Angelica pubescens.  独 活  Dú huó   Downy Angelica   Family: Umbelliferae    
PART USED: Roots and rhizomes- harvested in early Spring when it starts sprouting or late Autumn when the aerial parts have withered.
Nature: Slightly warm, warm    FLAVOR: Pungent, bitter, acrid    CHANNELS: Liver, Kidney, Lungs, Bladder
FUNCTIONS
GROUP:Wind Damp Dispersing
1. Resolve Wind Damp and alleviates pain.[4]
2. Disperses Wind Cold Dampness and releases the exterior.[4] Disperse Cold, relieve pain.[1,2] Opens up Luo-stops pain in channels.[1,2,3] Analgesic.[3]
3. Headache (lesser Yin stage) and toothache.[4]
INDICATIONS
1. Rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism.[1,2] Sore loins. Particularly if Wind Damp in joints of lower body, including low back and also numbness in both legs.[3] Upper back pain.[3] Wind Cold Damp painful obstruction, particularly in the lower back and legs.[4] Can be used for both acute and chronic conditions.[4]
2. Wind Cold Damp headache,[1,2,3] heaviness of whole head, painful sensation as if a tight band is tight around head:[3] Fainting, T- sticky pale, P- retarded soft.  Toothache.[1] Exterior Wind Cold together with Dampness.[4]
3. Abscesses.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Careful in Summer times, high temperature and fear of Cold or deficient conditions.[3] Yin deficiency with Heat signs.[4]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Decoction. Roots and rhizomes 4-9 g.[1] Dry root 3-9 g.[2,3,4] Good quality is thick, glistening, and aromatic.
Du huo is a companion herb to Notopterygium incisum- Qiang huo and is better for treating Wind Damp problems in the upper ack and shoulder regions. These two herbs are often used together for both painful obstruction and exterior disorders.[4]
Angelica pubescens- DU HUO
HABITAT: Grows wild in ravines and thickets.
DESCRIPTION: Perennial herb 150 cm in height. Stem; longitudinally grooved. Petioles of basal and lower leaves slender and long, bases of petioles broadening into wide wheaths. Leaves; 2-3 times pinnately compound, leaflets ovate-rounded, apexes acuminate, bases rounded or cuneate, margins coarsely serrated. Flowers; in summer, terminal or laterally growing white flowers appear to form compound umbellate inflorescences. Fruit; winged, flat and elliptical.
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

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities from roots of Angelica pubescens.
Chen YF, Tsai HY, Wu TS.
Abstract
In the present study, we extracted Angelica pubescens (AP) with various solvents in order to find the bioactive constituents that demonstrated analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. The results were obtained as follows: (1) Methanol-, chloroform-, and ethyl acetate-extracts effectively reduced the pain that was induced by 1% acetic acid and a hot plate. (2) Methanol-, chloroform-, and ethyl acetate-extracts reduced the edema that was induced by 3% formalin or 1.5% carrageenan. (3) Sixteen compounds have been isolated and identified from the roots of AP. Among these compounds, columbianadin, columbianetin acetate, bergapten, umbelliferone, and caffeic acid significantly demonstrated anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities at 10 mg/kg. However, only osthole and xanthotoxin revealed anti-inflammatory activity. Isoimperatorin only demonstrated an analgesic effect. These results revealed that the anti-inflammatory and analgesic constituents from roots of AP were related to peripheral inhibition of inflammatory substances and to the influence on the central nervous system.
PMID: 7700984 DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957987 Planta Med. 1995 Feb;61(1):2-8. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The relaxant action of osthole isolated from Angelica pubescens in guinea-pig trachea.
Teng CM, Lin CH, Ko FN, Wu TS, Huang TF.
