(Ligustrum lucidum W.T. Aiton
Parts used : fruit
Description:
Glossy privet is also referred to as broad-leaf privet. It is an evergreen shrub, or small tree, which grows to a height of 4 to 12m tall with glossy, 4 to 15cm, pointed oval-shaped
leaves arranged in opposite pairs. The tubular, cream or white, sickly sweet smelling flowers appear in late summer and are borne in large branched clusters (8 to 25cm long) at the tips of the stems. The small berry-like fruits have a hard center (they are actually called drupes) and turn bluish ,black or purplish-black in color as they mature. These fruits (5 to 10mm long and 4 to 6mm wide) are oval or round in shape and each usually contain two seeds. Glossy privet is a weed of potential national significance in Australia where it causes widespread environmental damage. It is regarded as an environmental weed, or potential environmental weed, in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, and is currently of most concern in south eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales. It is also a serious invasive species in several other countries including New Zealand, Argentina, Spain, Italy, South Africa, the Midwest and southeast U.S.
Glossy privet has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 1000 years where it is known as nu-zhen-zi. Nu means female, zhen means chaste and zi means fruit. It is used mainly to treat menopausal problems, blurred vision, tinnitus, rheumatic pains, palpitations, backache and insomnia, as well as to alleviate age-related symptoms. It has long been used for the treatment of osteoporosis in China. The name is based on the idea that evergreen trees like glossy privet are symbols of female chastity. The Latin lucidum means bright or shiny and refers to the glossy leaves. It is used mainly to treat menopausal problems, blurred vision, tinnitus, rheumatic pains, palpitations, backache, insomnia as well as to alleviate age-related symptoms. It was first described in the Chinese Materia Medica, Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (anonymous, ca.200 B.C). In the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) it is used for maintaining healthy energy, to improve eyesight, nourish the liver and kidneys and promote the growth of black hair. It is a commonly prescribed herbal material in a number of formulae used to tonify the kidneys and strengthen bone. Therefore glossy privet has long been used for the treatment of osteoporosis in China and is a component of many herbal formulae for this condition.
Herbal Actions:
• Antiviral- A Substance that inhibits the growth of viruses
• Antioxidant – A Substance which protects against oxidation and free radical damage
• Immunomodulating –A substance that which modulates and balances the activity of the immune system
• Chemotherapeutic – A substance used in treatment of cancer
• Chemo preventive- A substance that prevents the development of cancer
• Antiosteoporosis – A Substance that inhibits or to slow or stop bone loss, and to improve bone density.
• Hypolipidaemic- A substance assists by producing or resulting from a decrease in the level of lipids in the blood
• Hypoglycemic – A substance that decreases blood glucose levels
Heptoprocetive- A substance that protects hepatocytes (liver cells) against toxic damage
Indications /prescribing:
Improving immune function, reducing side effects of chemotherapy, cancer prevention
• Osteoporosis, menopause
• Hepatic disease, invigorating the liver and kidney
• Diabetes
• Rheumatism
• Vertigo
• Common cold, congestion
• Constipation
• Chronic fatigue syndrome, debility
• Weak or blurred vision, spots before the eyes, macular degeneration
• Tinnitus
• Premature greying of hair
Constituents :
Oleanolic acids are the major pharmacologically active
components. Also present are triterpenes, secoiridoid
glucosides, volatile components, flavonoids and phenolic compounds.
Pharmacological Activity :
Hepatoprotective and antiviral activity In vivo and in vitro studies Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects up to 170 million people worldwide and causes signifi cant morbidity and mortality. Current therapy is only curative in approximately 50% of HCV patients and has adverse side effects which warrants the need to develop effective antivirals against HCV. In a 2013 study Chinese researchers found that glossy privet strongly suppressed HCV replication. The researchers previously reported that it directly inhibited the activity of an enzyme that is essential for HCV. Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid are two antiviral components within glossy privet that significantly suppressed the replication of the enzyme. Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid exhibited antiHCV activity at least partly by suppressing the enzyme’s activity as noncompetitive inhibitors. A recent study demonstrated that the fractions of chloroform and butanol derived from glossy privet, which were enriched with oleanolic acid, presented a dose dependent protection against induced hepatic injury in vivo. The promising hepatoprotective action may be associated with the enhancement of hepatic glutathione regeneration capacity, particularly under conditions of induced oxidative stress.
