Angina pectoris, hyperlipidemia treated with TCM loranthus

What is loranthus(Mulberry Mistletoe, Sang Ji Sheng)?
As a matter of fact, loranthus refers to a genus rather than a certain species. The typical loranthus characteristic is that all of its plants are parasitic. That being said, loranthus parasiticus lives on other woody trees, apparently fed by directly robbing water and nutrients from the host. When it comes to such a mode of existence, loranthus is not alone and actually it is just only one member in a bigger group – the showy mistletoe family (Loranthaceae), which consists of 73 genera and more than 900 species. Hence, Loranthaceae is also known as the largest family of mistletoes.

Medicinally it mainly refers to the dried aerial parts of Taxillus chinensis (DC.) Danser (Loranthus chinensis Dc.) But the fact is China’s ancient herbalists used to obtain it from several different genera in the family Loranthaceae, including Taxillus, Scurrula, and Viscum. To date Viscum coloratum (Komar.) Nakai is still mixed up with Taxillus chinensis even though it has been recorded separately in the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia." Besides, Taxillus sutchuenensis (Loranthus sutchuenensis Lecomte), Scurrula parasitica L. (Loranthus scurrula L.), Taxillus nigrans (Hance) Danser, and others are also used medicinally as loranthus mulberry mistletoe. Therefore, other names of this herb include Mulberry Mistletoe Stem, Herba Taxilli, Loranthus stem, parasitizing Morus, Sangjisheng, Loranthus parasiticus, loranthus ramulus, and more. In China, it is mainly produced in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan. It is usually collected in winter and next spring. After the harvest, it needs to remove big stems, cut into sections, and then dry. Medicinally it is generally used raw and in thick slices.

Taxillus chinensis is a small evergreen shrub. Old branches are glabrous and with raised grayish yellow lenticels while young twigs are slightly covered with dark gray short hair. Leaves are alternate, simple or nearly opposite, leathery, oval or long oval , 3 to 7cm long, 2 to 5cm wide, and with obtuse apex, rounded or broadly cuneate apex, entire margin, and faint, sparse veins; petiole is 1 to 1.5cm long, smooth, or with very short stellate hairs when young. Flowers are bisexual, 1 to 3 forming axillary cymes; peduncle is 4 to 10 mm long and covered with red-brown stellate hairs; pedicel is short; small bract is 1 in number, oval, and minimal; calyx is nearly spherical, gamogenic with ovary, and outside covered with red-brown stellate hairs; floral tube is narrowly tubular, 2 to 2.5cm long, 4-lobed atop, and with lobe that is purple, delicate, slightly curved, and covered with red-brown stellate hairs; stamens are 4; pistil is 1, and with slender style, flat stigma, and spherical inferior ovary. Berries are oval and with small warts. Bloom time is from August to October and fruiting time is from September to October. It is often parasitic on Moraceae, Theaceae, Fagaceae, Rutaceae, Rosaceae, legumes and other 29 families and more than 50 species of plants.

Loranthus benefits
Numerous clinical studies have shown that mistletoe has a certain effect on the treatment of Angina Pectoris, Hyperlipidemia, acute and sequelae of poliomyelitis, arrhythmia, etc. In addition, the pharmacological studies have also shown that mistletoe preparations are anticancer while mistletoe extract has immunogenic properties, which can be used as the adjuvant treatment of precancerous symptoms, prevention of the relapse after surgery, and advanced cancer.