Portulaca oleracea.   马 齿 苋 Mǎ chǐ xiàn    Common purslane   Family: Portulacaceae     
PART USED: Whole plant- Harvested in Summer.
Nature: Cold    FLAVOR: Sour, bitter  CHANNEL: Large Intestine, Liver, Heart
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Clear Heat- Neutralize toxins
1. Relieve Fire Toxicity and Cools the Blood.[5]
2. Expel Dampness. Diuretic.[1]
3. Clears Damp Heat and treats sores.[5] Alleviate itching.
4. Pain and swelling of wasp stings and snakebite.[5]
5. Post partum bleeding.[5] Alleviate uterine bleeding.
6. Quench thirst.[1]
INDICATIONS- Mainly used to treat dysentery.[4]
1. Diarrhea.[3] Damp Heat or Fire toxic dysentery.[1,3,4] Enteritis.[1] Chronic diarrhea.[4]
2. Fire toxin carbuncles and sores.[5] Skin- Boils.[1] Carbuncle. Swelling. Erysipelas. Ulcers.[1] Eczema, dermatitis,[3] herpes zoster, flat wart, vitiligo.[3]
3. Hot or bloody dysuria.[5] Urinary tract infection and leukorrhagia of Damp Heat type.[1,3] Hemorrhoids.[1,3]
4. Metrorrhagia and menorrhea.[3] Red and white vaginal discharge- topically and internally.[5]
5. Snake and insect bites.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Spleen and Sotmach Cold from deficiency, and during pregnancy.[5]
COMBINATIONS
- Damp Heat dysentery, with Scutellaria baicalensis- Huang qin and Coptis chinensis- Huang lian.[5]
- Intestinal abscess with Taraxacum mongolicum- Pu gong ying.[5]
PREPARATIONS: Decoction 30-60 g.[1,4,5] Fresh plant may be crushed for external application.[1] Appropriate amount for external use.[3] Above ground 9-15 g. Fresh 30-150 g.[2] The fresh juice is often used with a doubling of the dosage.[5] Good quality is small, young, and blue-green with many leaves.[5]

- Dysentery- 30-60 g- boil and drink decoction. This creates stronger digestion. Often there is a better result for acute dysentery.[4]
- Damp rash and boils- 30-60 g- use decoction of this herb and apply to area.[4]
ORIGIN: It has an extensive old world distribution extending from North Africa through the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to Malasia and Australasia.
HABITAT: In gardens and roadsides.
DESCRIPTION Annual fleshy herb. Stem; cylindrical, purplish-red, lower section creeping. Leaves; opposite or alternate, thick and fat, elliptical-obovate or spatulate-cuneate, apexes rounded-retuse, margins intact. Flowers; appear in summer, yellow 3-5 flowers growing axillary or from the top of stem. Capsule cracked. Numerous seeds, black.
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.
Causes contractions of blood vessels and uterus.[1] The antithelmintic properties of the seed have been disproved.[2]
Alkaloids; noradrenaline, dopamine. Also Calcium oxalate and potassium nitrate, both in potentially toxic amounts.[3]
References
[1] Translation notes from Gary Seiford and Hocu Huhn- NSW College of Natural Therapies. Sydney Australia (1982).
[2] L.J. Webb. Guide to the Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Queensland,CSIRO Bulletin No. 232; Government Printer, Melbourne, 1948
[3] R. Hegnauer, Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen, Vol.5 Birkhauser Verlag. Basel. 1969

