Pfaffia paniculata herb
health benefit - also known as Suma herb, dosage, usage, Brazilian ginseng
Feb 28 2016
Pfaffia paniculata is known as Brazilian ginseng and is used to improve energy level and vitality. There is very little human research with this herb, and our knowledge regarding the clinical uses is in its infancy. Pfaffia paniculata is the botanical name for suma herb. It is not a strong erectile dysfunction herb.
Suma, Pfaffia paniculata
herb for breast
cancer
Cytotoxic effects of butanolic extract from Pfaffia paniculata (Brazilian
ginseng) on cultured human breast cancer cell line MCF-7.
Exp Toxicol Pathol. 2009; Nagamine MK, da Silva TC, Matsuzaki P, Pinello
KC, Cogliati B, Pizzo CR, Haraguchi M, Górniak SL, Sinhorini IL, Rao
KV, Barbuto JA, Dagli ML. Nagamine MK, da Silva TC, Matsuzaki P, Pinello KC,
Cogliati B, Pizzo CR, Akisue G, Górniak SL, Sinhorini IL, Rao KV,
Barbuto JA, Dagli ML. Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo, SP,
Brazil.
Roots of Pfaffia paniculata, suma, have been well documented for multifarious
therapeutic values and have also been used for cancer therapy in folk medicine.
This study has been performed in a human breast tumor cell line, the MCF-7
cells. These are the most commonly used model of estrogen-positive breast
cancer, and it has been originally established in 1973 at the Michigan Cancer
Foundation from a pleural effusion taken from a woman with metastatic breast
cancer. Butanolic extract of the roots of Pfaffia paniculata showed cytotoxic
effect MCF-7 cell line. Cells treated with butanolic extract showed degeneration
of cytoplasmic components and profound morphological and nuclear alterations.
The results show that this Pfaffia paniculata butanolic extract indeed presents
cytotoxic substances, and its fractions merit further investigations.
Pfaffia paniculataas
cancer
research
Pfaffia paniculata (Brazilian ginseng) methanolic extract reduces angiogenesis
in mice.
Exp Toxicol Pathol. 2007. Laboratory of Experimental Oncology,
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny,
University of São Paulo, Av Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva, São Paulo, SP,
Brazil.
Pfaffia paniculata roots have been indicated for the treatment of several
diseases. Our studies have shown that they
present antineoplastic effects and cancer chemopreventive activity in a mouse
liver cancer model. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of
Pfaffia paniculata on corneal angiogenesis in mice. We first
conducted a toxicological study employing 250, 500, or 1000mg/kg/day of the methanolic
extract of Pfaffia
paniculata roots by gavage to BALB/c mice. Animals did
not lose weight during the treatment nor presented histopathological
alterations. Male mice were treated, by gavage, once a day, with
doses of 250, 500, or 1000mg/kg of methanolic extract of
Pfaffia
paniculata
powdered root for 10 days; filtered water was used as control. Corneal
cauterization was accomplished by the contact of a silver nitrate crystal on the
central area of the cornea, in the 5th day of treatment with
Pfaffia
paniculata, which continued
thereafter; the animals were euthanized on the 6th day after cauterization.
Newly formed blood vessels were filled with India ink, and the corneas were
routinely processed.
A smaller total area of neovascularization in the mouse cornea was observed in
animals treated with 1000mg/kg of the methanolic extract of
Pfaffia
paniculata. These
results indicate an antiangiogenic effect of this extract. The mechanisms of
this antiangiogenic activity of
Pfaffia
paniculata should be further investigated.
Effects of Pfaffia paniculata (Brazilian ginseng)
extract on macrophage activity.
