1544 Italy/Tyrol/Austria Pietro Mattioli 1501-1577 publishes commentary on Dioscorides

Translates Dioscorides into Italian and adds commentaries as well as a further 100 new plants. The first edition appeared in 1544 in Italian in a book called “Discorsi” (Commentaries) . Discorsi was translated over the next 30 years into Latin, Czech, German and French (in that order).

Note that if you read French you can download a facsimile of the whole book in the French translation as a PDF from the French National Library HERE.

The book is fascinating to me for these reasons:

1. It gives a snapshot of all the Galenist and astrological nonsense that had been layered onto Discorides’ materia medica over 15 centuries.
2. If we cut through this dogma there are nevertheless some gems of clarity about the medicinal properties of plants. For example I was staggered by just how accurate Mattioli is on Angelica in the light of modern studies.

Mattioli studied for his MD at Padua and practiced in Siena, Rome, Trento and Gorizia. He became personal physician to Ferdinand, Archduke of the Tyrol and to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna. He described the first case of cat allergy.

By publishing in the vernacular (Italian) he breaks with tradition

Discorsi published for first time in Venice in 1544. Much of the input on plants came from the Padua University medical school botanical gardens. According to Alain Touwaide, historian of botany and research associate at the Smithsonian Institute, Discorsi broke new ground for several reasons, one of them being that it was written in the vernacular, (Italian), whereas translations and commentaries on Dioscorides and even new herbals had always been written in Latin up to that point. Still according to Touwaide, for the latin edition of 1554, 500 hundred wood block illustrations were added and subsequent editions had even more added, of increasing quality.

“Commentary” was influential for the next 300 years

Mattioli’s commentary was very influential at the time and continued to be so for the next 300 years. I have been able to examine the French edition. Mattioli’s name was francized to Pierre Matthiole and the French edition was called “Commentaires” Here are are my comments on Commentaires:

It’s a huge doorstep!

The book is a huge doorstep of 788 pages. There are monographs on all Dioscorides’ plants and Mattioli’s additions, most of them with a wood block illustration. In many sections there are little subheadings written in the margins for ease of reference. All Dioscorides’ “simples” are listed in alphabetical order (in French in the French edition) next to their Latin and Greek names. Over eight pages of “simples” with “Warm Qualities” are given in alphabetical order with their degree on the Galenic scale of four degrees hot/cold and four degrees moist/dry. The three pages which follow give simples with “Cold Qualities” . At the end of most entries in this section is the entry “Gal.” meaning that this is what Galen says, although next to some are other authorities, including Mattioli. In contrast to Dioscorides, Mattioli gives an opinion on the effectiveness or “virtues” of many of the remedies and for this, quotes authorities such as Galen and others as well as himself.

Drinking the water from washing a stag’s penis for colic? A mistranslation surely?

Part of the book is devoted to remedies from Dioscorides with Mattioli’s remedies underneath. The remedies are given for each part of the body and its various ailments, in alphabetical order. So we find for example, heading : Intestines, subheading : Colic. This is how medical dictionary Mirriam Webster defines colic: “an attack of acute abdominal pain localized in a hollow organ or part (as the small intestine, ureter, or bile duct) and often caused by spasm, obstruction, or twisting”.

Mattioli gives 10 remedies from Dioscorides and 30 of his own. Among Mattioli’s remedies are: the water from washing a stag’s penis (!) to be drunk (en beuvage), olive oil by mouth and as an enema, oil of sweet and bitter almonds, laurel oil, oil of peach stones by mouth and by enema, cabbage broth cooked with an old rooster (coq), 5 grains of antimony prepared Mattioli style, oil of scorpions prepared Mattioli style etc. etc. Mattioli gives 9 kinds of different oils as possible remedies just for colic alone. It strikes me that an apothecary would have to carry a huge range of “distillations” and different oils to be worthy of Mattioli and the oils would almost certainly be rancid if kept more than a week or two. The plant properties not destroyed in the distillation process would last in the distillations but modern herbalists use tinctures rather than “distillations” (The herbs are macerated in alcholol or an alchohol/water mixture). The heat involved in Mattioli’s method would spoil some of the active ingredients such as glycosides, saponins and essential oils. I looked at a later French edition by a different French translator and the “verge” (penis) of stag has become “nerf” (nerve) of stag. So has one (or both) of the translators mistranslated? Or did the second one feel that “stag’s penis” was a bit too much?

