Herbal Therapy - Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Chickweed is a cool-season annual plant often eaten by chickens., genus S. media, belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae, native to Europe. The herb has been used in herbal medicine to treat skin conditions, indigestion, eczema, cough, rashes, etc. and as astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary agent.

Chemical constituents(1)(2)
1. Igenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside
2. Apigenin 6-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside
3. Apigenin 6-C-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-8-C-beta-L-arabinopyranoside
4. Apigenin 6-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-galactopyranoside
5. Apigenin 6, 8-di-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside
6. Alkaloidal glycoside
7. Glucodichotomine B
8. Neolignan glycosides
9. Dichotomosides A, B, C, and D
10. Phenylpropanoid glycoside
11. Dichotomoside E
12. Saponins
13. Mucilage
14. PABA
15. Coumarin,
16. Flavonoids (rutin)
17. Hydroxycoumarin


References
(1) [Studies on chemical constituents from stellaria media. I].[Article in Chinese] by Dong Q¹, Huang Y, Qiao SY.(PubMed)
(2) Bioactive constituents from Chinese natural medicines. XIV. New glycosides of beta-carboline-type alkaloid, neolignan, and phenylpropanoid from Stellaria dichotoma L. var. lanceolata and their antiallergic activities by Morikawa T¹, Sun B, Matsuda H, Wu LJ, Harima S, Yoshikawa M.(PubMed)


1. Chickweed and Obesity
Obesity is defined as a medical condition of excess body fat has accumulated overtime, while overweight is a condition of excess body weight relatively to the height. According to the Body Mass Index(BMI), a BMI between 25 to 29.9 is considered over weight, while a BMI of over 30 is an indication of obesity. According to the statistic, 68% of American population are either overweight or obese.
In progesterone-induced obesity model in female albino mice, conducted by the CMR College of Pharmacy, showed that Methanolic extract of S. media (MESM) showed to inhibit the increase in body weight, adipose tissue weight and size, and upturned obesity and associated complications and may bebeneficial in suppression of obesity induced by progesterone(3). Other study suggested that the anti-obesity effects of Llyophilized juice extracted from the plant in high-fat-diet fed mice may be partly mediated through delaying the intestinal absorption of dietary fat and carbohydrate by inhibiting digestive enzymes(4).

References
(1) [Studies on chemical constituents from stellaria media. I].[Article in Chinese] by Dong Q¹, Huang Y, Qiao SY.(PubMed)
(2) Bioactive constituents from Chinese natural medicines. XIV. New glycosides of beta-carboline-type alkaloid, neolignan, and phenylpropanoid from Stellaria dichotoma L. var. lanceolata and their antiallergic activities by Morikawa T¹, Sun B, Matsuda H, Wu LJ, Harima S, Yoshikawa M.(PubMed)
(3)Antiobesity effect of Stellaria media against drug induced obesity in Swiss albino mice by Chidrawar VR¹, Patel KN, Sheth NR, Shiromwar SS, Trivedi P.(PubMed)
(4) Quality assessment and anti-obesity activity of Stellaria media (Linn.) Vill by Rani N¹, Vasudeva N, Sharma SK.(PubMed)

2. Chickweed and Hepatitis
Chickweed (Stellaria media (Linn.) Villars) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine over 200 years, mainly for the treatment of dermatitis and other skin diseases. In the study to evaluated the  anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV),  using the human HBV-transfected liver cell line HepG2.2.15, researched at the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine indicated that the herbal  30 μg/mL SM-3 effectively suppressed the secretion of HBsAg and HBeAg after 6 days of treatment,  Consistent with the reduction in HBV antigens, SM-3 also reduced the level of HBV DNA in a dose-dependent manner(1). In support of the result, the ¹Siberian State Medical University, indicated a hepaprotective effect of the herb water-soluble polysaccharide fraction at a dose of 100 mg/kg(2). In the evaluation of anti-hepatoma activity on five human liver-cancer cell lines, i.e. HepG2/C3A, SK-HEP-1, HA22T/VGH, Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5, with 15 most common herbs used in Canada folk medicine, chickweed may be effective in portect the liver against the growth of all five cell lines, depending to further study validation(3).

References
(1) Anti-hepatitis B virus activity of chickweed [Stellaria media (L.) Vill.] extracts in HepG2.2.15 cells by Ma L¹, Song J, Shi Y, Wang C, Chen B, Xie D, Jia X.(PubMed)
(2) Evaluation of hepatoprotective activity of water-soluble polysaccharide fraction of Stellaria media L. by Gorina YV¹, Saprykina EV, Gereng EA, Perevozchikova TV, Krasnov EA, Ivanova EV, Fait EA, Baranova OV.(PubMed)
(3) In vitro anti-hepatoma activity of fifteen natural medicines from Canada by Lin LT¹, Liu LT, Chiang LC, Lin CC.(PubMed)

3. Chickweed and Antimicrobial effects
HSV-2 is a members of the herpesvirus family and can be spread through contact with saliva,
 Stellarmedin A, a novel antiviral protein purified from Stellaria media, showed to inhibit the an proliferative and peroxidase activities of HSV-2 protein, according to the study by the Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences(1). Homologous defensins, Sm-AMP-D1 and Sm-AMP-D2, were isolated from seeds of common chickweed Stellaria media L, according to Russian Academy of Sciences, showed a strong  inhibitory activity against phytopathogenic fungi and oomycetes and may be a potent promising for engineering pathogen resistance in crops(2). α-hairpinin, a novel antifungal peptide isolated from Stellaria media seeds, also exhibited high broad-spectrum activity against fungal phytopathogens(3).

References
(1) Purification and characterization of a novel anti-HSV-2 protein with antiproliferative and peroxidase activities from Stellaria media by Shan Y¹, Zheng Y, Guan F, Zhou J, Zhao H, Xia B, Feng X.(PubMed)
(2) Isolation, molecular cloning and antimicrobial activity of novel defensins from common chickweed (Stellaria media L.) seeds by Slavokhotova AA¹, Odintsova TI, Rogozhin EA, Musolyamov AK, Andreev YA, Grishin EV, Egorov TA.(PubMed)
(3) Novel antifungal α-hairpinin peptide from Stellaria media seeds: structure, biosynthesis, gene structure and evolution by Slavokhotova AA¹, Rogozhin EA, Musolyamov AK, Andreev YA, Oparin PB, Berkut AA, Vassilevski AA, Egorov TA, Grishin EV, Odintsova TI.(PubMed)









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