Coix lachryma.   薏 苡 仁   Yì yǐ rén   Job's tears seeds, Pearl Barley, Adlay    Family: Gramineace     
PART USED: Seed- harvested at the end of Autumn when seeds have ripened.
Nature: Cool    FLAVOR: Sweet, tasteless, pleasant   CHANNEL: Spleen, Stomach, Lung, Kidney, Large Intestine
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Diuretic.
1. Promotes urination and leaches out Dampness.[2,3,4,5,6] Assistant herb.[5] Converts moisture.[1] Promotes diuresis.[1]
2. Invigorate the Spleen,[1,2,3,4,5,6] and stops diarrhea.[6] Lung tonic.[4]
3. Dispersing Damp Wind at muscular level.[5] Expels Wind Damp painful obstruction.[6] Relax the muscles. Stops pain.[5]
4. Clear Heat and drain pus .[5,6] Detoxifies.[4] Clear Damp Heat,[5] T- greasy and digestive problems.[6]
INDICATIONS
1. Spleen deficiency with accumulation of Dampness manifested as edema. Diarrhea.[1,2,3,4,5] Beriberi.[1,2,3,4] Edema.[4,6] Damp leg Qi.[6]
2. Damp Heat manifesting as dysuria,[6] and of stone origin. Difficult urination.[1] Dampness febrile disease manifested as fever, bodily heaviness, oppressive sensation over the chest and epigastrium, anorexia, and smooth or greasy tongue coating. Leukorrhea.[4] Chronic nephritis with mild edema.[5] Frequent urination at night. Dribbling of urine.
3. Wind Damp arthralgia  and muscular rigidity. Rheumatoid arthritis.[1,4] Damp rheumatism, muscular spasm, inability of joints to bend or extend.[4] Damp Bi[5]-since disperses Dampness in middle Burner. Damp Heat Bit syndrome- Reduces muscle pain.[5] Muscular twitching.[4] Escpecially effective for increaseing joint mobility and reducing spasms in chronic cases.[6]
4. Soft, pustulated carbuncles as well as Lung of Intestinal abscess.[6] Lung abscess.[1,5] Lobar pneumonia, appendicitis.[1] Tuberculosis. Lung diseases.[4]
5. Plantar worts.[6]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Difficulty in bowel movement and pregnant women.[2] Use with caution during pregnancy.[6]
PREPARATIONS: Decoction  Dry ripe seed 5-20 g. For tonifying the Spleen the herb should be dry fried.[6] This herb is a foot and can be taken long term. Good quality is large, full, round, and white.
10-30 g.[3]  3-9 g.[2]  10-15 g.[1] 15-30 g.[5] 9-30 g.[6]
    
- Relieve urination, promote urination and tone up the stomach- Boil an equal amount of Job's tears, peanuts, and brown sugar. Drink as tea.
- Flat wart and common wart- Boil 40 g Job's teas to be divided into 2 dosages for consumption twice a day, for 10 days, as a treatment program.
HABITAT: Grows wild or cultivated.
DESCRIPTION: Perennial herb. Stem: erect, height 1-1.5 m, aerial roots growing from basal nodes. Leaves: alternate, linear to lanceolate, apexes acuminate, bases clasping stem, margins coarse and scabrous. Flowers: in autumn, axillary spike inflorescences, staminate spikelets on top, in layered arrangement at each joint on the rachis; pistillate spikelets below, enclosed within the involucre, involucre ovoid or globoid, greyish-white when ripe. Fruit: a caryopsis.
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
Clinical Report: For the treatment of a flat wort: Cook 60 g fresh Job's treas with husked rice in water. Eat it once a day until recovered. Amount the 23 cases treated for 7-16 days, 11 cases recovered completely, 6 cases showed no clear results, and 6 cases has not results; the majority of patients showed some reactions during the periods between the beginning of treatment and disappearance of the skin rash, including enlargement of the wart focus, which turned red with increased inflammation; but as treatment conitnued for several days, the damaged focus became dry and desquamative until completely gone.[4]

Job's Tears is reported to inhibit the growth of and destroy cancer cells. For example, according to a report in the first issue of Jiangsu Chinese medical Journal (1962), a patient suffering from throat cancer was treated with Job's tears in the hospital, because the cancer was located in the deep region of the throat, which was rather difficult to be treated by surgery. The patient was treated with Job's tears every day, and the treatment produced significant effects within 2 months; the patient reovered completely within 6 months.[4]

Adlay ( yì yĭ; "soft-shelled job's tears"; the seeds of Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) is a Potential Cancer Chemopreventive Agent toward Multistage Carcinogenesis Processes.