Distillations

Mattioli gives instructions on how to make distillations of plants. The plant matter is put in a pot with some good quality white wine and quickly heated and then taken off the heat and left to macerate for 24 hours. The pot is then gently heated and vapour is drawn off into your alembic which passes through a barrel of cold water and the condensed droplets, which should be clear, are collected in a vessel. The residue of plant matter is put to one side. The resulting “distillation” is then mixed with some more plant matter and white wine and re-distilled. This is done three times. The plant residue is dried, then gently heated until it turns to ash to provide your “volatile salt” which at the end is mixed in with your distillation.

Vipers and theriac

There is an interesting section on snakes, and vipers in particular, which takes up two pages. Vipers, it seems were a special problem for our ancestors when there must have been many more of them around. Mattioli discusses which ones are most venomous: small/big, male/female etc. and states that adult females are the most dangerous. He discusses various ways of dealing with the bite. One of them is to split (“fendre” I think he means spachtcock) a live rooster and apply it to the wound. He gives dozens of possible remedies but finishes with the conclusion that theriac is the best remedy for viper bites. (Theriac was based on mithridatium which was originally formulated as an antidote to all poisons, see entry.) Mattioli then discusses theriac at length.

How to make sure your Theriac is the good stuff according to Galen and Mattioli

He quotes Galen’s methods for making sure the theriac is of a good standard. You give some to a chicken that has been bitten by a viper and if the chicken survives, the theriac is good. Mattioli thinks that it would be even better to do this with a monkey as they are quite close to humans. Galen also says (says Mattioli) that another test is to give some theriac to someone just before giving them a strong laxative. If the theriac is up to par, the laxative will have no effect. Further on, Mattioli claims that he did a clinical test with several chickens and theriac and the ones that were given theriac survived the viper’s bite and those not given it, did not. Mattioli gives a plug, in passing, to an apothecary in Verona, who he says, supplies the best theriac. (He gives puffs to various apothecaries for different things throughout the book – was he on commission one wonders?). Mattioli goes on to expound on the wonders of theriac. One example he quotes (incredible though it may sound, says Mattioli) is of a woman with cachexia (modern definition: loss of body mass that cannot be reversed nutrionally) given up for dead by doctors who, when given theriac, expelled a thousand worms.

Chemical medicines

The book was published three years after Paracelsus’ death and there is a lengthy section on chemical medicines. (This was cutting edge stuff at the time). In his preface to this, (Paracelsus is not mentioned by name), Mattioli berates the hidebound reactionaries in some illustrious universities who are against the new medicines because they are not part of the Hippocratic or Galenic tradition. These reactionaries have not even admitted the new anatomical discoveries yet, says Mattioli. (This was certainly true still, 100 years later, with Guy Patin and the Paris faculty trying to outlaw antimony.)

Weird concoctions and “distillations”

Mattioli gives instructions for making all kinds of weird and wonderful concoctions out of many different things, such as corral, salt, scorpions, all the metals and “distillation” of human blood (!) and dozens of others. The stuff left over after your distillation of human blood (take your blood from healthy young men who drink plenty of wine), Mattioli calls “volatile salt”. All the authorities, especially Vanhelmont, say that this volatile salt of blood is good for epilepsy and according to Vanhelmont (says Mattioli), it has even cured adult epileptics. It purifies the blood and is good for digestive problems, fevers caused by contagious diseases and gout.

Toads

Toads, although rather digusting (“effroyable”) in appearance, are very useful in medicine says Mattioli. You can make a volatile salt by distillation or you can hang them up until they are completely dried out and make a powder of them. Dried toad powder can be put on plague boils or venereal warts to draw out the toxins (“malignités”). Did the powder of the mouldy old dried toad corpse contain penicilin I wonder? (Paracelus also believed this – is that where Mattioli gets it from? It’s the “law of signatures” in action, the warty skin of a toad’s skin being thought similar to the buboes of plague). A whole dried frog, he tells us, either held in the hand or under the armpit or tied around the neck can be used as a “specific” to stop haemorrhages or placed on a woman’s navel to prevent excessive menstruation. According to Helmont, says M., in a case of toothache, the bone of the left forelimb of the toad if applied to the tooth in question, will lessen the pain.

