臺灣市售牛膝類藥材之藥理學研究

Pharmacological Studies on Niuxi Species in Taiwan

牛膝藥材的基原頗為複雜，商品名稱及來源亦很混亂，臺灣市售之牛膝藥材以牛膝(Achyranthes bidentata BLUME，市售稱懷牛膝)、川牛膝(Cyathula officinalis KUAN，市售稱杜牛膝)、味牛膝(Strobilanthes forrestii DIELS，市售誤稱川牛膝)三種為主。本研究根據牛膝之臨床應用，在治療腰膝酸痛方面做了鎮痛試驗；消癰腫方面做了抗炎試驗；在活血化瘀、引血下行方面做了對大白鼠正常血壓作用的影響及抗血小板凝集試驗，來評估並比較市售三種牛膝類藥材之藥理活性。藥理結果顯示在鎮痛及抗炎方面，三種牛膝皆有鎮痛及抗炎作用，其中以牛膝效價最佳，其次為川牛膝，味牛膝效價最差；對大白鼠正常血壓作用的影響，僅有牛膝具有降血壓作用；在抗血小板凝集方面則以川牛膝效果最好，此與中醫臨床用川牛膝長於活血化瘀之理論一致。因此從基原與藥理活性評估，臺灣充當川牛膝使用之味牛膝之其藥理活性最差，不應充當牛膝使用。

Niuxi has been used as an important drug in Chinese medicine since ancient times. However, the origins and commercial species of Niuxi are complicated and often misused in Taiwan. Three major species are Achyranthes bidentata B□ (NX-1). Cyathula officinalis K□ (NX-2) and Strobilanthes forrestii D□ (NX-3). According to the Chinese ancient literature of successive generations, Niuxi can quicken the blood and transform stasis, free the channels and hasten birth, disinhibit the joints, strengthen the sinew and bones, supplement the liver and kidney, conduct blood downward, disinhibit water and free strangury. These indications imply that Niuxi may possess hypotensive, antiplatelet aggregation, analgesic, anti- inflammatory and antitumor effects. The origin of Niuxi is Achyranthes bidentata (Amaranthaceae). However, people mistake the root of Strobilanthes forrestii (Acanthaceae) for the root of Cyathula officinalis (Amaranthaceae) in Taiwan. Therefore, we compared the above mentioned pharmacological effects of the methanol extracts of the three commercially available Niuxi species. The results showed that all three species exhibited analgesic and anti- inflammatory effects. NX-1 showed strongest effect followed by NX-2 and NX-3 showed least effect. Only NX-l showed hypotensive effect, whilst NX-2 and NX-3 did not. NX-2 inhibited the platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid and collagen. Our results showed that NX-3 exhibited least biological activity among the three, and should not be used to substitute either Achyranthis Radix or Cyathulae Radix.