General

Scientific Names: Morus alba L.

Common Names: Sang, Sang Bai Pi, Sang Zhi, Sang Ye.

BOTANICAL:

来 源： 為桑科桑屬植物桑 Morus alba L. 的葉、枝、果實、根部內皮(桑白皮)供藥用。

植物特征： 落葉灌木或小喬木，高可達 15m 。樹皮灰白色，常有條狀裂縫。根皮紅黃色至黃棕色，纖維性甚強。葉互生，具柄；葉片卵圓形或寬卵形，長 7 ～ 15cm ，寬 5 ～ 12cm ，先端尖或長尖，基部近心形，邊緣有粗鋸齒，有時不規則分裂，上面鮮綠色，無毛，有光澤，下面色略淡，脈上有疏毛，並具腋毛，基出 3 脈。春、反開綠色花，花單性，雌雄異株，均為穗狀花序，腋生。雄花花被片 4 ，雄蕊 4 ，中央有不育雌蕊；雌花花被片 4 ，無花柱或花柱極短，柱頭 2 裂，宿存。瘦果外被肉質花被，多數密集成一卵圓形或長圓形聚合果，又名桑椹，初綠色，成熟後變肉質，黑紫色。

生药材鉴定： 本品呈长圆柱形，少有分枝，长短不一，直径0.5～1.5cm。表面灰黄色或黄褐色，有多数黄褐色点状皮孔及细纵纹，并有灰白色略呈半圆形的叶痕和黄棕色的腋芽。质坚韧，不易折断，断面纤维性。切片厚0.2～0.5cm，皮部较薄，木部黄白色，射线放射状，髓部白色或黄白色。气微，味淡。

Pharmacology

化学成分: 葉含胡蘿蔔素、腺嘌呤 (adenine) 、膽鹼 (choline) 、芸香苷、異槲皮苷 (isoquercitrin ， C 21 H 20 O 12 ) 、胡蘆巴鹼 (trigonelline ， C 7 H 7 O 2 N) 、麥角甾醇、維生素 B 1 、糖、鞣質等。 桑枝的木質部含桑色素 (morin) 、桑橙素 (maclurin ， C 18 H 10 O 6 ? H 2 O) 及 2,4,6,4'- 四羥基苯酮 (2,4,6,4-tetrahydroxybenzophenone) ，此外，尚含酚性物質、果膠、葡萄糖、琥珀酸、腺嘌呤等。 果實中含有蘆丁 (rutin) ，胡蘿蔔素，維生素 A 、 B 、 C ，蛋白質，糖，花青素苷，脂類 62.6% ，游離酸 26.8% ，醇類 1.6% ，揮發油 1% ，鞍質及矢車菊素 (cyanidin) 等。構成脂類的脂肪酸主要為亞油酸 68.3% ，油酸 12.67% 和棕櫚酸 11.85% ，以及少量的肉豆寇酸 0.105% ，棕櫚油酸 0.188% ，硬脂酸 4.46% 和亞麻酸 0.98% 等。揮發油中的主要成分為桉葉素 89% 和香葉醇 17% 。 桑白皮含樺木酸 (betulinic acid) 及四種新的黃酮類衍生物：末爾貝林 (mulberrin ， C 25 H 26 O 6 ) 、末爾貝洛色烯 (mulberrochromene ， C 25 H 24 O 6 ) 、環末爾貝洛色烯 (cyclomulberrochromene ， C 25 H 22 O 6 ) 及環末爾貝林 (cyclomulberrin ， C 25 H 24 O 6 ) 。此外，尚含 α - 及 β - 香樹精 ( α - 及 β -amyrin ， C 30 H 50 O) 、揮發油、軟脂酸、谷甾醇、葡萄糖、果膠、多縮戊糖、十一葵烯醇 (undecaprenol ， C 55 H 90 O) 及十二葵烯醇 (dodecaprenol ， C 60 H 98 O) 。