Angelica

Here is the Angelica entry from the “Table of qualities, virtues and operations of the different medicines”. I’ve chosen Angelica because its a major herb still used in Western and Chinese herbalism. It’s one of the herbs in Breuss’s cancer cure. “Hot and dry at the upper end ( à la fin) of the second degree or the lower end (au commencement) of the 3rd. Good against poison and plague. Matth.” The “ Matth.” means Mattioli is giving himself as the authority. Perhaps Angelica was not in Galen’s Materia. Here is what Mattioli says on his monograph page on Angelica (with beautiful wood block illustration). He says there are several species, cultivated or wild. He describes the different species in detail and where they are found and according to him, wild Angelica’s “virtues” are “more excellent” than the others. It is outstanding (singulière) against poisons, taken as a tea or chewed to protect against plague. Taken on its own it digests “phlegmatic and viscous humors”. A decoction of it cures coughs brought on by catching a chill and is an expectorant. A decoction taken in wine or water heals leg ulcers, thins thick blood and fortifies the stomach. Powdered root is one of the best things there is (“souveraine”) for heart problems. It is excellent (“singuliere”) against the bite of rabid and venomous creatures, applied as a paste or taken by mouth. That’s why, says Mattioli, some “moderns” use it in their antidotes and preservatives (presumably as a tonic that you would take every day like theriac). A half drachma of Angelica root is given with a drachma of theriac in a distillation of theriac. The patient is made to sweat and then seven hours later the same drink is given. Some people (says Mattioli) have been cured of the plague just by this antidote. Chewing the root can relieve tooth ache. This is so good for the breath that if you eat some garlic it cannot be detected on the breath.

Modern Monographs and papers on Angelica for comparison with Matioli on Angelica

Abstract of an article in Current Medical Chemistry 2004 (Sarker and Nahar):

“More than 60 species of medicinal plants belong to the genus Angelica (Family: Apiaceae). Many of these species have long been used in ancient traditional medicine systems, especially in the far-east. Various herbal preparations containing Angelica species are available over-the-counter, not only in the far-eastern countries, but also in the western countries like USA, UK, Germany, etc. For centuries, many species of this genus, e.g. A. acutiloba, A. archangelica, A. atropupurea, A. dahurica, A. japonica, A. glauca, A. gigas, A. koreana, A. sinensis, A. sylvestris, etc., have been used traditionally as anti-inflammatory, diuretic, expectorant and diaphoretic, and remedy for colds, flu, influenza, hepatitis, arthritis, indigestion, coughs, chronic bronchitis, pleurisy, typhoid, headaches, wind, fever, colic, travel sickness, rheumatism, bacterial and fungal infections and diseases of the urinary organs. Active principles isolated from these plants mainly include various types of coumarins, acetylenic compounds, chalcones, sesquiterpenes and polysaccharides.”

Hook 2014: “ ….increasing research into Angelica sinensis extracts and constituents shows that many of the traditional uses are not without scientific basis”.

“So far, over 70 compounds have been separated and identified from Danggui, including those from essential oils (mainly including monomeric phthalides), phthalide dimers, coumarins, organic acids and their esters, polysaccharides, polyacetylenes, vitamins, amino acids, and others.” Qian et al 2013

So by using modern research papers into Angelica and its constituents, I wanted to assess how well Mattioli’s recommendations for its use are confirmed by modern science and also to see how much of a match there is with modern herbal prescriptions. (Please note: this is not intended as my own monograph on Angelica – it is intended solely to evaluate Mattioli’s claims.) The research papers concern themselves mainly with four species: chinensis, (Chinese Angelica), ahurica (found in Siberia, Russia, Mongolia, Northeastern China as well as Japan and Korea) keiskei (found in Japan) and Angelica archangelica. This last is probably the variety that Mattioli is mainly referring to. Most of the research papers on Angelica come from China and Japan and concern the chinese species, Angelica sinensis, known as Dong Quai aka Danggui or the Japanese Angelica, A. keiskei. The studies are usually carried out in vitro or on mice or rats. Only one of the studies was carried out on human patients. So conclusions from the studies should be regarded as speculative and preliminary.

Can we infer from studies on a particular species that the conclusions also pertain to the genus Angelica in general? Maxine Maeder (herbalist) says in her monograph on Angelica: “……….In China and pretty much the rest of Asia the angelica genus is used interchangeably. Specific species are identified with specific health problems but if that species is not available another will be used. This practice probably helps keep one species from being decimated as has happened in the wild in Europe. In North American Angelica archangelica is still very abundant in the wild even though it is being cultivated as well….”

So armed with our study papers, let’s look at Mattioli’s claimed “virtues” one by one (I will assume that conclusions about one species apply more or less to the others):

Mattioli’s claimed “virtues” of Angelica.

“Protects against poisons and can be chewed or taken as a tea against the plague.”

Bubonic plague is a bacterial infection caused by a bite from a flea carrying the bacterial agent. The bacteria become localised in an inflamed lymph node. There are three kinds of plague: bubonic plague, an infection of the lymphatic system, pneumonic plague, an infection of the respiratory system spread from humans infected with bubonic plague by aerosol to other humans, who in their turn infect yet more humans by aerosol, and septicaemic plague, an infection in the blood stream.

