Andrographis paniculate is an herb that is indigenous to many Asian countries (India, Malaysia, Thailand, China, etc). It has a long history of being used for colds, sore throat, influenza, respiratory infections, sinusitis, UTI's, diarrhea etc. Much pharmaceutical research has been done on one of its major active components, Andrographolide.
Like many herbs, Andrographis has shown a large range of therapeutic activities. These include being antiviral (1), antibacterial (2), antimalarial (3), hepatoprotective (4), anti-inflammatory (5), platelet aggregation inhibiting (6,7), anti-HIV, anti-allergic (8).
More specifically:
1. Andrographis paniculata significantly increases the activities of antioxidant defense enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione-S-transferase and reduced glutathione content. (9). It also proves to be a potent free radical scavenger (10).
2. It exhibits anti-histaminic properties and suppresses IL-2 (11, 12) and IL-12 (13).
3. As a hepatoprotective agent, it has been shown as, or even more, effective than silymarin (active component of milk thistle) [14] in reference to damage by ethanol and hepatitis B(15).
4. A. paniculata has been reported to work against Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, gram A streptococci, and Staphylococcus aureus (2).
5. Andrographis has shown strong antiviral activity against Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) (16) and HIV.
6. It has proven to be renal protective against damage due to ingestion of certain antibiotics (17).
7. It was reported that the effect of andrographolide or A. paniculata on sex hormones in patients with an impaired testosterone level, might be able to return hormone levels to normal and treat decreased libido and decreased mental and physical sexual activity (18).
8 A. paniculata resolved 88.3% of acute bacillary dysentery and 91.3% of acute gastroenteritis cases (19).
Dosage 1-2 capsules 3x daily
Warnings and contraindications: Not enough research has been done on administration during pregnancy and breast feeding so to play it safe we advise not taking it. There have been a few cases of allergic reactions to Andrographis in people allergic to the “daisy” family of plant so be cautious if that applies to you.
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2. Singha PK, Roy S, Dey S. Antimicrobial activity of Andrographis paniculata . Fitoterapia. 2003;74(7-8):692–694.
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5. Shen YC, Chen CF, Chiou WF. Andrographolide prevents oxygen radical production by human neutrophils: possible mechanism(s) involved in its anti-inflammatory effect. British Journal of Pharmacology. 2002;135(2):399–406.
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8. Xia YF, Ye BQ, Li YD, et al. Andrographolide attenuates inflammation by inhibition of NF-κB activation through covalent modification of reduced cysteine 62 of p 50. Journal of Immunology. 2004;173(6):4207–4217
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11. Deng WL. Outline of current clinical and pharmacological research on Andrographis paniculata in China. Newsletters Chinese Herbal Medicine. 1978;10,:27–31.
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14. Singha PK, Roy S, Dey S. Protective activity of andrographolide and arabinogalactan proteins from Andrographis paniculata Nees. against ethanol-induced toxicity in mice. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2007;111(1):13–21.
15 . Rajkumar JS, Sekar MG, Mitra SK. Safety and efficacy of oral HD-03/ES given for six months in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2007;13(30):4103–4107
16. Tang LIC, Ling APK, Koh RY, Chye SM, Voon KGL. Screening of anti-dengue activity in methanolic extracts of medicinal plants. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;12(3):1–10.
17. Singh P, Srivastava MM, Khemani LD. Renoprotective effects of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees in rats. Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences. 2009;114(3):136–139.
18. Sattayasai J, Srisuwan S, Arkaravichien T, Aromdee C. Effects of andrographolide on sexual functions, vascular reactivity and serum testosterone level in rodents. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2010;48(7):1934–1938
19. Chang, Hson-Mou, and Paul Pui-Hay But. Pharmacology and Applications of Chinese Materia Medica: (Volume I). 2014.