Oleuropein, a secoiridoid glucoside isolated from glossy privet, showed signifi cant antiviral activities against respiratory syncytial virus and parainfl uenza type 3 virus in an in vitro study. Three other secoiriodoid glucosides isolated from ligustrum, lucidumoside C, oleoside dimethylester and
ligustroside showed potent or moderate antiviral activities
against parainfluenza type 3 virus.
Anticancer and antioxidant activity In vivo and in vitro studies Glossy privet displayed significant antioxidant properties in a 2016 study determining the total phenol and flavonoid contents of eleven Chinese fruit extracts. These properties may contribute to in vitro antioxidant activities. Among the fruits studied glossy privet had the largest phenolic content (94mg/g) and its endopolysaccharides contained a significant amount of phenolic compounds (77mg/g). Some of the fruit extracts showed a strong correlation between different evaluation methods which suggests that antioxidants in these fruits possess free radical scavenging activity and oxidant reducing power. The researchers concluded that glossy privet could be used in herbal formulations for the prevention of diseases caused by free radicals in biological systems like cancer and therefore could be considered as antioxidant and a cancer therapeutic agent.
Glossy privet is one of the most frequently used liver/kidney Yin tonifying Chinese herbs for the treatment of liver cancer however the effect of glossy privet on hepatocarcinoma cells remains unknown. As a tonic Chinese herb glossy privet is effective in improving chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression, alopecia and immunosuppression. It has also been used to enhance the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy in TCM clinical practice. Glossy privet has displayed antiproliferative potential against lung and
pancreatic carcinoma, breast and prostate adenocarcinoma, glioma and colorectal carcinoma. In a 2014 study researchers evaluated the effects of glossy privet on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The results showed that it inhibited the proliferation of the cells in a dose and time dependent manner .These observations suggest that glossy privet is a potential anticancer herb and support its traditional use for
hepatocarcinoma treatment.14 Korean researchers performed an experiment to investigate whether glossy privet (extracted with methyl alcohol) affected glioma (brain) tumour growth. The results showed that in vitro glioma cell death could be caused by regulating an intracellular signaling pathway important in regulating the cell cycle. The study was undertaken to determine the underlying mechanism by which glossy privet exerts anticancer properties in human glioma cells. The glossy privet extracts resulted in cell death in a dose and time dependent manner. This suggests that it may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for malignant human gliomas. returned to normal more quickly after they had been exposed to chemotherapeutic agents. In vivo studies have found that glossy privet and astragalus can inhibit the growth of renal cell carcinoma. The study suggests that the herbs may have exerted their antitumour effects via augmentation of phagocyte and lymphokine activated killer cell activities. The ethanol extract of glossy privet was shown to have inhibitory effects on the induced haemolysis (rupturing) of red blood cells in vitro. Analysis led to the isolation of ten secoiridoid glucosides. Five compounds oleoside dimethyl ester, oleuropein, neonuezhenide, lucidumoside B and lucidumoside C exhibited strong antioxidant effect against
haemolysis of red blood cells induced by free radicals. In a 2012 study researchers demonstrated the antioxidant and protective properties of crude extract and fractions from glossy privet against induced oxidative damage in vitro. The phenolic-enriched ethyl acetate fraction, whose major components are hydroxytyrosol and salidroside, was the most active part in scavenging free radicals and increasing
the levels of antioxidant enzymes. A recent study investigated the antioxidant activities of an
ethanol extract of glossy privet and its effects on induced oxidative stress in vivo. The results showed that glossy privet possesses weak antioxidant activities. The protective effect of glossy privet against induced oxidative stress in rats could be through the upregulation of antioxidant enzymes.
Immunomodulating activity:
In vivo and in vitro studies A 2016 study has found that ligustrum polysaccharides may improve the immunologic functions of immunosuppressed animals providing a pharmacological basis for the development of glossy privet into antineoplastic and anticancer drugs used together with chemotherapeutic drugs. The study found that glossy privet polysaccharides could markedly improve the
immune functions of induced immunosuppression in vivo. A 2012 study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro immunomodulatory effects of glossy privet on immune cells in piglets. The results indicated that it might have potential immunomodulatory effects on the piglet’s immune system. Glossy privet may improve antioxidant status and immune function. An in vivo study was conducted to evaluate the
effects of dietary supplementation with different levels of two extracts, an aqueous extract of glossy privet and an ethanol extract of Schisandra chinensis on growth performance, parameters of antioxidative status and spleen lymphocyte proliferation of chickens respectively. Glossy privet contains immunomodulatory components which may be useful in the immunotherapy of disease an in vitro study found. The biological effects of extracts of glossy privet and Astragalus membranaceus on lymphocyte blastogenesis
was assessed.