Antibacterial:

According to Wang. 2006 A. sinensis contains water-soluble components that exert protective effects against lethal endotoxemia and experimental sepsis. Cai et al. 2008; found seven different compounds with antibacterial effect in A. polymorpa: bisabolangelone, isoimperatorin, oxypeucedanine, isooxypeucedanine , isoxoypeucedananine, oxypeucedanin hydrate, bergapten, pabluenol. Lechner et al. 2004 : found that an acetylenic product: faclarindiol (A. dahurica) works as well as “the newest agents” against MRSA infection.

Anti-inflammatory

According to E. Graf. 1992, the ferulic acid in Angelica, a powerful anti-oxidant, has an anti-inflammatory effect. Zhao , 2014 et al found that another constituent, ligustilide(the main component of Angelica) also has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. Kang et al. 2010 found that imperatorin and phellopterin (A. dahurica) have anti-inflammatory effects.

Anti anxiety effects

Angelica also has anti-anxiety effects (being infected by the plague would certainly make you anxious!) and is a diaphoretic (raises temperature). Angelica is also hepoprotective so woud give the liver some protection against bacterial toxins. Liu et al. 2003 found that “sinensis polysaccharide protects against immunological colon injury by immunomodulation and promotion of wound repair.”

So Angelica would certainly be useful to take in case of being infected with the plague bacteria, with dozens of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory constituents to fight the infection, reduce inflammation in the inflamed lymph node and protect the colon and liver from injury from bacterial toxins. Also, Mattioli says the patient should be made to sweat. The diaphoretic property of Angelica would be useful for this. Raising the patient’s temperature would help combat the infection (see sections on Monardes, fever therapy, hyperthermia etc)

Taken on its own it digests “phlegmatic and viscous humors”. A decoction of it cures coughs brought on by catching a chill and is an expectorant.

By “phlegmatic and viscous humors” I am going to assume that Mattioli means bronchial catarrh here. A “cough brought on by catching a chill” would be some kind of cold I think and thus viral in origin. So if Mattioli is right about Angelica’s “virtues” here it would mean that Angelica is anti-viral and is an expectorant. Let’s see if any laboratory studies in vitro, or on mice and rats, bear this out.

Yang et al 2012. : “….These results suggest that Angelica polysaccharide sulphate could not only inhibit virus replication, but also improve the immune function”.

Yang et al 2012. :

Yang (Yes it’s him/her again) et al. 2006 “… Angelica polysaccharide (from A. sinensis) has immunomodulatory activity by regulating expression of Th1 and Th2 related cytokines. The time-effect relation of cytokines response also suggests that“…these results suggest that Angelica polysaccharide sulphate had synergistic effect with Combivir (an anti-aids drug), which provided new insight into the potential clinical use of polysaccharides sulfate in anti-Aids field….” “…macrophages and natural killer cells involved in nonspecific immunity were primary activated, and helper T cell were secondarily affected by Angelica polysaccharide….”

Lim et al. 2014: “….The roots of Angelica decursiva were proved to be effective in the treatment of lung inflammation. Columbianadin (the coumarin from decursiva found to have the greatest effect) can be a potential new agent for treating inflammatory lung disorders…”. (Columbianadin is found in various other species of Angelica. I have not been able to ascertain whether columbianadin is found in archangelica but I think it probably is.)

So it would appear that Angelica polysaccharide constituents not only inhibit virus replication but also boost the immune system and one particular coumarin (amongst others) has a particularly pronounced effect in reducing lung inflammation. In addition, see Sarker and Nahar 2004, (quote above), Angelica is a traditional remedy for colds and coughs, among other viral illnesses. So Mattioli scores another yes.

A decocoction taken in wine or water heals leg ulcers. thins thick blood and fortifies the stomach.

Ulcers are caused by a venous or arterial insufficiency. Diabetics are a high risk group.

A. Sinensis is traditionally used in Chinese medicine for (among other things) enriching the blood and promoting blood circulation. Wu and Hsieh. 2012

Hou, Bao and Shi. 2012. : “…Angelica polysaccharide had the function of enriching blood in different ways. On the one hand Angelica polysaccharide enriched the blood directly, increased the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin; on the other hand it regulated the hematopoietic (production of blood stem cells) factors, enriched the blood indirectly……”. (In chickens)

Liu et al. 2010. : “….Administration of low-dose Angelica sinensis polysaccharide could significantly accelerate the recovery of hemoglobin level of the blood-loss mice to its original value, (by stimulating increased productions of blood stem cells found in red bone marrow) as compared to the control . Moreover, the colony-forming ability of bone marrow cells that were removed from mice that received Angelica sinensis polysaccharide was also markedly increased during ex vivo test. Results of this study demonstrated the potential of ASPS for treatment of anemia”.

