Kudzu
Pueraria lobata
Family:
Leguminosae
Common Names:
Japanese arrowroot
Kudzu vine
Description:
Kudzu is basically a climbing vine. It was introduced to the United States at the turn of the century from Japan. Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) was extensively planted throughout much of the southeast as an ornamental plant, for a forage crop, and most importantly for erosion control. Kudzu's rapid growth of up to several feet a day, made it ideal for stabilizing ditches, gullies and steep slopes.
However, this prolific growth facilitated the spread of kudzu throughout the southeast and into Ohio. Kudzu, took on the status of a weed
Sometimes the root is used, in which case the terminology is: puerariae radix.
Method of Action:
Kudzu appears to work via its isoflavonoids, chief of which is daidzin.
Usage:
Kudzu has made headlines in a positive manner, under nutritional news, rather than agriculture, or gardening woes. Specifically, kudzu appears to have withstood scientific investigations into its traditional usage to overcome alcohol problems.
Safety & Toxicity:
For centuries in Japan and China people have used it with confidence as a dietary supplement, usually as an herbal tea. Loosely translated, the Chinese name for this tea means "drunkenness dispeller." The Northern Chinese consume it to sober up after drinking alcohol and to relieve hangovers.
In supplement form kudzu is made available as a combination of 1 mg of daidzin and 1 mg hypericin per capsule. Take one capsule (t.i.d.) three times daily with a meal.
Animal experiments are encouraging as well. It seems that the rats do not develop tolerance to the compound; there is no change in its reduction of alcohol drinking after repeated doses. Also important is the finding that the compound does not affect how the rats metabolize alcohol.
Discussion:
During his regular trips to China, David Lee, an organic chemist at Research Triangle Institute, noticed that many households he visited kept an herbal tea on hand-a mixture of seven different Chinese herbs, including the kudzu plant.
In 1991, Lee and scientists at Shin-Yang University in China began testing an herbal compound derived from this tea using rats that had been injected with alcohol. They found that it improved the rats’ motor coordination, or made them less "drunk."
Meanwhile, Amir Rezvani and David Overstreet, both research associate professors of psychiatry at UNC-CH's Skipper Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, had been working with rats that voluntarily drink a significant amount of alcohol. In 1989 Rezvani had discovered this alcohol-preferring quality in Fawn-Hooded rats, named for the orangish-tan patches on their heads and shoulders. Later they began working with Finnish and P-rats, strains of rats that have been selectively bred to prefer alcohol over water.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School injected 71 golden Syrian hamsters, who by nature have an unusual craving for alcohol, with daidzin, kudzu's active ingredient. The hamsters injected with daidzin immediately cut back on their alcohol consumption and began to drink more water.
Abstracts:
Daidzin
The dose effect of pure daidzin on the suppression of ethanol intake in Syrian golden hamsters was compared with that of crude daidzin contained in a methanol extract of Radix puerariae (RP).
Apparently the antidipsotropic activity of the RP extract cannot be accounted for solely by its daidzin content (22 mg/g). In addition to daidzin, 6 other isoflavones were identified in the RP extract and quantified:
puerarin (160 mg per g of extract),
genistin (3.7 mg/g),
daidzein (2.6 mg/g),
daidzein-4',7-diglucoside (1.2 mg/g),
genistein (0.2 mg/g), and
formononetin (0.16 mg/g).
None of these, administered either alone or combined, contributes in any significant way to the antidipsotropic activity of the extract.
The crude extract daidzin has approximately 10 times greater bioavailability than the pure compound.
Results show that (i) daidzin is the major active principle in methanol extracts of RP, and (ii) additional constituents in the methanol extract of RP assist uptake of daidzin in golden hamsters.
Keung WM et al., Potentiation of the bioavailability of daidzin by an extract of Radix puerariae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1996 Apr, 93:9, 4284-8.
Alcohol preference
The extract from an edible vine, Pueraria lobata, has long been used in China to lessen alcohol intoxication. We have previously shown that daidzin, one of the major components from this plant extract, is efficacious in lowering blood alcohol levels and shortens sleep time induced by alcohol ingestion.
Tested the antidipsotropic effect of daidzin and two other major isoflavonoids, daidzein and puerarin, from Pueraria lobata administered by the oral route.
All three isoflavonoid compounds were effective in suppressing voluntary alcohol consumption by the P rats. When given orally to P rats at a dose of 100 mg/kg/day, daidzein, daidzin, and puerarin decreased ethanol intake by 75%, 50%, and 40%, respectively.
The decrease in alcohol consumption was accompanied by an increase in water intake, so that the total fluid volume consumed daily remained unchanged. The effects of these isoflavonoid compounds on alcohol and water intake were reversible. Suppression of alcohol consumption was evident after 1 day of administration and became maximal after 2 days. Similarly, alcohol preference returned to baseline levels 2 days after discontinuation of the isoflavonoids.
Rats receiving the herbal extracts ate the same amounts of food as control animals, and they gained weight normally during the experiments.
Data demonstrate that isoflavonoid compounds extracted from Pueraria lobata is effective in suppressing the appetite for alcohol when taken orally, raising the possibility that other constituents of edible plants may exert similar and more potent actions.
Lin RC et al., Isoflavonoid compounds extracted from Pueraria lobata suppress alcohol preference in a pharmacogenetic rat model of alcoholism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 1996 Jun, 20:4, 659-63.
Glycosides
From Puerariae Radix, the root of Pueraria lobata (Leguminosae), six new oleanene-type triterpene glycosides, called kudzusaponins A1 (1), A2 (2), Ar (3), SA4 (5), and SB1 (6) were isolated together with kudzusaponin A3 (7), soyasaponins SA3 (8), and I (9).
Arao T et al., Oleanene-type triterpene glycosides from puerariae radix. IV. Six new saponins from Pueraria lobata. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo), 1997 Feb, 45:2, 362-6.
References:
Anonymous: Kudzu extract shows potential for moderating alcohol abuse. Am. J. Hosp. Pharm. 1994, 51:750.
Arao T et al., Oleanene-type triterpene glycosides from puerariae radix. IV. Six new saponins from Pueraria lobata. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo), 1997 Feb, 45:2, 362-6.
Facts and Comparisons. The Lawrence Review of Natural Products. Jun, 1994.
Keung WM et al., Potentiation of the bioavailability of daidzin by an extract of Radix puerariae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1996 Apr, 93:9, 4284-8.
Lin RC et al., Isoflavonoid compounds extracted from Pueraria lobata suppress alcohol preference in a pharmacogenetic rat model of alcoholism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 1996 Jun, 20:4, 659-63.
Rezvani and Overstreet (uncited)
Spivey, A: Sobering Effects from the Lowly Kudzu. Endeavors Magazine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, April 1996.
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