Kuo CC, Chen HH, Chiang W.
Abstract
Adlay ( yì yĭ "soft-shelled job's tears", the seeds of Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) is a grass crop that has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and as a nourishing food in China for the treatment of warts, chapped skin, rheumatism, neuralgia, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases. In addition, adlay also has been said to have stomachic, diuretic, antipholgistic, anodynic, and antispasmodic effects. Carcinogenesis is a multistage process that begins with exposure of viruses or chemicals that are found in the environment. Chemoprevention refers to the use of natural or synthetic, non-toxic chemical substances to reverse, repress, or prevent carcinogenesis. In this review, we summarize recent research attempting to study the chemopreventive blocking and suppressing potential of adlay and its active components in scavenging electrophiles and reactive oxygen species, antimutagenicity, enhancing Nrf2-mediated detoxification and antioxidant effect, altering carcinogen metabolism, suppressing proliferation, decreasing inflammation, and enhancing antitumor immunity. In addition, several active components with diverse chemopreventive properties have been also mentioned in this review article. J Tradit Complement Med. 2012 Oct;2(4):267-75. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effects of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf.) hull extracts on the secretion of progesterone and estradiol in vivo and in vitro.
Hsia SM, Yeh CL, Kuo YH, Wang PS, Chiang W.
Abstract
Adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf.) has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for dysfunction of the endocrine system. However, there have been few studies on the effects of adlay seed on the endocrine system. In the present study, both the in vivo and in vitro effects of methanolic extracts of adlay hull (AHM) on progesterone synthesis were studied. AHM was partitioned with four different solvents: water, 1-butanol, ethyl acetate, and n-hexane. Four fractions, namely, AHM-Wa (water fraction), AHM-Bu (1-butanol fraction), AHM-EA (ethyl acetate fraction), and AHM-Hex (n-hexane fraction), were respectively obtained. Granulosa cells (GCs) were prepared from pregnant mare serum gonadotropin-primed immature female rats and were challenged with different reagents, including human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG; 0.5 IU/ml), 8-bromo-adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP; 0.1 mM), forskolin (10 microM), 25-OH-cholesterol (10 microM), and pregnenolone (10 microM), in the presence or absence of AHM (100 microg/ml). The functions of steroidogenic enzymes, including protein expression of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), protein kinase A (PKA), and aromatase activity, were investigated. The expression of StAR mRNA was also explored by using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. In the in vivo study, AHM decreased plasma progesterone and estradiol levels after an intravenous injection of AHM (2 mg/ ml/kg). In the in vitro studies, AHM decreased progesterone and estradiol via inhibition of (i) the cAMP-PKA signal transduction pathway, (ii) cAMP accumulation, (iii) P450scc and 3beta-HSD enzyme activities, (iv) PKA, P450scc and StAR protein expressions and StAR mRNA expression, and (v) aromatase activity in rat GCs. These results suggest that AHM decreased the production of progesterone via mechanisms involving the inhibition of the cAMP pathway, enzyme activities, and the protein expressions of P450scc and StAR in rat GCs.
PMID: 17895526 DOI: 10.3181/0612-RM-306 Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2007 Oct;232(9):1181-94. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Protective effect of polyphenols extract of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) on hypercholesterolemia-induced oxidative stress in rats.
Wang L, Sun J, Yi Q, Wang X, Ju X.
Abstract
The present study examines the effect of polyphenols extract of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) (APE) on high cholesterol diet fed rats (HCD). APE was orally administrated by gavage at doses of 10, 40 and 200 mg total phenolics/kg body weight of rats once a day for 28 days. At the end of four weeks, serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and markers of oxidative stress viz., malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the serum and liver of HCD and normal rats were assessed and compared. The results showed that administration of APE was significantly effective in decreasing the serum levels of TC, LDL-C and MDA, increasing the serum level of HDL-C and antioxidant capacity. In addition, oral gavage of APE could also increase the antioxidant capacity, CAT and GSH-Px activities in liver. These results suggested that APE exerted a high hypocholesterolemic and antioxidant activities, which might be characterized by a protective effect on cardiovascular health in vivo.
