''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' (), also known as red sage, redroot sage, Chinese sage, or danshen, is a

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

in the genus ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with just under 1,000 species of shrubs, Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennials, and Annual plant, annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part o ...

'', highly valued for its roots in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

. Native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, it grows at elevation, preferring grassy places in forests, hillsides, and along stream banks. The specific epithet ''miltiorrhiza'' means "red ochre root".

Chemical constituents

Chemical compounds isolated from ''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' include salvianolic acid (or salvianolic acid B), dihydrotanshinone, miltirone, tanshinone I, and tanshinone IIA. Tanshinone IIA is one of the most abundant constituents of the root of ''Salvia miltiorrhiza''.

Description

''S. miltiorrhiza'' is a deciduous perennial with branching stems that are tall, with widely spaced leaves that are both simple and divided. The inflorescences are covered with hairs and sticky glands. Flowers grow in whorls, with light purple to lavender blue corollas that are approximately long, with a dark purple calyx. ''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' prefers well-drained soil, with about half a day of sunlight. It is hardy to approximately . Most ''Salvia'' seeds have a higher germination rate when exposed to light, though it is not required.

Drug interactions

Danshen may potentiate the effects of the

anticoagulation An anticoagulant, commonly known as a blood thinner, is a chemical substance that prevents or reduces the coagulation of blood, prolonging the clotting time. Some occur naturally in blood-eating animals, such as leeches and mosquitoes, which h ...

drug

warfarin Warfarin, sold under the brand name Coumadin among others. It is used as an anticoagulant, anticoagulant medication. It is commonly used to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and to protect against stroke in people who ha ...

, possibly causing bleeding complications. Other

adverse effect An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term compli ...

s may include

allergic reaction Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

dizziness Dizziness is an imprecise term that can refer to a sense of disorientation in space, vertigo, or lightheadedness. It can also refer to Balance disorder, disequilibrium or a non-specific feeling, such as giddiness or foolishness. Dizziness is a ...

, headache, or

gastrointestinal upset Gastrointestinal diseases (abbrev. GI diseases or GI illnesses) refer to diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract, namely the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum; and the accessory organs of digestion, the liver, ...

Traditional Chinese medicine

Alone or combined with other Chinese herbal medicines, ''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' has been used in China and, to a lesser extent, in other countries as a treatment for various

cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

and

cerebrovascular diseases Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The ...

. A 2007

Cochrane review Cochrane is a British international charitable organisation formed to synthesize medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions involving health professionals, patients and policy makers. It includes ...

of the use of danshen for acute ischaemic

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

found that the quality of evidence was poor, and there was no evidence of benefit. Similarly, a 2008 Cochrane meta-analysis found the

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s on danshen were low in quality, and were insufficient to make any judgment about its efficacy for people with

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Meta-analyses of oral and injectable forms of danshen in people with

angina Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of parti ...

concluded that the effects of the treatment were inconclusive because the studies were low in quality and the conclusions were not based on strong evidence.

References

External links

''Salvia miltiorrhiza'' List of Chemicals (Dr. Duke's Databases)
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1000854 miltiorrhiza Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Flora of China Flora of Japan Taxa named by Alexander von Bunge