Zang L et all 2009. : “…(ligustilide) may exert efficient anti-thrombotic activity through inhibition of platelet aggregation, without effecting coagulation time of peripheral blood…”

Enoki et al. 2007. : “…The 4-hydroxyderricin (constituent of Japanese angelica) showed the preventive effects on the progression of diabetes in genetically diabetic KK-Ay mice….”

Ye et al. 2003.: “……These results (using a crude extract from Angelica sinensis which mainly consisted of polysacchrides) strongly suggest that (it) has a direct wound healing effect on gastric mucosa…………..(it) promoted ulcer healing. The area of the ulcer was reduced. This was accompanied by a significant increase in mucus synthesis.” What about The abundant ligulistide in Angelicas.

Hsiao et al. 2012. : “…..we have demonstrated a whole range of pharmacological effects associated with Angelica sinensis that might be beneficial when developing a wound healing pharmaceutical formulation….”

Ye et al. 2001. : “…….Angelica sinensis crude extract which mainly consists of polysaccharides…….has a direct wound healing effect on gastric mucosa..”

Ye et al. 2003. : “…….crude extract from Angelica sinensis………….significantly promoted migration and proliferation of normal gastric epithelial cells….”

Nie et al. 2009.: Imperatorin, a coumarin constituent of extract of the Formosana variety Angelica Dahurica, is a strong agent of vasodilation. (Imperatorin is also found in A. angelica).

So would Angelica heal leg ulcers? As we have seen, they are caused by venous or arterial insufficiency. Would Angelica rectify the insufficiency? Well Angelica polysaccharide increases blood cell production (Liu above) and (Zang above) the ligulistide (very high levels in sinsensis) reduces blood platelet aggregation. A coumarin in all the Angelicas (Imperatorin) is a strong vasodilator. So blood would be richer and flow better and this would undoubtedly help to heal a leg ulcer. Also, if the venous or arterial deficiency was linked to diabetes, the anti-diabetic effect of 4-hydroxyderricin in Angelica (Enoki above) would no doubt assist the healing and numerous constituents of Angelica assist in wound healing (Hsiao above). What about Mattioli’s: “thins thick blood”? Well ligulistide, the principle component of Angelicas inhibits blood platelet aggregation as we have seen. So yes, Angelica would probably thin thick blood in humans as it does in lab rats. “Fortifies the stomach”? The polysaccharides in Angelica increases production of gastric epithelial cells (and helps heal gastric ulcers). So yes, Angelica would fortify the stomach.

Powdered root is one of the best things there is (“souveraine”) for heart problems

Wang and Yang. 2005. : “……..The in vitro and in vivo data support the view that sodium ferulate (from A. sinsensis) is a useful drug for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases”.

Meng et al. 2008. : “…There was significant increase in vascular endothelial growth factor in rats treated acutely with Angelica…” The results suggest that Angelica and ChuanXiong (another herb) have angiogenic effects, and may provide some mechanisms for the treatment of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and peripheral ischemia (restriction of blood supply to extremities).

Zong et al. : 1991. “…The protective effects of Angelica injection on arrythmia (irregular heart beat) were studied…….” “………The data suggested that Angelica injection is effective on the protection of arrhythmia during the myocardial ischemia reperfusion (return of blood flow after acute restriction of blood supply – in other words a simulated heart attack) in rats….”

Zang et al. 2010. : “…….The study strongly suggests the cardioprotective activity of A. sinensis polysaccharides in limiting ischemia-reperfusion induced myocardial injury……..”

Wang et al. 2013. : “……These results demonstrate the protective effects of osthole (a bioactive simple coumarin in Angelica pubescens) against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (restricting and re-establishing blood flow) in rats and suggest that these effects may be associated with its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.”

Angelica polysaccharides have a cardio protective effect. In many of the above studies on rats, a heart attack was provoked by restricting blood supply to the heart. Various Angelica constituents were found to protect against the normal consequences of this kind of injury. Together with the Angelica compound imperatorin (see Nie above) which dilates the blood vessels, the anti-thrombotic effects of ligustilide (the major component of Angelica), the angionenic (promotion of new red blood cells) of Angelica polysaccharides (see Liu above) and the irregular heartbeat prevention properties of these (Zong, Zang), one could well believe that Angelica was the best thing for heart problems in the 16th century and succeeding centuries. One wonders if it might not still be the best thing for heart problems?

It is excellent (“singuliere”) against the bite of rabid and venomous creatures (applied as a paste or taken by mouth).

