Amomum villosum. A. xanthoides, Wurfbainia villosa.  砂 仁  Shā rén   Cardamon   Family: Zingiberaceae    
Amomum xanthoides- Black cardamon.
PART USED: Ripe fruit
Nature: Warm     FLAVOR: Pungent, acrid, aromatic  CHANNELS: Spleen Stomach, Kidney
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Aromatic Damp Resolving
1. Transforms Dampness and stops vomiting. Stimulates Energy circulation.[4] Regulates the middle Heater.[1] Alleviates pain.[1] Regulates Energy, particularly in chest (depression and tightness).[3] Regulates Stomach and Spleen.[3]
2. Promote Qi circulation and strengthens the Stomach.[4]
2. Calms the fetus.[4]
INDICATIONS- used in herbal prescriptiosn with tonifying herbs to prevent them from causing stagnation.[4]
1. Chronic indigestion due to deficiency, or after illness:[3] no appetite after illness, unable to digest.
2. Dampness distresses the Spleen or Stomach with discomfort in the epigastrium, nausea, abodminal pain and diarrhea.[1]
3. Los of appetite or epigastric or abdominal distention.[4] Indigestion and gas collection in Stomach and Spleen, cramps, abdominal distension, hiccups, vomiting, Cold dominant diarrhea and dysentery.[1,4] Stomach ache which is more severe after eating-[4] or suffer from flatulence.[3] Weak Stomach and Spleen.[3]
4. Morning sickness in pregnancy.[3,4] Restless fetus.[3,4]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Because Sha ren is warm in nature and acrid, Yin deficiency and internal Heat are contraindicated.[3,4]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Decoction - Dry ripe fruit 1.5-6 g.[1,3,4] When used in decoctions the herb should be added near the end. Should be crushed prior to use. Good quality is large, solid, and aromatic.
  
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research

Exploring antimicrobial mechanism of essential oil of Amomum villosum Lour through metabolomics based on gas chromatography- mass spectrometry in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Cailin Tang, Jiali Chen, Yang Zhou, Ping Ding, Guozhen He, Lixia Zhang, Zhimin Zhao, Depo Yang
Abstract
Amomum villosum Lour (A. villosum Lour) has medicinal properties and has been widely used in China for many years. Herein we aimed to investigate the antibacterial mechanism and the metabolome variation caused by A. villosum Lour essential oil (EO) in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The metabolite profile of MRSA was acquired, and metabolic pathways were assessed for significant alterations caused upon treating bacterial cells with EO, the antibacterial mechanism of EO was further investigated in combination with multiple experiments. Metabolomics analysis revealed that 72 metabolites and 10 pathways were significantly affected. EO specifically disrupted amino acid metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and also inhibited adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) synthesis. Furthermore, the activities of pivotal enzymes involved in the TCA cycle were suppressed. Increased ROS levels could decrease the sensitivity of MRSA to EO, improving the survival of EO-treated MRSA cells. Our data indicate that A. villosum Lour EO causes metabolic dysfunction in MRSA, leading to reduced ROS levels, disruption of the TCA cycle, inhibition of ATP synthesis, and suppression of the activities of key enzymes.
Microbiol Res 2021 Jan:242:126608. doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2020.126608. Epub 2020 Sep 25. PMID: 33068829 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Therapeutic Effect of Amomum villosum on Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Rats
Zhu Chen, Wanye Ni, Caixia Yang, Ting Zhang, Shanhong Lu, Ronghua Zhao, Xiaojian Mao, Jie Yu
Abstract
Introduction:Amomum villosum Lour., a herbaceous plant in the ginger family, has been proven to be effective in treating gastrointestinal diseases. It has been listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia as a legal source of Amomi Fructus. In our previous study, we demonstrated that treatment with extracts of A. villosum prevented the development and progression of intestinal mucositis. In the current study, we aimed to verify and explain the potential beneficial effects of A. villosum on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods: The effect of water extracts (WEAV) and volatile oil of A. villosum (VOAV) were evaluated on the immunological role of T lymphocytes and intestinal microecology in IBD rats induced with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). Body weight, food intake, colon length/weight, and disease activity index (DAI) as well as tissue damage scores were evaluated. The inflammatory response to IBD was assessed by measuring the expression of myeloperoxidase, interleukin (IL)-17 (IL-17), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). The percentage of regulatory CD4+ T cells in rat spleen was measured by flow cytometry and effects on the microbial community were evaluated by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Results: All TNBS-induced rats showed typical clinical manifestations of IBD. IBD rats in the WEAV and VOAV treatment groups were effective in relieving body weight and appetite loss. Middle and high dosage of VOAV and WEAV significantly reduced the DAI, and tissue damage scores, whereas colon weight/length ratio was increase. All rats in the WEAV and VOAV groups showed significantly decreased IFN-γ levels and increased levels of IL-10 and TGF-β. Moreover, we observed that the percentage of regulatory CD4+ T cells was significantly enhanced during treatment with WEAV. In addition, administration of WEAV and VOAV effectively inhibited the release of enterogenic endotoxin, increased short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria belonging to Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, and decreased the abundance of Proteobacteria. Conclusion: Treatment with WEAV and VOAV significantly attenuated intestinal inflammation in IBD rats, which was possibly associated with its regulation on inflammatory cytokine and CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T cells. Moreover, WEAV and VOAV may help maintaining the balance of intestinal microecology.