PMID: 22836208 PMCID: PMC6268808 DOI: 10.3390/molecules17088886 Molecules. 2012 Jul 26;17(8):8886-97. doi: 10.3390/molecules17088886. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effect of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf.) hull extracts on testosterone release from rat Leydig cells.
Hsia SM, Tseng YW, Wang SW, Kuo YH, Huang DW, Wang PS, Chiang W.
Abstract
Adlay has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of many diseases. However, few studies have reported the effects of adlay seeds on the endocrine system. In the present study, the effects of methanol extracts of adlay hull (AHM) on testosterone synthesis were studied. Rat Leydig cells were incubated with different reagents including human chorionic gonadotropin, 8-bromo-adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate, forskolin, A23187, progesterone and androstenedione in the presence or absence of AHM. The rat anterior pituitary (AP) gland was treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in vitro in the presence or absence of AHM, and the concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the media were measured. AHM decreased testosterone release via the inhibition of (1) the PKA and PKC signal transduction pathways, (2) 17beta-HSD enzyme activity in rat Leydig cells, and (3) in vitro GnRH-induced LH secretion.
PMID: 19107733 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.2706 Phytother Res. 2009 May;23(5):687-95. doi: 10.1002/ptr.2706. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Identification of compounds in adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) seed hull extracts that inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophages.
Huang DW, Chung CP, Kuo YH, Lin YL, Chiang W.
Abstract
We investigated the effects of adlay seed hull (AH) extracts on the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response in RAW 264.7 macrophages. An AH ethanol extract (AHE) was partitioned into ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water fractions. Silica gel chromatography of the ethyl acetate fraction yielded 15 subfractions: AHE-Ea-A to AHE-Ea-O. Subfractions AHE-Ea-J, AHE-Ea-K, and AHE-Ea-M had anti-inflammatory activities, as they counteracted the increased cellular production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 induced by lipopolysaccharide by down-regulating inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2 expression. Eriodictyol (1), the ceramide (2S,3S,4R)-2-[(2'R)-2'-hydroxytetracosanoyl-amino]-1,3,4-octadecanetriol (2), and p-coumaric acid (3) were found in the subfractions, and the first two compounds appeared to be primarily responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity. This is the first time that eriodictyol (1) and this ceramide (2) have been found in AH, and the anti-inflammatory properties of the AHE-Ea fraction can be attributed, at least in part, to the presence of these two compounds.
PMID: 19886607 DOI: 10.1021/jf9028514 J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Nov 25;57(22):10651-7. doi: 10.1021/jf9028514. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The abortifacient effects from the seeds of Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf.
Tzeng HP, Chiang W, Ueng TH, Liu SH.
Abstract
This study evaluated the abortifacient effects of the extracts of seeds of Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf (adlay) in pregnant rats. Pregnant rats were treated with oral administration of adlay seed extracts on d 6 of pregnancy and their fetuses were examined for growth and malformations on d 20 of pregnancy. Following oral administration of 1 g/kg body weight of water extracts but not methanolic extracts, fetal resorptions were significantly increased and mortality of postimplantation was increased. There were no significant differences in the uterine and fetal weight compared to control. Fetal malformations were not observed in the adlay seed extracts-treated pregnant rats. The contractile activity of uteri isolated from rats on d 20 of pregnancy was assessed. The spontaneous uterine contractions were significantly enhanced in rats treated with water extracts of adlay seeds (1 g/kg body weight). Immunoblotting of uteri from rats treated with water extracts of adlay seeds demonstrated an induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression. The water extracts of adlay seeds also enhanced extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2 phosphorylation and protein kinase C (PKC)-alpha translocation from cytosolic to particulate fractions in uteri. These results indicate that the water extracts of adlay seeds are capable of inducing embryotoxicity and enhancing uterine contractility during pregnancy. The enhanced activities of PKC-alpha, ERK1/2, and COX-2 may contribute to these responses.