Life Sci. 2006. Laboratory of Experimental
Oncology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, University of São Paulo,
São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
The roots of Pfaffia paniculata have been indicated for the treatment of several
diseases and as an analgesic and antiinflamatory drug. The aim of this study was
to investigate experimentally the effects of the methanolic extract of P.
paniculata roots on macrophage activity. Male mice received, by gavage, once a
day, different doses (100, 250, or 500 mg/kg) of the methanolic extract of
Pfaffia paniculata or filtered water, as control, for 10 days. Macrophage
activity was evaluated through the phagocytosis index (PI), spreading index (SI),
production of peroxide oxigen and nitric oxide. The peritoneal cells were
activated with ip inoculation of Ehrlich ascitic cells, 24 h before the
macrophage harvesting. The methanolic extract raised significantly the SI of
mice from group of 500 mg/kg in comparison with the control group and group of
100 mg/kg. This raise of SI possibly induced the higher phagocytic activity
observed in the experimental situation. Increased macrophage activity may be one
of the effects contributing to inhibition of the Ehrlich ascitic tumor growth in
mice.
Antineoplastic effects of butanolic residue of
Pfaffia paniculata.
Cancer Lett. 2006. Departamento de Patologia,
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av.
Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva,, São Paulo-SP, Brazil.
We have previously reported a reduction in the accumulation of ascitic fluid in
Ehrlich tumor-bearing mice following treatment with the powdered roots of
Pfaffia paniculata. The aim of this study was to investigate which extracts from
these roots presented antineoplastic properties. Thus, the effects of the
ethanolic extract, butanolic residue, or aqueous residue from Pfaffia paniculata
on animal survival and tumor growth in mice bearing this tumor were studied.
Butanolic residue-treated mice survived longer than untreated mice. This result
points to an antineoplastic effect exerted by the butanolic fraction from the
roots of Pfaffia paniculata on this tumor model.f
Composition and ingredients
Triterpenoids from Brazilian Ginseng, Pfaffia paniculata.
Planta Med. 2009. Li J, Jadhav AN, Khan IA. Department of Pharmacognosy,
School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA.
Two new nortriterpenoids, pfaffine A and B,
were isolated from the roots, along with ten known compounds including four
ecdysteroids, ecdysone, 20-hydroxyecdysone, pterosterone, rapisterone, five triterpenoids, pfaffic acid, pfameric acid, mesembryanthemoidigenic acid, calenduloside E 6'-methyl ester, oleanolic acid 28- O- beta-D-glucopyranoside, and one monoterpene
glycoside (+)-angelicoidenol-2- O- beta-D-glucopyranoside.
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2013 Apr 15;77:76-82. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2013.01.010. Epub 2013 Jan 11.Development of an analytical method for the quantification of pfaffic acid in Brazilian ginseng (Hebanthe eriantha).Rodrigues MV1, Souza Kde P, Rehder VL, Vilela GF, Montanari Júnior I, Figueira GM, Rath S.Author informationAbstractHebanthe eriantha (Poir.) Pedersen (Amaranthaceae), which is known as Brazilian ginseng is widely used in folk medicine as an aphrodisiac and antidiabetic tonic. The anti-tumor activity, attributed to the pfaffic acid present in roots of H. eriantha, is responsible for the great interest in the commercialization of this species. In Brazil, the species H. eriantha is mainly used in commercial preparations, although other plants of the genus Pfaffia and Hebanthe have been marketed as Pfaffia paniculata or Brazilian ginseng. The pfaffic acid present in the roots is mainly conjugated with sugars (pfaffosides) and can be used as an active marker of H. eriantha, which helps to differentiate this species from others marketed as Brazilian ginseng. The main objective of this study was to develop and validate a liquid chromatographic method to quantify pfaffic acid in the roots of H. eriantha. The extraction and hydrolysis conditions were optimized using an univariate and experimental design, respectively, and the quantification of pfaffic acid by high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) was validated. This method was used to evaluate the pfaffic acid content in 30 different genotypes of the species from a germplasm collection. The content of pfaffic acid ranged from 0.97 to 4.29% (w/w) on a dry weight basis.