Tripterygium
Encyclopedia
Tripterygium is a genus of plants in the Celastraceae
family.T. wilfordii
; (Chin. 雷公藤) pinyin
: lei gong teng, sometimes called "Thunder God Vine," is used in Traditional Chinese medicine
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Celastraceae
The Celastraceae , is a family of about 90-100 genera and 1,300 species of vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales...
family.T. wilfordii
Tripterygium wilfordii
Tripterygium wilfordii, or lei gong teng , sometimes called Thunder God Vine, is a vine used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of fever, chills, edema and carbuncle...
; (Chin. 雷公藤) pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: lei gong teng, sometimes called "Thunder God Vine," is used in Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
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"Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f., known as Leigongteng (Thunder God Vine) in traditional Chinese medicine, has attracted much attention for its applications in relieving autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritisRheumatoid arthritisRheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
and systemic lupus erythematosusSystemic lupus erythematosusSystemic lupus erythematosus , often abbreviated to SLE or lupus, is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage...
, and for treating cancer. Molecular analyses of the ITS and 5S rDNA sequences indicate that T. hypoglaucum and T. doianum are not distinct from T. wilfordii, while T. regelii should be recognized as a separate species. The results also demonstrate potential value of rDNA sequence data in forensic detection of adulterants derived from Celastrus angulatus in commercial samples of Leigongteng."
Selected species
- Tripterygium bullorkii
- Tripterygium forrestii
- Tripterygium regeliiTripterygium regeliiTripterygium regelii, or Regel's Threewingnut , is a rambling, shrubby perennial deciduous yellow vine native to Korea, Japan and Manchuria. It grows to about 200 cm. Small very pretty yellowish white or white flowers appear in May-June and are produced on 203 to 229 mm. long panicles, and smell...
- Tripterygium wilfordiiTripterygium wilfordiiTripterygium wilfordii, or lei gong teng , sometimes called Thunder God Vine, is a vine used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of fever, chills, edema and carbuncle...