From Wikipedia “ ….feelings of terror and panic are common after a snakebite and can produce a characteristic set of symptoms mediated by the autonomic nervous system, such as a racing heart and nausea……” and “……The most common symptoms of all snakebites are overwhelming fear, which may case symptons such as nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, vertigo, fainting, tachycardia and cold clammy skin.” The Angelica coumarins imperatorin and isoimperatorin have a strong anti-anxiety effect (Kumar) so this would help with the fear. The Angelica polysaccharides keep heartbeat regular (as we have shown), so they would no doubt fight the tachycardia (heart racing).

Wang showed that the water soluble elements of Angelica archangelica protect against otherwise lethal toxins and Yeh showed the Hepatoprotective (protecting the liver from toxins) effect of Angelica archangelica. So it seems that Angelica would be very useful in case of snakebite and bites of rabid animals.

What is striking is how Angelica seems to be tailor made for snakebite with an active constituent to fight every deleterious effect; even an anti-anxiety agent to fight the fear and another component to prevent the tachycardia. You would need a whole cocktail of modern drugs to replicate these effects. Also striking is how elegant the mechanisms are, with the same constituent often having more than one useful effect. The Angelica remedy for snakebite would be readily available, with Angelica growing everywhere in the wild. Perhaps a canny peasant or woodsman, wary of snakebite, would carry some dried Angelica root with him or her at all times. (Fresh Angelica roots are poisonous and they need to be dried to neutralize the poison). They could chew the root and make some of it into a paste or perhaps cut it up fine with a sharp knife and grind it into a paste with two stones or the knife and a stone and plenty of spit and apply it to the wound.

It is easy to see how our ancestors, with their strong Christian, Muslim or Jewish faith would believe that God had provided remedies for everything and all you had to do was look for them. The remedies they found would strengthen their faith and vice versa. So it’s not surprising that they looked for “signatures”, a tell-tale clue in the appearance of a plant or animal that would reveal its intended use. Very often the plant or animal had a coincidental effect to that suggested by its signature. The bumps on a toad’s skin, reminiscent of the buboes of the plague or venereal warts, suggested that toads would be a useful remedy for these diseases. The dried out toads that Mattioli suggests making into a powder to put on the buboes or the warts, no doubt were mouldy. Is it possible that the mould contained penicillin and the remedy really did work?

Abstract of an article in Current Medical Chemistry 2004 (Sarker and Nahar):

Wikipedia lists 40 different species of Angelica. A World Heath Organization monograph on Angelica Sinensis (Chinese Angelica) root found, using gas chromatography, that the major chemical constituent of the roots is ligustilide.

Zhao et al 2003:

Ferulic Acid (see above quoted study) is a powerful antioxidant. E. Graf in his paper of 1992, says: “…..By virtue of effectively scavenging deleterious radicals and suppressing radiation-i“…The roots of Angelica sinensis (Danggui), a traditional Chinese medicine, have been used for invigorating blood circulation for over 2000 years in China…..” “…..In chemical analyses, the main constituents of Angelica roots including ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide were determined by HPLC; roots of A. sinensis were clearly distinct in that they contained approximately 10-fold higher levels of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide as compared to roots of Angelica acutiloba (Japanese Angelica) and Angelica gigas (Korean Angelica). In addition, the amounts of main constituents in roots of A. sinensis varied according to different regions of cultivation and different methods of preservation.” “….Induced oxidative reactions, ferulic acid may serve an important antioxidant function in preserving physiological integrity of cells exposed to both air and impinging UV radiation. Similar photoprotection is afforded to skin by ferulic acid dissolved in cosmetic lotions. Its addition to foods inhibits lipid peroxidation and subsequent oxidative spoilage. By the same mechanism ferulic acid may protect against various inflammatory diseases. …..”

A Chinese study by Di Chen et al in 2011, carried out on rats found “…that ligustilide treatment may in fact ameliorate brain injury after experimental SAH (induced stroke in rats) through mechanisms that reduce neuronal apoptosis and subsequently ameliorate secondary brain injury. Further studies will be needed to determine more mechanistic detail with regard to the role of ligustilideand apoptosis….”. In other words, ligustilide or (a decoction of angelic sinensis root) prevented brain cells dying after a stroke.

Zhao , 2014 et al. found “…direct evidence of the anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of ligustilide …” (in other words Angelica root), “…suggesting a new application of LIG for the treatment of chronic inflammatory pain”.

Zang L et all 2009: “…(lunguliside) may exert efficient antithrombotic activity through inhibition of platelet aggregation, without effecting coagulation time of peripheral blood…”

Chian et al. 2011.