Front Pharmacol . 2018 Jun 20:9:639. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00639. eCollection 2018. PMID: 29973876 PMCID: PMC6019447 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Dietary Supplement of Amomum villosum Lour. Polysaccharide Attenuates Ulcerative Colitis in BALB/c Mice
Donghui Luo, Jiao Zeng, Jingjing Guan, Yuanyuan Xu, Rui-Bo Jia, Jin Chen, Guili Jiang, Chunxia Zhou
Abstract
Amomum villosum Lour. (A. villosum), a comestible medicinal plant, has been traditionally used in China to treat diarrhea, stomach fullness, and abdominal distension. Polysaccharide, the main chemical component of A. villosum, has been shown to possess potential antioxidant and glycosidase inhibitory activities; however, whether it has anticolitis activity is unknown. The aim of this research was to evaluate the anticolitis effects of A. villosum polysaccharide (AVLP) in BALB/c mice. The results showed that AVLP administration significantly reversed body weight loss, colon shortening and colon weight gain and decreased the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in colitis mice (p < 0.05). AVLP administration also maintained intestinal barrier function by the upregulation of ZO-1 protein expression (p < 0.05). In addition, high-throughput sequencing analysis showed that AVLP possessed a great regulatory effect on the growth of Adlercreutzia, Clostridium, Streptococcus, Parabacteroides, Helicobacter, Odoribacter, and Alistipes (p < 0.05, LDA score > 2). The correlation analysis revealed that the protective effects against colitis of AVLP were highly correlated with intestinal bacterium regulation. These results suggest that AVLP intake could serve as a prospective nutritional strategy for inflammatory bowel diseases.
Foods. 2022 Nov 21;11(22):3737. doi: 10.3390/foods11223737. PMID: 36429334 PMCID: PMC9689959 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Amomum villosum induces longitudinal bone growth in adolescent female rats
Sun Haeng Lee 1, Ji Young Kim, Hocheol Kim, Seul Ki Park, Cho Young Kim, Sun Yong Chung, Gyu Tae Chang
Abstract
Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Amomum villosum on longitudinal bone growth.
Methods: Adolescent female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups and treated for 4 days: control (distilled water, p.o.), recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; 100 microg/kg, s.c.), and A. villosum (500 mg/kg, p.o.) groups. On day 3, tetracycline (20 g/kg, i.p.) was injected for growth plate identification. On days 2, and 4, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) (50 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected to label proliferating cells. On day 5, tibias were dissected and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde, dehydrated, and sectionedfor immunohistochemistry and histomorphometry.
Results: The rate of bone growth in the A. villosum and rhGH groups increased to (410 +/- 44) and (389 +/- 46) microm/day (P<0.01), respectively, as compared with the control (330.7 +/- 34.7) microm/day. The thickness of the growth plates also increased to (591 +/- 37) and (598 +/- 32) microm, respectively, as compared with the control (524 +/- 89) microm (P<0.001). The number of BrdU-positive cells in the chondrocytes of the A. villosum and rhGH groups was also significantly higher (126 +/- 24) and (143 +/- 18) cells/mm2, respectively) than in the control (109 +/- 25) mm2 (P<0.05). Insulin-like growth factor-1 and bone morphogenetic protein-2 in the A. villosum and rhGH groups were highly expressed in the growth plate as compared with the control samples, indicating increased bone formation.
J Tradit Chin Med . 2012 Sep;32(3):453-8. doi: 10.1016/s0254-6272(13)60054-0. PMID: 23297572 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Efficacy and Mechanism of Active Fractions in Fruit of Amomum villosum Lour. for Gastric Cancer
Jianjun Yue, Shulei Zhang, Bo Zheng, Faisal Raza, Zuhan Luo, Xiaohua Li, Yongyu Zhang, Qu Nie, Mingfeng Qiu
Abstract
Amomi Fructus is the dried ripe fruit of Amomum villosum Lour. (A. villosum). It is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine widely used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, while the efficacy or mechanism of main components in Amomi Fructus on cancer treatment remains unknown. In this study, volatile oil of A. villosum (VOAV), total flavonoids of A. villosum (FNAV) and the other residue of A. villosum (RFAV) were distilled, extracted and separated as different active fractions of A. villosum. The cell toxicity test results indicated that VOAV and FNAV can effectively inhibit the cell growth of MFC cells. Flow cytometry test results confirmed that MFC cells were caused apoptosis after being treated with VOAV, FNAV or RFAV. VOAV, FNAV or RFAV induced MFC cells apoptosis through reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated mitochondrial pathway, evident by the increase of endogenous ROS and mitochondrial membrane potential collapse. In addition, FNAV exhibited robust inhibitory effects on MFC tumor growth, and could improve the health status of mice compared to that of mice in 5-FU treated group. To sum up, all the above results suggest that FNAV may be a good candidate for the development of new drugs for the treatment of gastric cancer.J Cancer
. 2021 Aug 20;12(20):5991-5998. doi: 10.7150/jca.61310. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34539873 PMCID: PMC8425199 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov