Astragalus

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This article is about the plant genus. For the ankle bone, see talus bone.
Astragalus

Astragalus tragacantha ssp. vicentinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Galegeae
Genus: Astragalus
L.
Species

See text.

Astragalus (As-trá-ga-lus) is a large genus of about 2,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milk-vetch (most species), locoweed (in western US, some species)[1] and goat's-thorn (A. gummifer, A. tragacanthus). Some pale-flowered vetches are similar in appearance, but vetches are more vine-like.

Contents

[edit] Species

Astragalus glycyphyllos

Astragalus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the following case-bearers of the genus Coleophora: C. astragalella (feeds exclusively on A. glycyphyllos), C. cartilaginella (feeds exclusively on Astragalus), C. colutella, C. euryaula (feeds exclusively on Astragalus), C. gallipennella (feeds exclusively on A. glycyphyllos), C. hippodromica (feeds exclusively on A. gombo), C. onobrychiella (feeds exclusively on Astragalus), C. polonicella (feeds exclusively on A. arenarius) and C. vicinella.

[edit] Medicinal uses

Main article: Astragalus propinquus#Medicinal_uses

Astragalus propinquus (also known as Astragalus membranaceus[clarification needed]) has a history of use as an herbal medicine, and the biotechnology firms Geron Corporation and TA Therapeutics of Hong Kong have been working on deriving a telomerase activator from it.

In a recent news release Geron Corporation and Rita Effros from UCLA discussed the possibility of an herbal extract called TAT2 (Cycloastregenol) to be used to help combat HIV, as well as infections associated with chronic diseases or aging.[2]

[edit] Supplement use

Astragalus membranaceus is now being purified by supplement companies for the particular natural telomerase activating extracts. Despite lack of evidence and testing, these extracts have started to be marketed as telomere enhancing, and life prolonging extracts. As of January 2009 only three companies offer telomerase activator supplement products from Astragalus: TA Sciences[3], Terraternal[4], and RevGenetics[5] provide Astragaloside IV or another extract derived from Astragalus for this purpose. However no independent tests have confirmed that these supplements actually activate telomerase in a human.

[edit] Ornamental use

Several species, including A. alpinus (bluish-purple flowers), A. hypoglottis (purple flowers) and A. lotoides, are grown as ornamental plants in gardens.

[edit] Toxicology

The family of Astragalus has been reviewed by Rios and Waterman, indicating that the toxicities vary from one species to another [6]

[edit] Selected species

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

(See external references)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Astragalus (Locoweed) flowers
  2. ^ Herbal chemical helps combat HIV
  3. ^ TA-65
  4. ^ Astragaloside IV
  5. ^ telomerase activator
  6. ^ Rios, J. L.; P. G. Waterman (1998). "A review of the pharmacology and toxicology of Astragalus". Phytotherapy Research 11 (6): 411 - 418. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1573(199709)11:6<411::AID-PTR132>3.0.CO;2-6. 

[edit] External references

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