ABSTRACT
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) is a plant native to North America and is used in its herbal traditions. A principal active ingredient, the alkaloid berberine, is shared with several medicinal plants used in traditional Asian medicines. Traditional uses include soothing irritated skin and mucous membranes, easing dyspepsia, and reducing debility. Preclinical studies suggest clinically relevant activity for cancer, cardiac diseases, and gastrointestinal and infectious diseases among others. There are no published clinical trials of goldenseal, and most of the available preclinical and clinical data are on the alkaloids berberine and b-hydrastine. Accordingly, much of the information summarized in this entry applies to berberine, and only indirectly to goldenseal, under the assumption that extracts of the plant containing berberine or b-hydrastine will display activities similar to those of the alkaloids. A few clinical trials of berberine support use for cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, diarrhea, and protozoal infection. Berberine has poor oral absorption, but human pharmacokinetic studies have not been published. Injected, inhaled, or skin-absorbed berberine affects cytochrome P450 metabolism and may displace albumin-bound bilirubin and pharmaceuticals. In a study of 21 commercial ethanolic herbal extracts potentially inhibitory to cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4), goldenseal displayed the most pronounced activity, at a concentration of 0.03% of the full strength preparation.[1] Thus, there is a significant potential for goldenseal extracts to elicit herb=drug or herb=herb interactions in patients concomitantly taking pharmaceutical medications or other herbal supplements that
are metabolized by P450 3A4. Reported adverse reactions to goldenseal or berberine are rare however.[2]
CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE
Scientific name: Hydrastis canadensis L. Family: Ranunculaceae Common names: Goldenseal, yellow root, turmeric
root, eye root, Indian dye, yellow puccoon, ground raspberry
H. canadensis (Fig. 1) is a perennial herbaceous plant found in rich, shady woods and moist meadows in eastern North America, especially in Ohio, northern Kentucky, Indiana, and Virginia, whereas in Canada, it is restricted to southwestern Ontario.[3] The name ‘‘goldenseal’’ comes from the yellow scars left on the rhizome by the stem that bursts forth every spring; these scars look like the imprint of an old-fashioned letter seal. Hydrastis is a Greek word meaning ‘‘to accomplish with water.’’[3,4]
Goldenseal grows to about 30 cm in height with a simple, hairy stem, usually bearing a single-lobed basal leaf and two-lobed cauline leaves near the top. The flower is terminal, solitary, and erect, with small greenish-white sepals and no petals, and blooms in May and June. The fruit is an oblong, compound, orange-red berry containing two black seeds in each carpel. The medicinal rhizome is horizontal, irregularly knotted, bears numerous long slender roots, and is bright yellow with an acrid smell.[4,6]
Populations of goldenseal in the wild have been greatly diminished in recent years due to overcollection and habitat loss, which has placed this plant on the endangered species list. Due to concerns about overharvesting and increasing market demand, it is now commercially cultivated across the country, especially in the Blue Ridge Mountains.[4,6] Recently, other species of plants purported to be H. canadensis have been sold as the bulk dried herb on the U.S. wholesale market. This substitution is due to the high market price goldenseal now commands, and the shortage of cultivated supply. Care must be taken in ascertaining accurate identification of the dried material.[5,7]
HISTORY AND TRADITIONAL USES
Goldenseal has been used as both a dye and a medicine in North America. The root of goldenseal supplied Native Americans with a brilliant yellow dye for coloring their clothing and weapons, as well as for painting their skin.[4] Goldenseal’s ability to soothe irritated mucous membranes led to its topical and oral use for numerous uncomfortable conditions. Native Americans taught the first European settlers to use goldenseal root to treat skin diseases, ulcers, gonorrhea, and arrow wounds. The Iroquois employed goldenseal for heart troubles, fevers, and tuberculosis.[8]
The Cherokee utilized it for cancer and general debility.[9] Both tribes used the plant for dyspepsia, appetite improvement, and inflammatory dermatoses. Folk use expanded later to include treatments of sore eyes, hepatitis, and menstrual difficulties.