Abstract
The effect of osthole, isolated from Angelica pubescens, on the contraction of guinea-pig trachea was studied. Osthole (25-100 mumol/l), theophylline (10-1000 mumol/l) and higher concentrations of nifedipine (0.1-100 mumol/l) suppressed the contraction response curves of tracheal smooth muscle caused by carbachol, prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha), U46619 (thromboxane A2 analogue) and leukotriene C4 (LTC4) in a concentration-dependent manner. The contraction caused by high K+ (120 mmol/l) and cumulative concentrations of CaCl2 (0.03-3 mmol/l) was also inhibited concentration-dependently by osthole (25-100 mumol/l), theophylline (10-1000 mumol/l) and lower concentrations of nifedipine (0.01-0.1 mumol/l). The relaxant actions of osthole were not affected by propranolol (1 mumol/l), glibenclamide (10 mumol/l) or removal of tracheal epithelium. Osthole (100 mumol/l) was still effective in causing tracheal relaxation in the presence of nifedipine (1 mumol/l). In Ca(2+)-free- and EGTA (0.2 mmol/l)-containing medium, the relaxing effect of osthole was more potent than in normal Krebs solution. Osthole (25 and 50 mumol/l) caused 2.9 and 6.5, or 3.0 and 5.6 fold, respectively, increase in potency of forskolin or sodium nitroprusside in causing tracheal relaxation but did not affect that by cromakalim. Osthole (50 mumol/l) enhanced the increase in tissue cAMP and cGMP levels induced by forskolin and sodium nitroprusside, respectively, and in higher concentrations (100 and 250 mumol/l), itself increased markedly tissue cAMP and cGMP contents. Osthole (10-250 mol/l) inhibited the activity of cAMP and cGMP phosphodiesterases in a concentration-dependent manner. It is concluded that osthole exerts a non-specific relaxant effect on the trachealis by inhibiting the cAMP and cGMP phosphodiesterases.
PMID: 8170504 Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 1994 Feb;349(2):202-8. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Estrogenic activity of standardized extract of Angelica sinensis.
Circosta C, Pasquale RD, Palumbo DR, Samperi S, Occhiuto F.
Abstract
Since ancient times, extracts of plants have been used for women's health to prevent menopausal symptoms. The symptoms of menopause have been attributed to a reduction in the amount of estrogen produced by the ovaries. In this study the estrogenic activity of a commercial standardized extract of the roots of Angelica sinensis, used to relieve climacteric symptoms was evaluated using in vivo tests such as the degree of cornification of vaginal epithelium, uterotrophic assays and serum LH concentration in ovariectomized rats. Furthermore, the effects on the estrous cycle in rat were investigated. The results obtained have shown that the administration of a standardized ethanol extract in ovariectomized rats exhibited a stimulation of the uterine histoarchitecture, a significant cornification in the vaginal epithelium and a reduction of serum LH concentration showing the estrogenic nature of the extract. Furthermore, the administration of the extract in intact female rats provoked a significant modification of the vaginal smear in 67% of treated rats. The estrous cycle thus modified was characterized by a prolonged estrus stage with a temporary reduction of the regular cyclicity.
PMID: 16691630 DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1928 Phytother Res. 2006 Aug;20(8):665-9. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Inhibitory effects of Angelica pubescens f. biserrata on 5-lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase.
Liu JH1, Zschocke S, Reininger E, Bauer R.
Abstract
Linoleic acid, osthol, osthenol and two polyacetylenes, falcarindiol and 11(S),16(R)-dihydroxyoctadeca-9Z,17-diene-12,14-diyn-1 -yl acetate were found to be the most active compounds responsible for the inhibitory activity of the dichloromethane extract of the roots of Angelica pubescens f. biserrata on 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and cyclooxygenase (COX-1) in vitro. They showed prominent inhibitory effect on 5-LO with IC50 values of 27.9 microM, 36.2 microM, 43.1 microM, 9.4 microM and 24.0 microM, respectively. Linoleic acid, osthenol, falcarindiol and 11(S), 16(R)-dihydroxyoctadeca-9Z,17-diene-12,14-diyn-1-yl acetate exhibited inhibitory activity on COX-1 with IC50 values of 13.3 microM, 64.3 microM, 66.0 microM and 73.3 microM.
PMID: 9741298 DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957507 Planta Med. 1998 Aug;64(6):525-9. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov