Gugulipid
Description
Commiphora mucul (Including myrrh)
Common Names
Guggal
Guggul
Gum guggul
Gum guggulu
Habitat
Indigenous to Arabia and India and noted in Ayurveda.
Description
A small, thorny tree which has foliage only for a small portion of the year.
The ash-colored bark peels off, exposing the underbark, which also peels off. A protective yellowish, gum resin is secreted.
Medicinal Parts
Gugulipid derives from a type of myrrh tree (Commiphora mukul) native to Arabia and India.
An average tree yields up to a quart of yellowish resin.
This oleoresin may be called: "gugul gum", "gum guggul", or "Guggulu".
Method of Action
The soluble portion of the resin extract (which is preferred for medicinal use) has lipid-lowering (Antihypercholesterolemic) and antiinflammatory activities.
Ketones (guggulsterones) are considered to be the lipid-lowering components.
Guggulsterones have also exhibited similar antiinflammatory properties to phenylbutazone and ibuprofen. (Arora, 1971)
Other drug comparisons include:
Clofibrate (Atromid-S) (Malhotra, 1977)
Indomethacin (Duwieju, 1993)
Prednisolone (Duwieju, 1993)
There may even be a synergy if guggul is taken together with garlic plant. (Dixit, 1980)
Therapeutic Approaches
Guggulu has been highly valued for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine. The classic text, the Sushrutasamhita describes its usefulness in obesity and atherosclerosis ("coating and obstruction of channels").
The primary clinical application is for the treatment of elevated cholesterol and triglycerides.
Total cholesterol and triglyceride levels may drop by more than 20% which is superior to some pharmaceutical agents [e.g. Cholestyramine (Questran) and Gemfibrozil (Lopid)]. Only Lovastatin (Mevacor) is more effective. It is also better than all of these agents at boosting HDL cholesterol by up to 16%.
Clinical studies demonstrate that 25 mg t.i.d. is effective for hypercholesterolemia.
For a 5% guggulsterone extract the dose would be 500 mg t.i.d.
Other uses are coming to light, such as:
Antioxidant (Singh, RB, 1994)
Thyroid stimulating property. (Tripathi, 1988)
Toxicity Factors
Guggul has been used for centuries (even millenia) in Ayurvedic medicine. No significant adverse events have been reported in recent literature.
The insoluble fraction derived from the raw resin is toxic, hence crude resin should be avoided.
There may be side effects like diarrhea or skin rashes.
One study reported the following: headache, mild nausea, eructation and hiccup in a few patients. (Singh)
In animal studies, gugulipid has proven to be nontoxic. It is safe enough to use during pregnancy!
It has been an officially approved lipid-lowering drug in India since 1986.
References:
Murray, MT: The Healing Power of Herbs. Prima. 1995.
(Singh, RB et al., Hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects of Commiphora mukul as an adjunct to dietary therapy in patients with hypercholesterolemias. Cardiovasc. Drugs Ther. 1994, 8(4):659-664.)
References
Agarwal, RC et al., Clinical trial of gugulipid a new hypolipidemic agent of plant origin in primary hyperlipidmia. Indian J. Med. Res. 1986, 84:624-634.
Ahuja, MM et al., Effect of fraction 'A' of Commiphora mukul (Guggul) on MOngolian gebrils Meriones unguiculatus. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 1977, 15(2):143-145.
Amma, MK et al., Effect of oleoresin of gum guggul (Commiphora mukul) on the reproductive organs of female rat. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 1978, 16(9):1,021-1,023.
Anonymous: Gugulipid. Drugs Future, 1988, 13:618-619.
Antarkar, DS et al., Phase I tolerability study of yogaraj-guggulu, a popular Ayurvedic drug. J. Postgrad. Med. 1984, 30:111.
Arora, RB et al., Isolation of crystalline steroidal compound from Commiphora mukul and its anti-inflammatory activity. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 1971, 9(3):403-404.
Arora, RB et al., Anti-inflammatory studies on a crystalline steroid isolated from Commiphora mukul. Indian J. Med. Res. 1972, 60(6):929-931.
Arora, RB et al., Effect of some fractions of Commiphora mukul on various serum lipid levels in hypercholesterolemic chicks and their effectivenmess in myocardial infarction in rats. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 1973, 11(3):166-168.
