Aucklandia lappa. Saussurea lappa   木 香 Mù xiāng   Costus root   
      FLAVOR: Pungent, biting, bitter. CHANNELS: Spleen, Large Intestine
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Regulating Qi - relieve pain.[1,2]
1.Warm up middle region. Regulate Qi in the Large intestine.[3] Stop diarrhea.[3] Analgesic.[3] Strengthen Spleen and Stomach.[3]
2. Harmonize Stomach.
INDICATIONS
1. Abdominal pain- regulates stasis in Stomach and Intestines:[3] Indigestion, distended abdomen, abdominal pains, borborygmus.[1,2] Stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhea, dysentery.[1,2] Tenesmus. Poor apetite.[3]
2. Bacterial dysentery- use Xiang lian wan.
3. Watery diarrhea, Borborygmus.[3] Acute enteritis.[3]
4. Damp rash.[3]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Dry Heat. Deficiency Heat or Hot Blood.[3]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
- Damp rash, use with Chan tui, Fang feng and Qin jiu.[3]
PREPARATIONS: Decoction.  Root 2-5 g.[2,3] Decoction- Dried root 2.5-5 g or ground.[1]
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.
Research

Evaluation of Aucklandia lappa Decne extracts as antiulcer activity in animals.
Yang X, Zhang X, Yang SP, Le T, Chen B.
Abstract
Aucklandialappa Decne (ALD) is one of the traditional herbs to treat various kinds of disorders including asthma, cough, vomit, diarrhea, hepatitis and cholecystitis. However, its effects on indigestion and particularly antiulcer activity of ethanol extract have not been studied. In the study, the Aucklandia lappa Decne extract (ALDE) was investigated to see if it againstgastric injury effects through traditional pathways. Ethyl alcohol and epinephrine hydrochloride were used to induce acute gastric mucous membrane damage in adult SD rats and Kunming mice, respectively. This present study evaluated its effects on peptic ulcer of ALDE treatment in SD rats and Kunming mice. In acute gastric mucous membrane damage induced by ethyl alcohol in rats, the results indicated that three ALDE treatment groups highly significantly decreased the mucosal damage index as compared to the model group. Furthermore, this mucosal damage index of the mid-dose group significantly decreased while the high-range dose group highly significantly decreased, respectively, as compared to the SO group. The ulcer inhibition rate of low -dose, mid-dose and high-dose ALDE treatment groups reached 68.64%, 72.67% and 74.91%, respectively. In acute gastric mucous membrane damage induced by pyloric ligation in rats, the results indicated that three ALDE treatment groups highly significantly decreased the mucosal damage index as compared to the model group. The mucosal damage index of middose group significantly decreased while the high-range dose group highly significantly decreased, respectively as compared to the SO group. The ulcer inhibition rate of low-dise, mid-dose and high-dose ALDE treatment groups reached 68.64%, 72.67% and 74.91%, respectively. In acute gastric mucous membrane damage induced by pyloric ligation in rats, the results indicated that three ALDE treatment groups highly significantly decreased the mucosal damage index of, respectively, as compared to the model group. Furthermore, this mucosal damage index of the midrange dose group significantly decreased while the high-dose group highly significantly decreased, respectively, as compared to the SO group. The ulcer inhibition rate of low-dose, mid-dose and high-dose ALDE treatment groups reached 68.64%, 72.67% and 74.91%, respectively. Our results indicated that ALDE exhibits a marked effect on peptic ulcer activity in animals, which supports previous results of its use in traditional Chinese medicine.
PMID: 27731831 Pak J Pharm Sci. 2016 Sep;29(5):1695-1701. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Aucklandia lappa DC. extract enhances gefitinib efficacy in gefitinib-resistance secondary epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.
Huang G, Tong Y, He Q, Wang J, Chen Z.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
Aucklandia lappa DC. is a widely used medicinal plant in China, India and Pakistan for a long time. Previously, a number of different pharmacological experiments in vitro and in vivo have convincingly demonstrated the abilities of it to exhibit anticancer activities. Reynoutria japonica Houtt. has also been widely used as traditional Chinese medicinal plant. Previous studies have demonstrated that it is bioactive to exhibit anticancer activities.
AIM OF THE STUDY:
This study aims to investigate whether the extracts of Aucklandia lappa DC. and Reynoutria japonica Houtt. are capable of treating drug-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), providing support for novel usage beyond traditional uses.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Extracts combined with gefitinib have been tested taking the vulval development of transgenic C. elegans (jgIs25) as an effective and simple in vivo model system, evaluating their efficacy against acquired NSCLC. Synchronous larval 1 (L1) larvae were treated with extracts plus gefitinib and cultured to obtain mainly L4 larvae. The multivulva (Muv) phenotype was recorded at the adult stage.
RESULTS:
Our data showed that Aucklandia lappa DC. extract could significantly enhance the efficacy of gefitinib, suppressing the Muv phenotype of jgIs25. Meanwhile, it could also down-regulate the mRNA and protein expression of EGFR in jgIs25. Collectively, our results verified that the capability of Aucklandia lappa DC. to inhibit Muv phenotype may be based on the EGFR signaling pathway inhibition.
CONCLUSION:
We demonstrated that the co-administration of Aucklandia lappa DC. with gefitinib may provide an effective strategy for the therapy of EGFR inhibitor resistant NSCLCs.
PMID: 28619365 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2017.06.011 J Ethnopharmacol. 2017 Jul 12;206:353-362. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2017.06.011. Epub 2017 Jun 12. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Anti-allergic effects of sesquiterpene lactones from the root of Aucklandia lappa Decne.
Seo CS, Lim HS, Jeong SJ, Shin HK.
Abstract
Aucklandia lappa Decne, a well-known traditional herbal medicine, is used for the treatment of asthma, rheumatism, coughs, tuberculosis and numerous other diseases. The present study evaluated the inhibitory effects of the three sesquiterpene lactones costunolide, dehydrocostus lactone, and alantolactone, isolated from a 70% methanolic extract of Aucklandia lappa, on the expression of chemokine mRNA in HaCaT human keratinocyte cells. The cytotoxicities of the compounds on HaCaT cells were evaluated using a Cell Counting Kit8 assay. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of the three compounds on chemokine expression in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‑α‑ and interferon (IFN)‑γ‑stimulated HaCaT cells were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. Treatment with the compounds caused a significant reduction in the mRNA expression of a range of chemokines, including TARC/CCL17, MDC/CCL22, RANTES/CCL5 and interleukin‑8 in TNF-α and IFN-γ-stimulated HaCaT cells. The present study indicated that costunolide, dehydrocostus lactone and alantolactone may have the potential to be used for treating inflammatory skin disorders by suppressing chemokine expression.
PMID: 26398906 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2015.4342 Mol Med Rep. 2015 Nov;12(5):7789-95. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2015.4342. Epub 2015 Sep 21. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov