Pseudostellaria heterophylla

Pseudostellaria heterophylla (Miq.) Pax is more commonly called Hai Er Shen (Kid Ginseng), Tai Zi Shen (Prince Ginseng) or False Starwort. It is a member of the Caryphyllaceae family and regularly used in Chinese herbal medicine.

The herb is used as a treatment for lung damage generated by overheating, asthma, cough and emphysema. It has also been prescribed for treating spleen damage.

Tyrosinase inhibitory cyclic peptides called pseudostellarins AC, DF and G have been isolated (Morita et al., 1994a, b, c). Another, denoted B has been isolated using a high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) with a two-phase solvent system (Han et al., 2007).

Aqueous root extracts are claimed to have relatively weak antioxidant activity (Ng et al., 2004). A Kunitz-type trypsin protease inhibitor and a lectin were isolated from the roots. The trypsin inhibitor is linked to antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum (Wand & Ng, 2006).

References

Morita, H., Kayashita, T., Kobata, H., Gonda, A., Takeya, K., & Itokawa, H. (1994a). Pseudostellarins A-C, new tyrosinase inhibitory cyclic peptides from Pseudostellaria heterophylla. Tetrahedron, 50(23), pp. 6797-6804 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)81333-8

Morita, H., Kayashita, T., Kobata, H., Gonda, A., Takeya, K., & Itokawa, H. (1994b). Pseudostellarins D-F, new tyrosinase inhibitory cyclic peptides from Pseudostellaria heterophylla. Tetrahedron, 50(33), pp. 9975-9982 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)89612-5

Morita, H., Kobata, H., Takeya, K., & Itokawa, H. (1994c). Pseudostellarin G, a new tyrosinase inhibitory cyclic octapeptide from Pseudostellaria heterophylla. Tetrahedron letters, 35(21), pp. 3563-3564. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4039(00)73238-2

Ng, T.B., Liu, F., Wang, H.X. (2004) The antioxidant effects of aqueous and organic extracts of Panax quinquefolium, Panax notoginseng, Codonopsis pilosula, Pseudostellaria heterophylla and Glehnia littoralis. J. Ethnopharmacology. 93(2-3) pp. 285-288 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2004.03.040

Wang, H. X., & Ng, T. B. (2006). Concurrent isolation of a Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor with antifungal activity and a novel lectin from Pseudostellaria heterophylla roots. Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 342(1), 349-353. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2006.01.109