Scutellaria baicalensis (Baical skullcap)

[Finduilas495]

My Dad found some information on this traditional Chinese herbal remedy, known as Huang Qin. I started digging a little, and found the following studies:

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12470437

J Altern Complement Med. 2002 Oct;8(5):567-72.
Anticancer activity of Scutellaria baicalensis and its potential mechanism.
Ye F, Xui L, Yi J, Zhang W, Zhang DY.
Source
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
Scutellaria baicalensis is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine that historically is used in anti-inflammatory and anticancer therapy. The aim of the study is to determine its ability to inhibit human cancer cells in vitro and to determine whether its anticancer activity is because of the inhibition of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production that is derived from arachidonic acid through cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway.
METHODS:
Cell lines from the most common human cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC-25, KB), breast cancer (MCF-7), hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), prostate carcinoma (PC-3 and LNCaP), and colon cancer (KM-12 and HCT-15) were tested. The cells were treated with various concentrations of Scutellaria baicalensis (0.1-100 mg/mL) for 72 hours. Percentage of viable cells after treatment was assessed using a trypan blue dye exclusion assay and the level of PGE(2) production was determined by enzyme immunoassay (EIA).
RESULTS:
Scutellaria baicalensis demonstrated a strong dose-dependent growth inhibition in all cell lines. Inhibition concentration at 50% (IC(50)) for HepG2, MCF-7, PC-3, LNCaP, KM-12, HCT-15, KB and SCC-25 cells was 1.1, 0.9, 0.52, 0.82, 1.1, 1.5, 1.0, and 1.2 mg/mL, respectively. Three cell lines (KB, SCC-25, and HepG2) were assessed for the production of PGE(2) and a high level of extracellular (KB and SCC-25) and intracellular PGE(2) (HepG2) was noted. In the presence of Scutellaria baicalensis extract, there was a significant decrease of PGE(2) in a dose-dependent fashion.
CONCLUSIONS:
Scutellaria baicalensis strongly inhibits cell growth in all cancer cell lines tested. However, prostate and breast cancer cells (PC-3, LNCaP, and MCF-7) are slightly more sensitive than other type of cancer cells. It also inhibits PGE(2) production, indicating that suppression of tumor cell growth may be due to its ability to inhibit COX-2 activity. This study supports the notion of using Scutellaria baicalensis as a novel anticancer agent to treat various cancers.
PMID:
12470437
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Then there's this:

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19004559?dopt=Abstract

Cancer Treat Rev. 2009 Feb;35(1):57-68. Epub 2008 Nov 11.
New therapeutic aspects of flavones: the anticancer properties of Scutellaria and its main active constituents Wogonin, Baicalein and Baicalin.
Li-Weber M.
Source
Tumor Immunology Program D030, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. m.li-weber@dkfz-heidelberg.de
Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicines have been recently recognized as a new source of anticancer drugs and new chemotherapy adjuvant to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy and to ameliorate the side effects of cancer chemotherapies however their healing mechanisms are still largely unknown. Scutellaria baicalensis is one of the most popular and multi-purpose herb used in China traditionally for treatment of inflammation, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and bacterial and viral infections. Accumulating evidence demonstrate that Scutellaria also possesses potent anticancer activities. The bioactive components of Scutellaria have been confirmed to be flavones. The major constituents of Scutellaria baicalensis are Wogonin, Baicalein and Baicalin. These phytochemicals are not only cytostatic but also cytotoxic to various human tumor cell lines in vitro and inhibit tumor growth in vivo. Most importantly, they show almost no or minor toxicity to normal epithelial and normal peripheral blood and myeloid cells. The antitumor functions of these flavones are largely due to their abilities to scavenge oxidative radicals, to attenuate NF-kappaB activity, to inhibit several genes important for regulation of the cell cycle, to suppress COX-2 gene expression and to prevent viral infections. The tumor-selectivity of Wogonin has recently been demonstrated to be due to its ability to differentially modulate the oxidation-reduction status of malignant vs. normal lymphocytic cells and to preferentially induce phospholipase C gamma 1, a key enzyme involved in Ca(2+) signaling, through H(2)O(2) signaling in malignant lymphocytes. This review is aimed to summarize the research results obtained since the last 20 years and to highlight the recently discovered molecular mechanisms.
PMID:
19004559
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

And, quite recently published by the Medical University of Vienna, this:

_http://www.jci.org/articles/view/44751

We inhibited the enzymatic activity of ALOX15 in MCF7 cells by pharmacologic inhibition with the pan-LOX inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (33), which resulted in a significant and dose-dependent reduction of MCF7 spheroid–induced CCID areas in lymphatic endothelial cell monolayers (Supplemental Table 2). This result was confirmed with the LOX inhibitor baicalein (34) at nontoxic concentrations (Figure 3 and Supplemental Figure 6), which reduced CCID formation by 90% after 2 hours, and by 40% to 60% after 6 hours of coincubation as determined in pilot experiments (26).

Baical skullcap is supposedly anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial.

About the plant itself, I found this:

_http://www.landscapingrevolution.com/ingrid_garden/herbs/baikal_skullcap.html

Baikal Skullcap
Scutellaria baicalensis

Native to Lake Baikal, Mongolia, Siberia, and parts of China & Korea

Zone: hardy to zone 5, survives temperatures as low as -23°C or -9°F

Soil: well-drained soil that does not dry out

Perennial: lives at least three years. It is an herbaceous ground cover, quite low growing despite the picture of the flower. The stems spread along the ground and then turn upwards at the tip so the base can spread 24" but the height is only about a foot.

Germination: Grow from seeds indoors starting in early spring and transplant outdoors in summer.

Plant: full sun to shade. Baikal skullcap is drought tolerant once established.

Flowers: August. Collect seeds in September.

Harvest: the roots of 3-4 year old plants in spring or autumn.

Taste: bitter.

Uses: the leaves can be eaten as a vegetable or dried and used as a tea substitute.

Medicinal Uses: Baikal Skullcap has a 2000 year history in Chinese medical herbalism and is ranked among the 50 most important plants. It is used to treat fevers, jaundice, liver disease, dysentery, diarrhea, urinary tract infection, and internal hemorrhaging. It was one of the seven herbs in PC-SPECS used to treat prostate cancer. It is also used to treat impaired brain function.

Warnings: not for use by insulin-dependent diabetics.

Habitat Considerations: 100-2000 meters above sea level.

Notes: Commercial production is being encouraged because of the high value of the flavonoids that accumulate in the roots: baicalein and baicalin.

I'll see what else I can find...