The Mechanism of Action of Dong Quai Extract

Dong Quai,known as Chinese Angelica, is a Chinese Herb of the Umbelliferae plant family.Before I wrote this article, I am not sure which names to act as the title since there are so may names for Dong Quai. As a Chinese, in domestic market, we use Dang Gui root instead. After searching google keyword tools, we found Dong Quai is the most popular for angelica sisnensis, while angelica sinsnensis is the latin name for it.

The applicable part of dong quai is the root. Dong quai root has several active constituents. Some of these include ferulic acid, ligusticide, angelicide, brefeldin A, butylphthalide, nicotinic acid, and succinic acid. Dong quai root contains a variety of other constituents including n-valerophenone-O-carboxylic acid, uracil, adenine, carvacrol, safrole, isosafrole, sesquiterpenes, n-dodecanol, n-tetradecanol, palmitic acid, angelic acid, myristic acid, and others.

The dong quai root also contains several vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, carotenoids, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin B12, biotin, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and phytosterols such as beta-sitosterol (15109). It also contains 0.4% to 0.7% volatile oil.

Dong quai also contains several coumarin constituents, however, there has been some debate about which coumarins are present in dong quai root. Some coumarins reported to be present in the root include angelol, angelicone, osthol, psoralen, oxypeucedanin, and bergapten. Some coumarins can act as vasodilators and antispasmodics. Osthol appears to inhibit platelet aggregation and smooth muscle contraction, and cause hypotension. Psoralen and bergapten are photosensitizing and can cause severe photodermatitis. Bergapten and other dong quai constituents, such as safrole and isosafrole, are carcinogenic.

Therapeutic pharmacologic activity is most often attributed to the ferulic acid and ligusticide constituents. Ferulic acid and ligusticide are sometimes used as marker compounds to assess dong quai root quality. The amount of these...