PMID: 16076766 DOI: 10.1080/15287390590967504 J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2005 Sep;68(17-18):1557-65. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Osteoporosis Prevention by Adlay ( Yì Yǐ: The Seeds of Coix Lachryma-Jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) in a Mouse Model.
Yang RS, Lu YH, Chiang W, Liu SH.
Abstract
Osteoporosis is characterized by reduced bone mass and quality due to an imbalanced bone remodeling. A grass crop, adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi), is a kind of nourishing food, which has also been used in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, we investigated the effect of adlay (C. lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) on osteoporosis using an ovariectomized mouse model. The adlay diet (10% and 30% adlay in mouse diet) or water extract of adlay (0.3 g/kg/day) was given to ovariectomized mice for 4 weeks. In some experiments, the primary rat osteoblast cells were used to test the possible mechanism of adlay on osteoporosis. The body weight was slightly increased and uterus weight was markedly decreased in ovariectomized mice, which were not affected by adlay treatment. Adlay diet (30%) and adlay extract feedings significantly reversed the decreased bone alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium contents and bone mineral density in ovariectomized mice. Moreover, adlay extracts increased the osteoblast cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Adlay extracts also increased the protein expressions of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 in osteoblast cells. ERK inhibitor PD98059 significantly reversed the increased osteoblast cell proliferation by adlay extracts. Taken together, these findings indicate that adlay effectively alleviates the osteoporotic status in ovariectomized mice. Adlay is capable of increasing the proliferation of osteoblast cells via an ERK-regulated signaling pathway. Adlay may be a helpful healthy food for osteoporosis prevention.
PMID: 24716168 PMCID: PMC3924971 DOI: 10.4103/2225-4110.110408 J Tradit Complement Med. 2013 Apr;3(2):134-8. doi: 10.4103/2225-4110.110408. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Gastroprotective activities of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) on the growth of the stomach cancer AGS cell line and indomethacin-induced gastric ulcers.
Chung CP, Hsia SM, Lee MY, Chen HJ, Cheng F, Chan LC, Kuo YH, Lin YL, Chiang W.
Abstract
Adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) seeds have long been used to treat warts, chapped skin, rheumatism, and neuralgia in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Recently, studies demonstrated its anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antitumor, and antiallergic activities. In the present study, we first report the gastroprotective effects of dehulled adlay (DA) seeds, which consist of bran (AB) and endosperm (AE). The DA ethanolic extract (DAE) was prepared, along with the AB and AE ethanolic extracts (ABE and AEE), and the inhibitory effects of these extracts were tested on the AGS gastric cancer cell line. Results indicated that the ABE showed better antiproliferative activity, and 19 compounds were purified from AB in a further phenolic-compound-guided separation. Among the isolated compounds, caffeic and chlorogenic acids significantly suppressed the growth of AGS cells. In addition, the antiulcer activity of DA was examined in an indomethacin-induced gastric lesion model. The ulcer index (UI) and oxidative biomarkers in animals decreased, while the non-protein sulfhydryl (NPSH) groups were elevated when given DA. This is the first investigation of antiulcer activity of adlay, and we demonstrated that the antioxidative-active phenolic acids in DA contribute to some portion of the gastroprotective effects.
PMID: 21517098 DOI: 10.1021/jf2009556 J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Jun 8;59(11):6025-33. doi: 10.1021/jf2009556. Epub 2011 May 5. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Antimutagenic constituents of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) with potential cancer chemopreventive activity.
Chen HH, Chiang W, Chang JY, Chien YL, Lee CK, Liu KJ, Cheng YT, Chen TF, Kuo YH, Kuo CC.
