Akebia trifoliata. Akebia trifoliata var. australis 白 木 通  Bái mù tōng   Trifoliate akebia   Family: Lardizabalaceae 
PART USED: Vine and fruit- harvested at start of Autumn.
   FLAVOR:  Bitter  CHANNELS: Bladder, Heart , Small Intestine
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Diuretic
1. Promotes urination and drains Heat from the Heart via the Small Intestine.[2] Diuretic.
2. Settles Heart Fire (nerves).[1]
3. Resolves Damp Heat.[1]
4. Stimulates Blood circulation.[1] Unblocks blood vessels.[2]
5. Promotes lactation.[2]
INDICATIONS
1. Damp Heat edema;[1,2] painful urinary dysfunction,[1,2] edema and leg Qi obstruction.[2]
2. Heart irritability accompanied by sores of the mouth or tongue, and scanty urine.[2]
3. Amenorrhea and inadequate lactation.[1,2] Stiffness of the joints.[2]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Pregnancy and in the absence of interior Damp Heat. this herb easily injures the fluids and should be used with extreme caution in patients with any sign of Yin deficiency.[2] Do not overdose; acute renal failure was reported following a dose of 60 g.[2]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS:  Decoction. Vine and fruit  9-15 g.[1] 3-9 g.[2]
  
HABITAT: Grows beneath forests or semi-shady and damp places in thickets.
DESCRIPTION: Deciduous vine. Stem; entwining, reaching 6 m or more, longitudinally striped and pock-marked. Leaves; often clustered, trifoliate-compound, long petioles, small, leathery, ovate or long ovate-rounded, apexes elliptical and slightly dented, bases rounded or broadly cuneate, the whole margin slightly undulate. Flowers; purplish-red appearing in the spring, in a racemose inflorescence. Berry; purple, long cylindrical shape.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research

Akebia trifoliata (Thunb.) Koidz Seed Extract inhibits human hepatocellular carcinoma cell migration and invasion in vitro.
Lu WL, et al.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The high recurrence rate postoperative and extensive metastases have become the obstacle of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) efficacy improvements, which contribute to most of the patient mortality. Akebia trifoliata (Thunb.) Koidz has been shown pharmacological activities in clinical and anti-HCC biological activity in previous research, but its potential function of anti-metastasis remains unknown.
AIM OF THIS STUDY: To make sure whether ATKSE inhibits migration and invasion in HCC cell lines in vitro and the potential mechanism.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A UHPLC-HRMS analysis was adopted to identify and control the quality of the ethanol extract of Akebia trifoliata (Thunb.) Koidz Seed (abbreviated ATKSE). Cell viability of three kinds of HCC cell lines (HEPG2, HUH7, and SMMC7721) was detected using MTT assay and Flow cytometry. Adhesion capacity was measured by cell-matrigel adhesion assay. Wounded healing and Matrigel-transwell invasion assays were performed to assess cell migration and invasion, respectively. Western blot assay was used to detect several metastasis-related protein molecules, including FAK adhesion signaling, cadherin molecules, and MMPs. ELISA assay was used to evaluate the secreted MMP9 level.
RESULTS: ATKSE significantly suppressed HCC cells viability and proliferation (from 0.9 up to 3.0 mg/ml); then under sub-lethal concentration (from 0.25 up to 1.0 mg/ml), ATKSE inhibited cell adhesion, migration, and invasion in a way of dose-dependent. Several metastatic-related molecules or pathway, including FAK adhesion signaling, cadherin molecules, and MMPs, took part in this process. There are both differences and commonalities in various cell lines: typically such as p-FAK was down-regulated by ATKSE in both HEPG2 and SMMC7721, while was raised in HUH7; Further attempts on the combination of ATKSE and FAK inhibitors, provide us with the enhanced inhibitory effects of invasion and migration in HEPG2 and HUH7 cells, as well as antagonistic effects in SMMC7721. As a target or potential mechanism, it may be more valuable to concern FAK inhibition by ATKSE in HEPG2 cells than in the other two cells.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ATKSE has anti-metastasis potency in HCC cells.
PMID 30528882 [ - as supplied by publisher] J Ethnopharmacol. 2018. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Triterpenoids with α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and cytotoxic activity from the leaves of Akebia trifoliata
Jin-Kui Ouyang,a Li-Mei Dong,a Qiao-Lin Xu,*b Jing Wang,c Shao-Bo Liu,a Tao Qian,a Yun-Fei Yuanc and Jian-Wen Tan*ac
Abstract
Ten pentacyclic triterpenoids including a new multiflorane triterpene acid, 2α,3β,23-trihydroxymultiflor-7-en-28-oic acid (1), and a new lupane triterpene monoglucoside named akebiaoside C (2), were obtained from the leaves of Akebia trifoliata. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, and they were all isolated from the leaves of A. trifoliata for the first time. These compounds, except 4 and 5, showed in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity much stronger than acarbose. Especially, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10 displayed in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC50 values from 0.004 to 0.081 mM, which were close or even more potent than corosolic acid (IC50 0.06 mM). Triterpenoids 1, 8 and 10 were further revealed to show moderate in vitro cytotoxic activity against human tumor A549, HeLa and HepG2 cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 26.5 to 51.9 μM. Compound 9 selectively showed in vitro cytotoxicity toward HeLa and HepG2 cell lines, with IC50 values of 81.49 and 73.47 μM, respectively. These findings provided new data to support that the leaves of A. trifoliata are a rich source in bioactive triterpenoids highly valuable to be developed for medicinal usage.
Issue 70, 2018 From the journal: RSC Advances pubs.rsc.org