Herpetospermum, Gser Gyi Me Tog གསེར་གྱི་མེ་ཏོག

Himalayan Bitter Gourd
Gser Gyi Me Tog (Tibetan)
Bo Leng Gua Zi (TCM)
Beej Karela (Hindi)

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Herpetospermum pedunculosum
(Photo by Max Antheunisse) (plantillustrations)

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Herpetospermum seed
(Chengdu Medicine Market, Adam, 2017)

Botanical name:

Herpetospermum pedunculosum (syn. Bryonia pedunculosa, Herpetospermun caudigerum, H, grandiflorum)

Parts used:

Seed

Temperature & Taste:

Cold, dry. Bitter

Uses:

1. Clears Liver Heat:

-Hepatitis including Hepatitis B and chronic Hepatitis
-Cirrhosis, Chronic Liver Disease
-excellent for all Bile diseases / Liver heat
-skin diseases from Liver heat, including Eczema and Psoriasis

2. Clears Heat and Damp:

-Heat and Fever associated with Stomach and Intestines
-Diarrhea, Indigestion
-Gall Bladder pain, Cholecystitis, Jaundice

Dose:

1500mg–3 grams

Substitute:

1. Seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis or M. charantia
2. Flowers of Hemerocallis minor (Tibetan–Buryat)
3. St. John’s wort has been given by Tibetan sources from the Buryat region.

Preparation:

Sometimes stir-fried with hand until slightly scorched. This reduces diarrhea-causing effect of medium-to-high doses.

Main Combinations:

1. Liver Heat, Chronic Liver diseases, Cirrhosis, Jaundice, Cholecystitis:
i. Herpetospermum with Aconitum heterophyllum, Gentian flower, Swertia, Picrorhiza, Barberry, Safflower
ii. Herpetospermum with Shilajit, Safflower, Swertia, Costus (as in Bezoar 9)
iii. Herpetospermum with Meconopsis, Tabasheer, Emblic Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Calcite, Clove, Cinnamon, Costus, Safflower, Saxifrage spp. (as in Meconopsis 25 of Tibetan Medicine)
2. Liver heat with red eyes and headache, Gall Bladder pain, Hypertension, Herpetospermum with Enblic Myrobalan, Shilajit, Lagotis, Madder, Safflower, Costus, Chebulic and Belleric Myrobalan, Tinospora (as in Emblic 25 of Tibetan Medicine)
3. Bile diseases with bitter taste, yellowing of the eyes, indigestion, epigatric pain, Herpetospermum with Chebulic Myrobalan, Pomegranate, Shilajit (as in Golden 5 of Tibetan Medicine)
4. Heat, Poison, Chronic Fever, Herpetospermum, Calcite, Safflower, Clove, Sandalwood, Costus, Chebulic Myrobalan, Tabasheer

Major Formula:

Amomum 11 (Ko la 11) (Tibetan)
Amomum 19 (Ko la 19) (Tibetan)
Bezoar 9 (Gi wan 9) (Tibetan)
Bile Conqueror (Mkhris las rnam rgyal) (Tibetan)
Calm the Shocked Mind 20 Pills (Mogolian)
Chebula 7 (A ru bdun pa) (Tibetan) 
Crystal Moon 37 (Zla shel so bdun) (Tibetan)
Emblic 25 (Skyu ru nyer lnga) (Tibetan)
Gentiana algida 15 (Spang rgyan dkar po 15) (Tibetan)
Golden 5 (Gser mdog 5) (Tibetan)
Golden 11 (Gser mdog 11) (Tibetan)
Golden Pacific (Zhi gser) (Tibetan)
Meconopsis 25 (Tibetan)
Swertia 8 (Tig ta brgyad pa) (Tibetan) 

Cautions:

1. Not suitable for Cold and weak digestion
2. Full doses cause diarrhea.

Main Preparations used:

GENERAL / REVIEW
–[Study on the chemical constituents of Herpetospermum caudigerum].
PREPARATION
–[Influence of stir-baked with sand on active ingredients, diarrhea and hepatoprotection of Herpetospermum caudigerum].
HEPATITIS / LIVER INJURY
–Ethyl acetate extract from Herpetospermun cardigerum wall. Ameliorated concanavalin A-induced autoimmune hepatitis in mice by reprofiling gut microenvironment to modulate IDO1/KYN and PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathways.
–Herpetrione, a New Type of PPARα Ligand as a Therapeutic Strategy Against Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.
–Herpetin Promotes Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Alleviate Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Acute Liver Injury in Mice.
–Hepatoprotection of Herpetospermum caudigerum Wall. against CCl(4)-induced liver fibrosis on rats.
–Hepatoprotective effect of Herpetospermum caudigerum Wall. on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats.
HEPATITIS B
–A hepatitis B virus inhibitory neolignan from Herpetospermum caudigerum.
–Hepatitis B virus inhibiting constituents from Herpetospermum caudigerum.
SKIN DISEASE
–Ethanol extract of Herpetospermum caudigerum Wall ameliorates psoriasis-like skin inflammation and promotes degradation of keratinocyte-derived ICAM-1 and CXCL9.
ANTI-FATIGUE
–Lignans-rich extract from Herpetospermum caudigerum alleviate physical fatigue in mice.

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