Kumar et al. 2012: “….The mixture of coumarins isolated from A. archangelica and its constituents imp“…..another component of sinensis, Safrole-2′,3′-oxide (SAFO) was found to “significantly induce cytotoxicity, DNA strand breaks, micronuclei formation both in human cells in vitro and in mice…”. “…imperatorin and isoimperatorin have the potential to reduce anxiety but it is the mixture which have (sic) more significant activity as compared to its individual components….”

Wang 2006:

“….Despite recent advances in antibiotic therapy and intensive care, sepsis remains a widespread problem in critically ill patients. The high mortality from sepsis is in part mediated by bacterial endotoxin……” “….(we) explored its therapeutic potential in animal models of lethal endotoxemia and sepsis…” “…these data suggest that A. sinensis contains water-soluble components that exert protective effects against lethal endotoxemia and experimental sepsis in part by attenuating systemic accumulation of a late proinflammatory cytokine, HMGB1.”

Liu et al. 2003 “…Angelica Sinensis Polysaccharide has a protective effect on immunological colon injury induced by TNBS and ethanol enema in rats, which was probably due to the mechanism of antioxidation, immunomodulation and promotion of wound repair”.

Shang et all. 2003 “…The experimental findings suggest that the total polysaccharide of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (Chinese Danggui) possesses anti-tumor effects on experimental tumor models in vivo and inhibitory effects on invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro…”

Hepatoprotective effect of Angelica archangelica. Yeh et al. 2003: “ …… AAA is cytoprotective agent effective against chronic ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity (in mice), possibly through inhibition of the production of oxygen free radicals that cause lipid peroxidation, and hence indirectly protects the liver from oxidative stress…”

Ogawa 2003: “…Dietary Angelica Keiskei (Japanese Angelica) produces (in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats) elevation of serum high density lipoprotein and a reduction of liver triglyceride levels….”

Xin 2013: “…Based on the possible mechanisms suggested by the present study, this well-known traditional medicine (chinese angelica root) may represent a candidate therapeutic agent for the treatment of dementia associated with vascular injury..”.

Cui et al 2009: “…….These findings suggested that angelica injection can improve the sciatic nerve crush injury, and the mechanism might be through the increase of brain derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor.”

Harmala et al 1992. “……Chloroform (out of twenty different solvents) was found to be the best solvent for the extraction of nonpolar, biologically active compounds from the roots of A. archangelica.”

Fraternale et al. 2014. “…….the chemical composition and the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Angelica archangelica roots from central Italy were analyzed. The major constituents of the oil were a-pinene (21.3%), o-3-carene (16.5%), limonene (16.4%) and a-phellandrene (8.7%). The oil shows a good antimicrobial activity agains Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus faecalis, Eubacterium limosum, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius and Candida albicans……..” “……A weaker antimicrobial activity against bifidobacteria and la..ctobacili – very useful in the intestinal microflora – has also been shown…..”

Sigurdsson et al. 2005. “…….The antitumour activity of the extract was expressed in the mice by marked reduction in tumour growth…..” “….The results demonstrate the antiproliferative activity in vitro and antitumour activity in vivo of a leaf extract from A. archangelica.”

Kumar et al. 2012. “…These results suggest the anti-anxiety activity of various extracts of A. archangelica and strongly justify its use in traditional Indian medicine for the treatment of anxiety….”

Kumar & Bhat. 2012. “….Whole plant and leaf showed the most, root and fruit the intermediate and stem the least anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) activity….”

Kimura et al. (Japanese study) 2011. “…Feru-guard (proprietary standardized extract of Angelica archangelica & ferulic acid) may be effective and valuable for treating the behaviorial and psychological symptoms of dementia in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and dementia with Lewy bodies….” (Study carried out on human patients with the problem.)

Raafat et al. 2012. : “..It was concluded that both antioxidants (Ginkgo biloba and Angelica archangelica) can be used as radio-protective agents in cases of ionizing radiation exposure….”

Tabata et al. 2005. : “….xanthoangelol (a major chalcone constituent of the stem exudates of Angelic keiskei aka Japanese Angelica) may be applicable as an effective drug for treatment of neuroblastoma and leukemia.”

Nishimura et al. 2007: “….isobavachalcone (constituent of Angelica keiskei) may be applicable as an efficacious and safe drug for the treatment of neuroblastoma…”.

Akihisa et al. 2011. : “….a methanol extract of Angelica keiskei roots exhibited cytotoxic activity against 4 human tumor cell lines, HL60 (leukemia), CRL1579 (melanoma), A549 (lung), and AZ521 (stomach)….” (4-hyroxyderricin was the active contituent.)

Okuyama et al. 1991. “…These chalcones (constituent of Japanese angelica) may be useful to develop the effective method for cancer prevention….”

Akisha et al 2003 “…………as a primary screening test for antitumour-initiators, two chalcones and six coumarins (extracted from Japanese angelica) exhibited potent inhibitory effects….”