Baldwa, VS et al., Effects of Commiphora Mukul (Guggul) in experimentally induced hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. J. Assoc. Physicians India, 1981, 29(1):13-17.
Dixit, VP et al., Hypolipidemic activity of guggul resin (Commiphora mukul) and garlic (Alium sativum linn.) in dogs (Canis familiaris) and monkeys (Presbytis entellus entellus Dufresne). Biochem. Exp. Biol. 1980, 16(4):421-424.
Duwieja, M et al., Anti-inflammatory activity of resins from some species of the plant family Burseraceae. Planta Med. 1993, 59(1):12-16.
Facts and Comparisons. The Lawrence Review of Natural Products. Feb, 1995.
Gopal, K et al., Clinical trial of ethyl acetate extract of gum gugulu (gugulipid) in primary hyperlipidemia. Assoc. Physicians India, 1986, 34:249.
Khana, DS et al., A biochemical approach to anti-atherosclerotic action of Commiphora-mukul: an Indian indigenous drug in Indian domestic pigs. Indian J. Med. Res. 1969:900-906.
Kuppurajan, K et al., Effect of guggulu (Commiphora mukul-Engl.) on serum lipids in obese, hypercholesterolemic and hyperlipidemic cases. J. Assoc. Physicians Inda, 1978, 26(5):367-373.
Lata, S et al., Beneficial effects of Allium sativum, Allium cepa and Commiphora mukul on experimental hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis - a comparative evaluation. J. Postgrad. Med. 1991, 37(3):132-135.
Malhotra, SC & Ahuja, MM: Comparative hypolipidaemic effectiveness of gum guggulu (Commiphora mukul) fraction 'A', ethyl-P-chlorophenoxyisobutyrate and Ciba-13437-Su. Indian J. Med. Res. 1971, 59(10):1,621-1,632.
Malhotra, SC et al., Long term clinical studies on the hypolipidaemic effect of Commiphora mukul (guggulu) and clofibrate. Indian J. Med. Res. 1977, 65:390-395.
Nityanand, S & Kapoor, NK: Hypocholesterolemic effect of Commiphora mukul resin (guggal). Indian J. Exp. Biol. 1971, 9(3):376-377.
Nityanand, S et al., Clinical trials with gugulipid, a new hypolipiaemic agent. J. Assoc. Physicians India, 1989, 37:321-328.
Niyanand, S et al., Clinical trials with gugulipid: a new hypolipidemic agent. J. Assoc. Physicians India, 1989, 37:323.
Sarbhoy, AK et al., Efficacy of some essential oils and their constituents on few ubiquitous molds. Zentral. Bakteriol. (Naturwiss), 1978, 133(7-8):723-725.
Satyavati, GV et al., Experimental studies of the hypocholesterolemic effect of Commiphora mukul. Indian J. Med. Res. 1969, 57:1,950-1,962.
Satyavati, GV: Gum guggul (Commiphora mukul) - the success story of an ancient insight leading to a modern discovery. Indian. J. Med. Res. 1988, 87:327-335. Indian J. Med. Res. 1988, 87:327-355.
Satyavati, GV: Gugulipid: a promising hypolipidaemic agent from gum guggul (Commiphora wightii). Econ. Med. Plant Res. 1991, 5:47-52.
Sharma, JN & Sharma, JN: Comparison of anti-inflammatory activity of Commiphora mukul (an indigenous drug) with those of phenylbutazone and ibuprofen in experimental arthritis induced by mycobacterial adjuvant. Arzn Forsch. 1977, 27(7):1,455-1,457.
Singh, RB et al., Hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects of Commiphora mukul as an adjunct to dietary therapy in patients with hypercholesterolemias. Cardiovasc. Drugs Ther. 1994, 8(4):659-664.
Singh, V et al., Stimulation of low density lipoprotein receptor activity in liver membrane of guggulsterone-treated rats. Pharmacol. Res. 1990, 22:37-44.
Tripathi, YB et al., Thyroid stimulating action of Z-guggulsterone obtained from Commiphora mukul. Planta Med. 1984, 1:78-80.
Verma, SK & Bordia, A: Effect of Commiphora mukul (gum guggulu) in patients of hyperlipidemia with special reference to HDL-cholesterol. Indian J. Med. Res. 1988, 87:356-360.
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