An in vitro study into human cellular response compared the T cell response of 19 cancer patients with 15 healthy subjects. Researchers found that cells pretreated with glossy privet . They attributed this activity to a nonspecific immune activation by glossy privet. The in vitro restorative effect of aqueous extracts from glossy privet and Astragalus membranaceus was studied. The results suggest that both extracts contain potent immune stimulants which may provide the rational basis for their therapeutic use as biological response modifiers. Methanol and hot-water extracts of glossy privet have inhibited the mutagenic activity of bacteria in vitro. Glossy privet and Astragalus may exert their antitumour activity via elimination of tumour-associated macrophage suppression. In previous in vitro studies the herbs have been shown modulate the immune response.
Hypoglycemic activity:
In vivo and in vitro studies The antioxidant ability of the constituent oleanolic acid might be one of the mechanisms for its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects a recent study found. The study evaluated the antidiabetic and antioxidant effects of ligustrum in induced diabetic rats. Oleanolic acid showed significant hypoglycaemic activity by lowering blood glucose (at doses of 60 and 100mg/kg for 40 days). The levels of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the oleanolic-treated diabetic rats were lower, and the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was higher
than in the control diabetic rats. The results indicate that oleanolic acid could protect the liver function.34
In an earlier study the same researchers found that oleanolic acid treatment might stimulate insulin release and consequently results in the modulation of glucose levels and regulation of lipid metabolism. The Chinese study determined whether oleanolic acid is the principal active compound of
glossy privet responsible for its antidiabetic properties and examined its effect on the expression of thyroid hormones and insulin secretion, thus revealing the mechanism by which it modulates insulin levels in diabetes. The results indicated that oleanolic acid has hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic
effects.
Antiosteoporosis activity :
In vivo and in vitro studies Glossy privet is a commonly prescribed herb in many kidney tonifying traditional Chinese medicinal formulas to alleviate osteoporosis. In previous studies glossy privet has been shown to have an osteoprotective effect in aged rats or rats with their ovaries removed. A 2014 study investigated the effects of a glossy privet ethanol extract on bone mineral density and mechanical properties in growing male rats and explored the underlying mechanisms. The results demonstrated that
glossy privet increased bone mineral density of growing rats and improved their bone microarchitecture and mechanical properties. The study extends the evidence of glossy privet’s favorable effects on circulating levels of vitamin D and calcium balance to both male and female growing rats.
Several possible mechanisms appear to underlie these effects, including up-regulation of calcium absorption related to gene expression in the kidney and duodenum, which could then activate vitamin D dependent calcium transport. It also suggests that in male rats at least, an increased bone mass
gain and improved bone properties can be achieved through chronic glossy privet ingestion during the growing stage. This is of interest as optimizing peak bone mass in early life is one of the key preventive measures against osteoporosis. Glossy privet has long been used for the treatment of
osteoporosis in China but the ant osteoporotic compounds are still poorly understood. Oestrogen deficiency and oxidative stress are considered two major factors that cause osteoporosis. A 2013 study investigated the osteogenic constituents of glossy privet. Eight compounds, namely tyrosol, tyrosyl acetate, hydroxytyrosol, salidroside, oleoside dimethyl ester, oleoside-7-ethyl-11-methyl ester, nuzhenide
and G13 were isolated and identified. The results indicate that the antiosteoporotic effect of glossy privet is derived from different compounds together with different mechanisms. Chinese researchers first reported glossy privet induced increased bone calcium content, reduced calcium loss through
increased intestinal absorption and reduced urinary excretion, and prevention of increased bone turnover by suppression of both serum osteocalcin and urinary deoxypyridinoline levels n rats with their ovaries removed.
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- Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China; English Edition
Herbal Tincture /Liquid Extract 50 Ml Glossy Privet – Cullulla Rd
Rosemarie
Naturopath, Equine herbalist, Iridologist
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