06/13/2019 / By Evangelyn Rodriguez
The plant Vitex rotundifolia, known as beach vitex in English and man jing zi in traditional Chinese medicine, is widely studied for its medicinal properties. The ancient Chinese used it to treat a wide variety of ailments, ranging from eye problems and headaches to menstrual disorders. But what beach vitex is well-known for today is its anticancer activity. Several studies show that beach vitex can be a potent antiproliferative agent against various cancer cells, including breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. A recent study conducted by researchers from Andong National University in South Korea investigated the mechanisms behind its biological activity against colorectal cancer cells, particularly its inhibitory effect on the down-regulation of cyclin D1 and CDK4, which are proteins associated with cancer cell proliferation. The results of their study were published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine.
Beach vitex is a salt-tolerant shrub known for its therapeutic properties. In TCM, beach vitex, particularly its leaves and fruit (Victis Fructus, VF), are used to treat inflammation, headache, migraine, chronic bronchitis, eye pain, and gastrointestinal infections. Recognized by its Chinese name man jing zi, VF is believed to act on the Bladder, Liver, and Stomach channels to disperse wind and clear heat. It is also used in combination with other herbs to make herbal remedies for maladies that involve swelling, spasms, and pain.
The herbal medicine man jing zi is also used to treat menstrual and menopausal disorders. Man jing zi is said to increase the production of luteinizing hormone, a hormone that controls the ovarian function in females and testes function in males. It also inhibits the release of follicle-stimulating hormone, which shifts the ratio of estrogens to gestagens in favor of the latter and causes a corpus luteum hormone effect. Man jing zi helps normalize milk production, regulates menstruation, stimulates progesterone synthesis, and regulates estrogen to alleviate symptoms of PMS and menopause.
Studies done on beach vitex have resulted in the discovery of many of its chemical components. VF and the leaves of beach vitex contain a variety of phytochemicals, such as flavones, monoterpenes, diterpenes, alkaloids, sesquiterpenoids, glucosides, and aryl napthalenes norlignans. Other components of beach vitex that have notable biological activities according to in vitro studies are as follows:
Korean researchers recently investigated the inhibitory effect of VF on the down-regulation of cyclin D1 and CDK4, two proteins associated with cancer cell proliferation. The molecular mechanisms by which VF inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells have not been elucidated in detail. Based on their experiments, the researchers reported the following:
The results demonstrated that the anticancer activity of beach vitex fruit or man jing Zi is due to its ability to suppress the expression of proteins necessary for cell proliferation. The researchers concluded that VF has the potential to be a candidate for the development of chemoprevention or therapeutic agents for human colorectal cancer.
Sources include:
Tagged Under: alternative medicine, anticancer, Beach vitex, cancer cures, chemoprevention, Colorectal Cancer, disease treatments, dried fruit, herbal medicine, Herbs, natural cures, natural medicine, phytochemicals, prevention, remedies, research, TCM, therapeutic agents, traditional Chinese medicine, Victis Fructus, Vitex rotundifolia
COPYRIGHT © 2017 RESEARCH NEWS