Efficacy

To develop an active agent for skin whitening, the inhibitory effects of 285 plant extracts on tyrosinase activity were examined, and one plant extract having tyrosinase inhibition activity was chosen. Ramulus mori (young twigs of Morus alba L.) extracts showed inhibition activity in tyrosinase and melanin synthesis in B-16 melanoma cells. To clarify the mechanism of its inhibition on melanogenesis, the effect of R. mori extracts on tyrosinase activity, synthesis, and gene expression was evaluated. R. mori extracts showed tyrosinase inhibition activity by competitive method, and there was no suppression of tyrosinase synthesis and gene expression. Further, to evaluate the inhibitory activity of R. mori in vivo, its effect on melanin production in UV-induced brown guinea pigs was examined, where a decrease of melanin production in the guinea pig model was observed. Also, R. mori extracts showed no toxicity in animal tests such as the acute toxicity test, the skin irritation test, the eye irritation test, the skin sensitization test, and the acute oral toxicity test, and no toxicity in the human skin irritation test. A single compound from R. mori extracts was purified using various column chromatography and recrystallization, and its chemical structure was identified using mass chromatography, IR spectroscopy, and NMR analysis. The chemical structure was that of 2,3',4,5'-tetrahydroxystilbene(2-oxyresveratrol) and showed inhibition activity on tyrosinase (IC(50) = 0.23 microg/ml). Also, R. mori extracts inhibited tyrosinase activity in a competitive manner (Ki = 1.5 x 10(-6) M) when L-tyrosine was used as a substrate. (source)

The water extract from the root bark of Cortex Mori (CM, Morus alba L.: Sangbaikpi), a mulberry tree, has been known in Chinese traditional medicine to have antiphlogistic, diuretic, and expectorant properties. In this study, the cytotoxicity of CM against tumor cells and its mechanism was examined. CM exhibited cytotoxic activity on K-562, B380 human leukemia cells and B16 mouse melanoma cells at concentrations of > 1 mg/ml. A DNA fragmentation, PARP cleavage, and nuclear condensation assay showed that those cells exposed to CM underwent apoptosis. The water extract of Scutellarie Radix (SR) was used as a negative control and showed no cytotoxicity in those cells. The flow cytometric profiles of the CM-treated cells were also indicative of apoptosis. However, they did not appear to exert the G1 arrest, which is observed in other tubulin inhibitor agents such as vincristine, taxol. The protein-binding test using Biacore and a microtubule assembly-disassembly assay provided evidence showing that CM bound to the tubulins resulting in a marked inhibition of the assembly, but not the disassembly of microtubules. The possible nonspecific effect of the CM extract could be excluded due to the results using SR, which did not affect the assembly process. Overall, the water extract of CM induces apoptosis of tumor cells by inhibiting microtubule assembly. (source)

Two flavonoids, quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1) and quercetin-3,7-di-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2), were isolated from the leaves of Morus alba (Moraceae). These two flavonoids exerted a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60) at the concentration of 2 x 10(-4) M. Compound 2 also induced differentiation of the HL-60 cell line to express CD 66b and CD 14 antigens. These flavonoids exhibited significant free radical scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl radical. (source)

IN VITRO:

1. Chen PN, et al., Mulberry anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-glucoside, exhibited an inhibitory effect on the migration and invasion of a human lung cancer cell line. Cancer Lett. 2005 Jun 21; [Epub ahead of print].
2. Wattanapitayakul SK, et al., Screening of antioxidants from medicinal plants for cardioprotective effect against doxorubicin toxicity. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2005 Jan;96(1):80-7.
3. Husssain Z, et al., The effect of medicinal plants of Islamabad and Murree region of Pakistan on insulin secretion from INS-1 cells. Phytother Res. 2004 Jan; 18(1):73-7.
4. Lee KT, et al., Inhibitory effects of Ramulus mori extracts on melanogenesis. J Cosmet Sci. 2003 Mar-Apr; 54(2):133-42.
5. Hong CH, et al., Evaluation of natural products on inhibition of inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in cultured mouse macrophage cells. J Ethnopharmacol. 2002 Nov; 83(1-2):153-9.
6. Nam SY, et al., Cortex mori extract induces cancer cell apoptosis through inhibition of microtubule assembly. Arch Pharm Res. 2002 Apr; 25(2):191-6.
7. Kim SY, et al., Two flavonoids from the leaves of Morus alba induce differentiation of the human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cell line. Biol Pharm Bull. 2000 Apr; 23(4):451-5.

Safety