General

Scientific Names: Meretrix meretrix (Linnaeus) .

Common Names: Wen Ge , Sheng Ge Qiao, Ge Qiao.

BOTANICAL:

来 源： 为软体动物海蛤科文蛤Meretrix meretrix L. 的贝壳。

生态习性： 文蛤是埋栖型贝类，多分布在较平坦的河口附近沿岸内湾的潮间带，以及浅海区域的细沙、泥沙滩中，靠斧足的钻掘作用有潜沙习性。栖息深度随水温和个体大小而异，冬季时 2 — 3cm 文蛤潜居深度为 6 — 8cm ，而 4 — 6cm 文蛤潜居深度则为 12cm 左右。夏季高水温期，栖息在不到 lcm 深的滩涂表层，冬季水温低，其栖息深度可达 10 — 20cm 。气候稳定温暖时伸缩其足作活泼运行；寒冷时则潜入沙泥中，潜泥深度一般在 5 — 25 厘米。文蛤为广温性半咸水贝类，对低盐度海水有一定的适应性，其幼苗对低相对密度海水的适应性更强些。适宜生活水温 10 — 30 ℃ ，适应海水比重在 1.0140 — 1.0240 。文蛤耐干燥能力较强，耐干强弱程度与温度及个体大小有关，大个体比小个体文蛤耐阴干能力强。文蛤是滤食性软体动物，依靠自身的出入水管道行呼吸与摄食。涨潮时，文蛤将出入水管伸出沙面，利用海水通过鳃小孔的机会达到呼吸与摄食的目的；退潮后，文蛤才把水管缩回壳内。文蛤以微小的浮游（或底栖）硅藻为主要饵料，间或摄食一些浮游植物、原生动物、无脊椎动物幼虫以及有机碎屑等。

Pharmacology

化学成分: 蛤软体部分含有大量的 氨基酸、 蛋白质和丰富的维生素，还 含有一定量的多糖及核酸、矿物质和 微量元素，特别是组氨酸和精氨酸含量较高，多食可防治慢性气管炎，淋巴结核，胃和十二指肠溃疡等疾病。 文蛤肉具有抗突变降血糖作用，文蛤多糖具有抗癌免疫活性。有资料表明，文蛤提取物对动物移植性肿瘤有抑制作用，临床用于肺癌、肝癌、胃癌等有一定疗效。

Efficacy

The steroid extract 5alpha, 8alpha-epidioxycholest-6-ene-3beta-ol (MME) from Meretrix meretrix has the ability to inhibit growth of hepatoma cells and to induce G1-phase cell cycle arrest in two human hepatoma cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B. HepG2 cells were more sensitive than Hep3B to MME. The extract markedly up-regulated the expression of p53 and p21WAF1/CIP1 in HepG2, suggesting that MME-induced G1 phase cell cycle arrest in HepG2 might be p53-dependent. Therefore, the up-regulation of p27KIP1and p16INK4A in both cell lines indicates that a p53-independent pathway might be involved in the mechanism of MME inducing cell cycle arrest. In conclusion, MME induces G1 phase cell cycle arrest via both p53-dependent and p53-independent pathways. (source)

An anti-cancer peptide was purified from the Mercenaria (Meretrix meretrix Linnaeus) by the method of chromatography on Sephadex G-25 and FPLC, and its molecular weight was determined to be 3147 Da by the way of MALDI-TOF mass spectrum. The effects of this peptide on human gastric gland carcinoma cells (BGC-823) and their cytoskeletal morphology were investigated. The results showed that the peptide could inhibit the proliferation of BGC-823 cells and obviously destroy the skeletal structures of the cells. When the concentration of the peptide reached 4.0 microg/ml, the inhibition percentage of the cell growth was about 60%. The effects of this anticancer peptide on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and tyrosinase were studied. The results showed that the peptide activated ALP and SOD, but inhibit the tyrosinase activity. When the concentration of the peptide reached to 0.5 microg/ml, the relative activities of SOD, ALP and tyrosinase were determined to be 188.5%, 122.0% and 27.5%, respectively. (source)

提取物对Moloney白血病、S180、艾氏腹水瘤腹水型、肝癌腹水型和肝癌实体型有抑制作用。 (source)

IN VITRO:

1. Wu TH, et al., Inhibition of cell growth and induction of G1-phase cell cycle arrest in hepatoma cells by steroid extract from Meretrix meretrix. Cancer Lett. 2006 Feb 8; 232(2):199-205.
2. Leng B, et al., Inhibitory effects of anticancer peptide from Mercenaria on the BGC-823 cells and several enzymes. FEBS Lett. 2005 Feb 14; 579(5):1187-90.
3. Kong ZL, et al., Immune bioactivity in shellfish toward serum-free cultured human cell lines. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 1997 Jan; 61(1):24-8.
   
   
   
   
   

Safety