8 Benefits of Paeonia Lactiflora Extract

As early as the pre-Qin period, peony has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine. The earliest extant prescription book in China, "Fifty-two Diseases Prescriptions", clearly records the use of peony to treat diseases. From the use of peony in the Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases, it can be seen that the clinical application of peony in the Qin and Han Dynasties has been very extensive.

Pharmacological effects of Paeonia Lactiflora Extract

1. Anti-inflammatory effect

Studies have found that total paeoniflorin can block the Toll-like receptor 4/5 signaling pathway, inhibit the function of dendritic cells, and reduce immune-mediated inflammatory responses. Paeoniflorin also has an inhibitory effect on the growth of giant tumor cells in picryl chloride-induced contact dermatitis.

2. Antidepressant effect

Animal experiments have shown that peony has antidepressant effects. The antidepressant effect of paeoniflorin may be mediated by the inhibition of monoamine oxidase through antagonist experiments. Total paeoniflorin has antidepressant effect on corticosterone-induced depression, which is related to its antioxidant capacity and brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein levels in hippocampus and frontal cortex. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal regulatory mechanism and the up-regulation of serotonin and norepinephrine activation systems are important mechanisms for the antidepressant effect of paeoniflorin.

3. Hepatoprotective effect

Paeoniflorin has obvious anti-hepatic fibrosis effect in cell and serum experiments. Its mechanism may be related to its blocking of TGF-β1/Smad signal transduction pathway. Sun et al. studied the effects of peony and astragalus extracts on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in rats, and found that when the ratio of peony and astragalus extracts was 4:1, the hepatoprotective activity was more significant.

4. Anti-autoimmune disease

Total paeoniflorin can increase the methylation level of ITGAL gene promoter and reduce the expression of CD11a in peripheral blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Total Paeoniflorin can increase the percentage of regulatory T cells in cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Total paeoniflorin can also down-regulate Foxp3 promoter methylation to increase the expression levels of Foxp3, IFN-γ and IL-2 cells, thereby treating systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, total glucosides of paeony are also very effective for the treatment of xerosis.

5. Anti-cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

The study found that paeoniflorin can inhibit the proliferation of rat thoracic aortic smooth muscle cells induced by angiotensin II, because paeoniflorin can increase the levels of nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase, thereby reducing the activity of matrix metalloproteinase 2.

In addition, red peony extract can treat myocardial infarction, and ethanol extract of red peony can induce aortic vasodilation in rats treated with adrenaline, activate KCa2+ and KATP channels, and inhibit L-type calcium channels. Thus activation of endothelial-dependent protein kinase K and calcium influx-endothelial nitric oxide synthase signaling pathway is achieved. Paeoniflorin can effectively protect endothelial cells from apoptosis. These results suggest that paeoniflorin can exhibit pharmacological effects through the LXR pathway.

6. Anti-Neurodegenerative Diseases

Some studies have found that paeoniflorin has neuroprotective effects. Paeoniflorin can alleviate the memory decline and brain damage in rats with chronic cerebral ischemia by inhibiting neuroinflammation in the brain. It also modulates nerve growth factor-mediated signaling, attenuates oxidative stress and increases cholinergic function to improve spatial learning and memory.

7. Antioxidant effect

The extract of Paeonia suffruticosa has strong total antioxidant capacity and free radical scavenging ability, and can protect bovine serum albumin oxidative damage caused by hydroxyl radicals. It also inhibits corticosterone-induced cytotoxicity.

The study found that total glucosides of paeoniflorin can protect the myocardial ischemia induced by isoproterenol. Because total glucosides of paeony can reduce the activities of aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase, increase the activity of superoxide dismutase, and reduce the level of malondialdehyde, this process may be achieved by reducing oxidative stress.

In addition, total glucosides of paeony can also improve the activity of renal antioxidant enzymes and total antioxidant capacity to inhibit diabetes-related renal damage.

8. Other pharmacological effects

Paeoniflorin can inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced endothelial cell permeability. In addition to the antibacterial effect of the Paeonia lactiflora extract against bacteria, the Paeonia japonica extract also showed strong antibacterial effects against fungi including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium solani.