Abstract
Adlay has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine and as a nourishing food. The acetone extract of adlay hull had previously been demonstrated to possess potent antimutagenic activity. The aims of this study were to identify the antimutagenic constituents from adlay hull by using Ames antimutagenic activity-guide isolation procedures and to investigate their chemopreventive efficacies in cultured cells. The results demonstrated that six compounds showing great antimutagenic activity were identified by spectroscopic methods and by comparison with authentic samples to be p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillin, syringaldehyde, trans-coniferylaldehyde, sinapaldehyde, and coixol. Two of them, trans-coniferylaldehyde and sinapaldehyde, exhibit relatively potent scavenging of DPPH radicals, inhibit TPA stimulated superoxide anion generation in neutrophil-like leukocytes, and induce Nrf2/ARE-driven luciferase activity in HSC-3 cells. Moreover, trans-coniferylaldehyde possesses cytoprotective efficacy against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced DNA double-strand breaks in cultured cells, and the chemopreventive potency induced by trans-coniferylaldehyde may be through the activation of kinase signals, including p38, ERK1/2, JNK, MEK1/2, and MSK1/2. In summary, we first identified six antimutagenic constituents from adlay hull. Among them, trans-coniferylaldehyde would be a highly promising agent for cancer chemoprevention and merits further investigation.
PMID: 21561091 DOI: 10.1021/jf200539r J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Jun 22;59(12):6444-52. doi: 10.1021/jf200539r. Epub 2011 May 17. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Inhibitory effects of methanol extract of seeds of Job's Tears (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen) on nitric oxide and superoxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages.
Seo WG, Pae HO, Chai KY, Yun YG, Kwon TH, Chung HT.
Abstract
Overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) or superoxide (O2-) by activated macrophages is known to be involved in acute or chronic inflammation. The seeds of Job's Tears (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen) have been used as anti-inflammatory medicine and health food. However, it is still unclear how the seeds show anti-inflammatory properties. Using murine macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells, we tried to know whether the overproduction of NO and O2 by activated macrophages could be prevented by the methanol (MeOH) extract of the seeds of Job's Tears. RAW 264.7 cells were activated with interferon-gamma plus lipopolysaccharide to produce NO and with pholbol ester to produce O2-. The MeOH extract showed marked inhibition of NO production by activated RAW 264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner via suppression of inducible NO synthase mRNA expression. The MeOH extract also showed inhibition of O2- production by activated RAW 264.7 cells in dose- and time-dependent manners, possibly by interfering with NADPH oxidase machinery of macrophages. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the MeOH extract of the seeds of Job's Tears shows anti-inflammatory properties which may, in part, involve an inhibition of NO and O2- production by activated macrophages.
PMID: 10946831 DOI: 10.3109/08923970009026011
Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2000 Aug;22(3):545-54. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov


Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen Stapf sprout extract has anti-metastatic activity in colon cancer cells in vitro
Eun Suk Son, Young Ock Kim, Chun Geon Park, Kyung Hun Park, Sung Hwan Jeong, Jeong-Woong Park
Abstract
Background
Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen (Rom.Caill.) Stapf has been used in China as an herbal medicine. Many studies of this plant have reported anti-proliferative and apoptotic activities on human cancer cell lines. Therefore, this study of the anti-metastatic effect of Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen Stapf sprout extract (CLSE) in colorectal cancer cells may provide a scientific basis for exploring anti-cancer effects of edible crops.
Methods
To evaluate the effect of CLSE on cell proliferation and signaling, we performed a Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay in HCT116 cells and used western blot analysis. Furthermore, scratch-wound healing, transwell migration, matrigel invasion, and adhesion assays were conducted to elucidate the anti-metastatic effects of CLSE under hypoxic conditions in colon cancer cells.
Results
First, CLSE decreased deferoxamine (DFO)-induced migration of colon cancer cells by 87%, and blocked colon cancer cell migration by 80% compared with hypoxia control cells. Second, CLSE treatment resulted in a 54% reduction in hypoxia-induced invasiveness of colon cancer cells, and 50% inhibition of adhesive potency through inactivation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and protein kinase b (AKT) pathways. Third, conditioned medium collected from CLSE-treated HCT116 cells suppressed tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by 91%.
Conclusions
CLSE inhibited migration, invasion, and adhesion of colon cancer cells and tube formation by HUVECs via repression of the ERK1/2 and AKT pathways under hypoxic conditions. Therefore, CLSE may be used to treat patients with colon cancer.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017; 17: 486.
Published online 2017 Nov 6. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1990-y
PMCID: PMC5674821 PMID: 29110726 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov