Folk Japanese

An interesting approach toward the total synthesis of the Stemona alkaloid, (-)-stenine (25), which have been used in Chinese and Japanese folk medicine as insecticides, as drugs for the treatment of respiratory diseases, via spirolactone... 

Exposure to wood creosotes appears to be confined to ingestion of plant extracts and dermal contact with the plants. Most of the toxicity data for oral exposure to wood creosotes comes from reports of individuals who ingested plant extracts such as chaparral, an herbal extract prepared by grinding leaves of the creosote bush, or seirogan , a Japanese folk remedy made with wood creosote that is typically taken for stomachaches. 

Wood Creosote. Wood creosote is a common Japanese folk remedy under the generic name "seirogan" and its relationship to stomach cancer is reported in a study by Weiner (1986). This preparation was used as a treatment for stomach aches, taken 3 times/day and the dose was equivalent to 260 mg creosote daily. The cancer distribution in Japan shows the highest incidence of stomach cancer reported in Toyoma where seirogan was produced and in prefectures close to Toyoma. However, the author notes that there may be other factors in addition to seirogan. At the time of the report, 35 different digestive remedies contained creosote. 

A Japanese folk remedy for ascaris. It is relatively nontoxic for higher animals and very toxic for 1 umbnciis. leech and ascaris. 

Several phenylpropanoids and lignans were isolated from Magnolia officinalis and Asiasarum heterotropoides var. mandshuricum as anti-tumor-promoters. The bark of M officinalis has been used in Chinese and Japanese folk medicine for the treatment of bronchitis and emphysema, and this crude drug is one of the important component of oriental prescriptions. 

From the fruits of Gleditsia japonica, which have been used in Japanese and Chinese folk medicine as a diuretic and expectorant, seven saponins (gleditsiasaponins B, C, Dj, D2, E, G and I) had been isolated. The structural elucidation of these saponins have been carried out by the chemical degradations, enzymatic hydrolysis and C-NMR spectra, and characterized as 3, 28-0-bisglycosides of echinocystic acid acylated with monoterpene carboxylic acid [46-49]. 

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