''Hydrangea febrifuga'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Hydrangeaceae Hydrangeaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Cornales, with a wide distribution in Asia and North America, and locally in southeastern Europe. Description The genera are characterised by leaves in opposite pairs (rarely whorled or ...

. It is a subshrub or shrub native to central and southern China,

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

, and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

National names

* Chinese: ) *

Indonesian language Indonesian (; ) is the official language, official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standard language, standardized variety (linguistics), variety of Malay language, Malay, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that has ...

: ''gigil'', alternatively ''tataruman'' * Sundanese: ''ramram'' * Papua: ''Hom dong'' (ฮอมดง): * Thai: ''Yai khlang yai'' (ยายคลังใหญ่), in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Yai Krang (ยายกรัง) in the South, and ''Hom Kham'' (ฮอมคำ) in

Lanna The Lan Na kingdom or the Kingdom of Lanna (, , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; , , ), also known as Lannathai, was an Indianized state centered in present-day Northern Thailand from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The cultural developme ...

(Northern Thai).

Traditional Chinese medicine

''Dichroa febrifuga'' is an important

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

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 ...

, where it is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. The

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s febrifugine and isofebrifugine are believed to be responsible for its

antimalarial Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young ...

effects. In traditional preparations, it is used in conjunction with other plants such as ''

Glycyrrhiza glabra Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...

'' (licorice), ''

Ziziphus jujuba Jujube (UK ; US or ), sometimes jujuba, scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'', and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused wit ...

'' and ''

Zingiber officinale Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

'' (ginger).

Potential drug against autoimmune disease

Halofuginone Halofuginone, sold under the brand name Halocur, is a coccidiostat used in veterinary medicine. It is a synthetic halogenated derivative of febrifugine, a natural quinazolinone alkaloid which can be found in the Chinese herb '' Dichroa febrifu ...

, sold under the brand name Halocur, is a

coccidiostat A coccidiostat is an antiprotozoal agent that acts upon Coccidia parasites. Examples include: * Amprolium * Arprinocid * Artemether * Clazuril * Clopidol * Decoquinate * Diclazuril * Dinitolmide * Ethopabate * Halofuginone * Lasalocid * ...

used in veterinary medicine. It is a synthetic

halogen The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and the radioactive elements astatine (At) and tennessine (Ts), though some authors would ...

ated derivative of febrifugine, a natural

quinazolinone Quinazolinone is a heterocyclic chemical compound, a quinazoline with a carbonyl group in the C4N2 ring. Two isomers are possible: 2-quinazolinone and 4-quinazolinone, with the 4-isomer being the more common. These compounds are of interest in ...

alkaloid which can be found in ''dichroa febrifuga''. Halofuginone inhibits the development of

T helper 17 cell T helper 17 cells (Th17) are a subset of pro-inflammatory T helper cells defined by their production of interleukin 17 (IL-17). They are related to T regulatory cells and the signals that cause Th17s to actually inhibit Treg differentiation. Howe ...

s, immune cells that play an important role in

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...

, but it does not affect other kinds of T cells which are involved in normal immune function. Halofuginone therefore has potential for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. *

References

External links

''Dichroa febrifuga'' (Google Images)Dichroa febrifuga Lour ASEAN Tropical Plant DB
Hydrangeaceae Flora of North-Central China Flora of South-Central China Flora of Southeast China Flora of Indo-China Flora of Malesia Flora of New Guinea Flora of Taiwan Medicinal plants of Asia Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Plants described in 1790 Taxa named by João de Loureiro {{medicinal-plant-stub