucao

Chinese Name  :

Common Name  :Canton Love-pes Vine

Specific Name  : Herba abri

Scientific Name:
Collection  : The drug is collected all the year round, removed from soil and dried.

Description  : Roots mostly conical, the upper part thick and the lower part thin, branched varying in length, 0.5 - 1.5cm in diameter. Externally greyish brown, rough with fine longitudinal striations, rootlets extremely thin, some fallen off or with remainings. Texture hard, stems caespitose, 50 - 100cm long, about 0.2cm in diameter, greyish brown to purplish brown, branchlet slender, sparsely pubescent. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, leaflets in 8 - 11 pairs, mostly fallen off, oblong. 0.8 - 1.2cm long, apex truncate, mucronulate, lower surface with pronated hairs. Odor slightly aromatic, taste slightly bitter.

Identification  : 1.Powder: greyish green, non-glandular hairs unicellular, acute or acuminate at the apex, 60 - 970µm long, 12 - 22µm in diameter, walls 3 - 6µm thick with distinct striations and warty prominences, stomata paracytic. Fibre bundles surrrounded by cells containing prism of calcium oxalate, forming crystal fibres. Walls of crystal cells, irregularly thickened, prisms 5 - 11µm in diameter. Stone cells subrounded, subsquare or oblong, 16 - 40µm in diameter, some walls slightly thickened, cork cells yellowish brown. Prisms of calcium oxalate 5 - 11µm in diameter.2.To 10g of the coarse powder add 100ml of 70% ethanol, heat under reflux on a water bath for 30 minutes and filter. Evaporate the filtrate conpletely on a water bath, dissolve the residue in 10ml of 1% hydrochloric acid solution and filter. Transfer the filtrate to 3 test tubes, 1nl each add 1 dropof potassium iodobismuthate TS to one tube, an orange red precipitate is produced. Add 1 drop of potassium mercuric iodide TS to another tube, a greyish yellow precipitate is produced. Add 1drop of silicotungstic acid TS to the third tube, a milky white precipitate is produced.3.To the insoluble residue obatined on adding 1% hydrochloric acid solution under Identification test (2), add 10ml of 10% sodium hydroxide solution, heat under reflux on a water bath for 30 minutes and allow to cool. Transfer the mixture to a separator, extract with 20ml of ether. Separate the ether layer and evaporate to dryness, dissolve to residue in 1ml of glacial acetic acid, add 1ml of a mixture containing 19 parts of acetic anhydride and 1 part of sulfuric acid, a yellow color is produced which changes gradually to a dull green color.

Processing  : Eliminate foreign matter and legumes and cut into sections.

Action  : To remove toxic heat, and to relieve the depressed liver and alleviate pain.

Indication  : jaundice with hypochondriac distress and epigastric distension and pain; acute and chronic hepatitis; mastitis

Precautions  :

Dosage  : 15 to 30 g.

Storage  : Preserve in a dru place.

Evidence or the Use of Abrus cantoniensis in the Treatment of Epilepesy

1st Five Results: pubmed search

Cheng-Jun Liu, Hong-Xin Li, Zi-Hao Chen, Jin-Jin Li, Wei Shi, Feng-Xiang Zhang
A review of the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of Abri Herba (Ji-Gu-Cao).
Phytochemistry: 2024, 221;114064
[PubMed:38508326] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Hongjie Hu, Wenjing Sun, Lifang Zhang, Yuan Zhang, Tiantian Kuang, Dongshuai Qu, Shuaitao Lian, Shanshan Hu, Ming Cheng, Yanping Xu, Song Liu, Yajing Qian, Yujie Lu, Lingzhi He, Yumeng Cheng, Hongbin Si
Carboxymethylated Abrus cantoniensis polysaccharide prevents CTX-induced immunosuppression and intestinal damage by regulating intestinal flora and butyric acid content.
Int J Biol Macromol: 2024, 261(Pt 1);129590
[PubMed:38266859] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Jiali He, Leping Chen, Ping Wang, Bohong Cen, Jinxia Li, Yerong Wei, Xiangcao Yao, Zhongyuan Xu
Network pharmacology and experimental validation of effects of total saponins extracted from Abrus cantoniensis Hance on acetaminophen-induced liver injury.
J Ethnopharmacol: 2024, 324;117740
[PubMed:38219885] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Linzhen Li, Yangli Tu, Xiangjie Dai, Shengjia Xiao, Zhiyi Tang, Yi Wu, Dalia Fouad, Farid Shokry Ataya, Khalid Mehmood, Kun Li
The effect of Abrus cantoniensis Hance on liver damage in mice.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf: 2023, 266;115560
[PubMed:37827094] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Kexin Cao, Jianhua Chen, Rongshao Huang, Rumei Lu, Xiao Zhou, Yuanyuan Bu, Liangbo Li, Chun Yao
Metabolomics analysis reveals the differences between Abrus cantoniensis Hance and Abrus mollis Hance.
BMC Plant Biol: 2023, 23(1);375
[PubMed:37525109] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I e)