Saposhnikovia divaricata. Ledebouriella divaricata, L. seseloides 防 风 Fáng fēng   Saposhnikovia, Siler, Ledebouriella root   Family: Umbelliferae    
PART USED: Root- harvested in Spring and Autumn
   FLAVOR: Pungent, acrid, pleasant, sweet.   CHANNEL: Bladder, Liver, Spleen
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Exterior Clearing- Warming
1. Clears the exterior and expels Wind:[3] headache, chills, and body aches due to externally contracted Wind Cold.[3]
2. Disperse Wind Damp in muscles, and alleviates pain, [3,5] especially when Wind is predominant.[3]
3. Expelling endogenous Wind to relieve spasm.[3] Alleviate trembling of the hands and feet and tetany.[3]
4. Removing Dampness,[1] to relieve pain. Suppresses gas and flatus.[1]
ACTIONS
INDICATIONS- Used as a main herb for dispersing perverse Wind.[5]
1. Exterior syndromes due to affection by exopathogens manifested as headache and pantalgia. Influenza, headache, chills.[1] Common cold, headache. Headache- (front Stomach, temples Spleen, Back Bladder, Small Intestine).[5]
2. Arthralgia due to Wind Cold Dampness:[5]Joint pain and spasm of muscles. Rheumatoid numbness, joint pains, tetanus.[1] Arthritis, itching, urticaria. Dispersing Wind to Stop pain moving around.[5]
3. Tetanus with symptoms of opisthotonus, trismus, spasm and convulsion.
4. Itch moving from one place to another.[5]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Blood deficiency with spasms and for Yin deficiency with heat signs.[3]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Should be used cautiously for endopathic Wind generated by Blood deficiency.[4,2] Exuberance of Fire due to Yin deficiency.[4]
PREPARATIONS: Decoction. Dried root 3-9 g.[1,2,3,4,5] Good quality is course and strong with a tight, thin cortex. The cross section should have brown rings with a light yellow center.[3]
   
ORIGIN: China- Heilongjiang, Lilin, Inner Mongolia, Hebei
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

Anti-proliferative and antioxidant activities of Saposhnikovia divaricata.
Tai J, Cheung S.
Abstract
The dry root of Saposhnikovia divaricata (Turcz.) Schischk. (SD, syn. Ledebouriella divaricata (Turcz.); Umbelliferae), Siler, a perennial herb of the carrot family, is also known as Fang Feng in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. It is a herbal ingredient included in many polyherb formulae. This study investigated the in vitro anti-proliferative, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the SD extract (1 g/10 ml 70% ethanol). IC50 (50% inhibition) is estimated at 1/300, 1/1400, 1/250 and 1/600 dilutions, for the K562, HL60, MCF7 and MDA-MB-468 cell lines, respectively. The combination of non-cytotoxic concentrations of SD with chemotherapeutic drugs such as camptothecin or paclitaxel showed additive anti-proliferative effects on K562, HL60 and MCF7 cells, and antagonistic effects on MDA-MB-468 cells. At a dilution of 1/2000, SD induced a differentiation of 17.5+/-2.5% in HL60 cells along the granulocyte lineage compared to 2.8+/-0.8% in the untreated controls, but not along the monocyte/macrophage lineage. At non-cytotoxic 1/10000, 1/5000 and 1/2000 dilutions, the SD extract did not affect nitric oxide (NO) production by non-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, but dose-dependently and significantly reduced NO production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 cells. RT-PCR analyses showed that SD at a dilution of 1/2000 did not affect TNFalpha, IL-1 beta, iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression in RAW 264.7 cells compared to the unstimulated controls, but significantly reduced (p<0.05) iNOS and its mRNA expression in LPS-activated cells. It is concluded that the SD ethanol extract possesses strong anti-proliferative properties against several human tumor cell lines, a mild granulocyte differentiation inducing property on HL60 cells, and potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and protective properties on LPS-activated RAW 264.7 cells. Further research is required in order to identify the major ingredients present in the Saposhnikovia divaricata root and rhizome showing the observed activities.
PMID: 17549372  Oncol Rep. 2007 Jul;18(1):227-34. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov