Botanical Name: Prunella vulgaris, Lamiaceae
Common names: Self Heal, Prunella, All Heal, Hook Heal, Slough Heal, Brunella, Heart of the Earth. Blue Curls.
Plant description: Self Heal is a herbaceous perennial that arises from a fibrous root, with solitary or clustered stems, erect to spreading and even decumbent, up to 50 cm tall, with the characteristic square shaped edges of the Lamiaceae. The leaves are few, arranged in an opposite fashion, oblong to elliptic, glabrous or slightly pubescent, on short petioles, the margins smooth or slightly toothed. The flowers are bright purple to pink, sometimes white, 1-2 cm long, on short stalks, arranged in a spike-like cluster at the top of the stem. The reddish-brown sepals are united into a two-lipped spine-tipped tube, and the petals and fused into a two-lipped corolla, the upper lip hooded like a bonnet or hat, the lower lip divided into three parts, middle portion sometimes fringed.
Habitat, ecology and distribution: Self Heal has a worldwide distribution, found in temperate regions along roadsides, in clearings, fields, pastures, lawns and gardens, common at low to mid elevations.
Part used: Aerial portions.
Constituents: There is a limited amount of constituent data for Self Heal including anthocyanin glycosides cyanidin and delphinidin, as well as flavonoids such as hyperoside and rutin. Self Heal has also been shown to contain a few plants acids including betulinic acid, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid. Other constituents include a volatile oil (d-camphor, d-fenchone), and potassium chloride (Duke 2003).
Medical Research: There is a limited amount of experimental data on Self Heal.
•Arthritis: In one clinical trial, a purified extract containing a mixture of Clematis mandshurica, Trichosanthes kirilowii and Prunella vulgaris (SKI 306X) was examined in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate its efficacy and safety in 96 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients were randomized to four treatment groups: placebo, 200 mg, 400 mg and 600 mg of SKI 306X, t.i.d.. Clinical efficacy and safety were evaluated for 4 weeks continuous treatment. SKI 306X demonstrated its clinical efficacy, as assessed by 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS), Lequesne index and patients' and investigators opinion of the therapeutic effect compared with placebo (p<0.01). The results of the study indicated that SKI 306X provided clinical efficacy in patients with osteoarthritis, with no significant adverse events reported. (Jung et al 2001).
•Antioxidant: The activity-guided fractionation of the extract of the herb of Prunella vulgaris led to the isolation of four triterpenes, i.e., betulinic acid, ursolic acid, 2 alpha,3 alpha-dihydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid, and 2 alpha-hydroxyursolic acid. Of these compounds, 2 alpha,3 alpha-dihydroxyursolic acid, demonstrated significant inhibition on the release of beta-hexosaminidase from the cultured RBL-2H3 cells in a dose-dependent manner. When these isolated compounds were tested for their effects on the production of nitric oxide from cultured murine macrophages, ursolic acid and 2 alpha-hydroxyursolic acid exhibited strong inhibitory activities (Ryu et al 2000). The antioxidant and superoxide and hydroxyl radical-scavenging activities of Prunella vulgaris were examined, and was found to inhibit rat erythrocyte hemolysis and lipid peroxidation in rat kidney and brain homogenates (Liu and Ng 2000).
•Antiallergenic: The effect of an aqueous extract of Prunella vulgaris was studied on immediate-type allergic reactions, and displayed dose-dependent inhibition of systemic anaphylactic shock induced in rats (Shin et al 2001)
•Antiviral: A water soluble anionic polysaccharide isolated from Prunella vulgaris was found to be active against the herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2). The results indicated that the polysaccharide may inhibit HSV by competing for cell receptors as well as by unknown mechanisms after the virus has penetrated the cells. The Prunella polysaccharide was not cytotoxic to mammalian cells up to the highest concentration tested, 0.5 mg/ml and did not show any anti-coagulant activity (Xu et al 1999). An extract obtained from Prunella vulgaris was found to significantly inhibit HIV-1 replication with relatively low cytotoxicity. The purified extract inhibited HIV-1 replication in the lymphoid cell line MT-4, in the monocytoid cell line U937, and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells at effective concentrations of 6, 30, and 12.5 micrograms/ml, respectively. Pretreatment of uninfected cells with the extract prior to viral exposure did not prevent HIV-1 infection. By contrast, preincubation of HIV-1 with the purified extract dramatically decreased infectiousness. The purified extract was also able to block cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1, prevented syncytium formation, and interfered with the ability of both HIV-1 and purified gp120 to bind to CD4. Researchers concluded that the results indicate that the purified extract antagonizes HIV-1 infection of susceptible cells by preventing viral attachment to the CD4 receptor (Yao et al 1992).
Toxicity: There is no toxicity data for Self Heal, but it is generally regarded to be a safe and mildly-acting herb.
Herbal action: vulnerary, antiinflammatory, febrifuge, lymphatic
Indications: abrasions, cuts, wounds, pharyngitis, lymphadenitis, mumps, mastitis, eye-strain, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, diarrhea, dysentery, fever
Contraindications and cautions: None.
Medicinal uses: Self Heal is a mildly-acting vulnerary ideally suited to pediatrics and otherwise mild conditions. It can be masticated and applied as a poultice as a first aid remedy in abrasions and mild wounds, and can be similarly taken internally to heal mild inflammations of the gastrointestinal tract. Mills states that Self Heal has a particular affinity for swollen lymph nodes, and can be taken internally in lymphadenitis and applied topically in mastitis (1991, 463). As a cold infusion Self Heal may be helpful in pediatric fever, taken internally as well as sponged over the forehead. The fresh juice forms a useful gargle in pharyngitis, and can be used to wash the eyes in conjunctivitis, blepharitis, and otherwise sore eyes (Mills 1991, 463; Moore 1979, 145).
Pharmacy and dosage:
•Fresh Plant Tincture: fresh plant, 1:2, 95% alcohol, 20-60 gtt
•Succus:fresh juice combined with an equal volume of 95% alcohol, reduced by low heat to half the total volume, 5-30 gtt.
•Cold Infusion: recently dried herb, 1:20, ad libitum
REFERENCES
Duke, James. 2003. Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Agricultural Research Services. Available from http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/
Grieve, Maude. 1971. A Modern Herbal. New York: Dover Publications.
Jung YB, Roh KJ, Jung JA, Jung K, Yoo H, Cho YB, Kwak WJ, Kim DK, Kim KH, Han CK. 2001. Effect of SKI 306X, a new herbal anti-arthritic agent, in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a double-blind placebo controlled study. Am J Chin Med. 29(3-4):485-91
Liu F, Ng TB. 2000. Antioxidative and free radical scavenging activities of selected medicinal herbs. Life Sci. Jan 14;66(8):725-35
Mills, Simon. 1991. The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine. London: Arkana Penguin.
Moore, Michael. 1979. Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press
Ryu SY, Oak MH, Yoon SK, Cho DI, Yoo GS, Kim TS, Kim KM. 2000. Anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory triterpenes from the herb of Prunella vulgaris. Planta Med May;66(4):358-60
Shin TY, Kim YK, Kim HM.. 2001. Inhibition of immediate-type allergic reactions by Prunella vulgaris in a murine model.Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. Aug;23(3):423-35
Xu HX, Lee SH, Lee SF, White RL, Blay J. 1999. Isolation and characterization of an anti-HSV polysaccharide from Prunella vulgaris. Antiviral Res. Nov;44(1):43-54
Yao XJ, Wainberg MA, Parniak MA. 1992. Mechanism of inhibition of HIV-1 infection in vitro by purified extract of Prunella vulgaris. Virology. Mar;187(1):56-62 |