Motani et al. 2008. : “…….xanthoangelol (a major constituent of Japanese angelica) induces apoptosis by increasing reactive oxygen species and targeting DJ-1 protein, and such mechanism may be an effective therapeutic approach for advanced neuroblastoma…..”

Enoki et al. 2007 . “The 4-hydroxyderricin (constituent of Japanese angelica) showed the preventive effects on the progression of diabetes in genetically diabetic KK-Ay mice.”

Oh et al. 2012. : “………..experimental evidence that AK might be a useful agent in preventing deficit of learning and memory caused by Alzheimer’s disease and aging.”

Lechner et al. 2004 : ……..(polyacetylenic natural produce faclarindiol from Angelica dahurica compares) “favourably with some of the newest agents in development for the treatment of MRSA infection and indicate that further evaluation of the antiobiotic activity of acetylenes is warranted.

Kim et al. 2007. ; “………Intensive investigation of the hexane soluble part of the extract yielded six furanocoumarins, i.e. isoimpertorin. Cnidicin, imperatorin, oxypeucedanin, byadkangelicol, oxypeucedanin hydrate, all of which exhibited a significant inhibition on (human tumour) cell proliferation in a dose-dependent mannger.

Kang et al. 2010 “…….The results obtained showed that the anti-inflammatory activities of A. dahurica could be linked to imperatorin and phellopterin.”

Li et al. 2014.: “In total 50 coumarins, including 32 linear furanocoumarins, 16 bifuranocoumarins and two non-furanocoumarins, were identified from the roots of A. dahurica. The possible mass spectrometry fragmentations of these coumarins are also proposed.”

Pae et al. 2002. : “Imperatorin, a biologically active furanocoumarin from the roots of Angeliga dahurica, was found to induce apoptosis in human promyelocytic leukaemia, HL-60 cells….”

Thanh et al. 2004: “Ten coumarins were isolated from the root of Angelica dahurica …………” “Cyotoxicity (cancer killing ability) of coumarins isolated were determined in vitro against (4 different) tumour cell lines. Pangelin and oxypeucedanin hydrate acetonide showed a potent cytotoxic activity……….against four kinds of tumour cell lines. Other compounds showed moderate cytotoxic activity or no activity against the tumour cell lines.”

Luo et al. 2011. : “……Imperatorin (IM) is a furanocoumarin isolated from the root of Angelic dahurica, which is reported to have anticonvulsant and anticancer effects……….” “……..IM can function as a cancer suppressor by inducing apoptosis in HepG2 cells through both death-receptor and mitochondria mediated pathways. Furthermore, the in vivo antitumour activities of IM are significant with negligible weight loss and damage to the host.”

Yeh et al. 2003. : “Angelica archangelica (AAA) has been effectively used in folk medicines as a remedy against stomachal and intestinal disturbances, arthritic disease, etc. …….” “……AAA is cytoprotective agent against chronic ethanol induced hepatotoxicity, possibly through inhibition of the production of oxygen free radicals that cause lipid peroxidation, and hence indirectly protects the liver from oxidative stress.”

Lee et al. 2003. “………….decursinol angelate and decursin (coumarin constituents of A.gigas) exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis……….”

Cai et al. 2008; “………Seven furanocoumarin compounds were obtained (A. polymorpha) from the antibacterial fraction, their structures were elucidated as bisabolangelone, isoimperatorin, oxypeucedanine, isooxypeucedanine , isoxoypeucedananine, oxypeucedanin hydrate, bergapten, pabluenol.

Yang et al 2012. : “….These results suggest that Angelica polysaccharide sulphate could not only inhibit virus replication, but also improve the immune function.

Yang et al 2012. : “…these results suggest that Angelica polysaccharide sulphate had synergistic effect with Combivir (an anti-aids drug), which provided new insight into the potential clinical use of polysaccharides sulfate in anti-Aids field”

Yang (Yes it’s him/her again) et al. 2006 “… Angelica polysaccharide (from A. sinensis) has immunomodulatory activity by regulating expression of Th1 and Th2 related cytokines. The time-effect relation of cytokines response also suggests that macrophages and natural killer cells involved in nonspecific immunity were primary activated, and helper T cell were secondarily affected by AP.”

Lim et al. 2014: “….The roots of Angelica decursiva were proved to be effective in the treatment of lung inflammation. Columbianadin (the coumarin from decursiva found to have the greatest effect) can be a potential new agent for treating inflammatory lung disorders”. (Columbianadin is found in various other species of Angelica. I have not been able to ascertain whether columbianadin is found in archangelica but I think it probably is.)