Pharmacologicalreview Portulaca-oleracea pdf

A review of traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Portulaca oleracea L
Milad Iranshahy, Behjat Javadi, Mehrdad Iranshahi, Seyedeh Pardis Jahanbakhsh, Saman Mahyari, Faezeh Vahdati Hassani, Gholamreza Karimi
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Portulaca oleracea L. is a widespread medicinal plant that is used not only as an edible plant, but also as a traditional medicine for alleviating a wide spectrum of diseases. It is a well-known plant in the European Traditional Medicine. PA is mentioned by Dioscorides (40-90 CE), with the name of "andrachne".
Aim of the review: In this study, we provide detailed information on botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological uses, pharmacokinetics and safety of P. oleracea.
Materials and methods: An extensive search on electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Scopus, conference papers, local herbal encyclopedias, articles, books (in English, French, Arabic, Persian, etc.) and also a number of unpublished handwritten manuscripts was done to find articles have been published between 1956 and 2015 on pharmacology and phytochemistry of P. oleracea.
Results: P. oleracea has been addressed in De Materia Medica as an astringent, and a remedy for headaches, inflammation of the eyes and other organs, burning of the stomach, erysipela, disorders of the bladder, numbness of the teeth, excessive sexual desire, burning fevers, worms, dysentery, hemorrhoids, eruptions of blood, and bites. Phytochemical investigations revealed that this plant a wide range of secondary metabolites including alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids and organic acids. The most important pharmacological activities are renoprotective activities and effects on metabolism. P. oleracea could successfully decrease blood glucose and lipid profile of patients with metabolic syndrome. The safety of P. oleracea has been reported in many clinical trials.
Conclusion: Modern pharmacological studies have now proven many traditional uses of P. oleracea, including anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic, renoprotective and hepatoprotective effects. In addition, in many clinical trials P. oleracea showed no adverse effects and constipation was reported as the most frequent adverse effect.
Review J Ethnopharmacol 2017 Jun 9;205:158-172. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2017.05.004. Epub 2017 May 8. PMID: 28495602 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2017.05.004 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The anti-inflammatory potential of Portulaca oleracea L. (purslane) extract by partial suppression on NF-κB and MAPK activation
Lingchao Miao, Hongxun Tao, Yu Peng, Shengpeng Wang, Zhangfeng Zhong, Hesham El-Seedi, Simona Dragan, Gokhan Zengin, Wai San Cheang, Yitao Wang, Jianbo Xiao
Abstract
Portulaca oleracea L. (Purslane) has great potential as food and traditional drugs in several countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of purslane extract on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Purslane extracts significantly reduced LPS-induced synthesis of NO in a dose-dependent manner, as well as the expression levels of iNOS and COX-2. The productions of TNF-α and IL-6 were also significantly reduced at the higher dose of 400 μg/ml. Meanwhile, the expression levels of P65, p-P65, p-MEK and p-IκB-α were inhibited dose-dependently. The nuclear translocation of P65 was partially prevented by the extract, which explained the inhibition of NF-κB pathway. In addition, three reported flavonoids, named luteolin, kaempferol and quercitrin, were identified in the extract, which might be responsible for its anti-inflammatory effects. Above all, our research has partially proved that purslane could be considered as a natural anti-inflammatory agent in further applications.
Food Chem 2019 Aug 30;290:239-245. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.04.005. Epub 2019 Apr 2. PMID: 31000042 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.04.005 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Portulaca oleracea extracts and their active compounds ameliorate inflammatory bowel diseases in vitro and in vivo by modulating TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β signalling
Yesol Kim, Hyung Jin Lim, Hyun-Jae Jang, Soyoung Lee, Kyungsook Jung, Seung Woong Lee, Seung-Jae Lee, Mun-Chual Rho
Abstract
Portulaca oleracea L. (P. oleracea) is an herb that is widely used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. However, its effects on inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are not yet well characterized. Here, we investigated the impact of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and ethanol (EtOH) extracts of P. oleracea on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses and phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 expression in RAW264.7 macrophages. In addition, the inhibitory effects of these extracts and fractions on 3% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis were examined using an ICR mouse model. DSS-induced colitis, including body weight loss, reduced colon length, and histological colon injury, was significantly ameliorated in mice fed the P. oleracea extracts (200 and 500 mg/kg). In particular, P. oleracea extracts also inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-6, and 1L-1β) production in mice with DSS-induced colitis; the P. oleracea extracts displayed higher and/or similar inhibitory activity to sulfasalazine at high concentrations. Furthermore, the chemical structures of active compounds separated from the EtOAc extract of P. oleracea were elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (see Figure in supplementary materials), resulting in the identification of three known compounds. Among these active compounds, cis-N-feruloyl-3'-methoxytyramine (2) exhibited the strongest effects on preventing DSS-induced IBD in animal models. Thus, extract of P. oleracea and their active compounds represents a new therapeutic approach for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.
Food Res Int 2018 Apr;106:335-343. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.12.058. Epub 2017 Dec 21. PMID: 29579933 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.12.058 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov