Two Chinese Herbs That May Treat Sore Throat and Rheumatism and Possibly Inhibit Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus
Sore throat and rheumatism are both common diseases, and their causes may both be related to infection by a bacterium called Group A Streptococcus. Group A Streptococcus is a species of the genus Streptococcus; it is a pyogenic coccus, a Gram-positive bacterium with strong pathogenicity, among which Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus is the most virulent, and it often causes a variety of diseases in humans and animals.
The pathogenic substances of Group A Streptococcus are mainly bacterial cell-wall components, invasive enzymes, and the exotoxins it produces. The M protein in the cell wall of Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus is antigenic and shares common antigens with the myocardium and the glomerular basement membrane. Therefore, after humans and animals are infected with beta-hemolytic Streptococcus and produce the corresponding antibodies, those antibodies can cross-react with the myocardium and glomerular basement-membrane cells. This cross-reaction leads to two hypersensitivity diseases common in adolescents: rheumatic fever (clinically manifested mainly as arthritis and myocarditis) and acute glomerulonephritis (clinically manifested as proteinuria, edema, and hypertension).
Diseases caused by Group A Streptococcus account for about 90% of human streptococcal infections. Besides the above hypersensitivity diseases, they can also cause the following diseases:
Acute pyogenic diseases: when bacteria invade through skin wounds, they can cause pyogenic diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, such as furuncles, carbuncles, cellulitis, and erysipelas; spreading along lymphatic vessels, they can cause lymphangitis and lymphadenitis; invading through the respiratory tract, they can cause acute tonsillitis and angina, and spread to surrounding areas to cause abscesses, otitis media, mastoiditis, tracheitis, and pneumonia. During childbirth, unsanitary delivery and infection through the birth canal can also cause puerperal fever.
Scarlet fever: caused by respiratory infection; the pyrogenic exotoxin produced by Group A Streptococcus can lead to an acute respiratory infectious disease, clinically characterized by fever, angina, a generalized diffuse bright-red rash, and pronounced desquamation after the rash subsides.
My own son has been prone to sore throat (caused by acute tonsillitis) since childhood, and his skin is also prone to furuncles, carbuncles, and impetigo; in his teens he even developed symptoms such as joint pain. These symptoms closely resemble the clinical manifestations of Group A streptococcal infection. His sore throat progresses very rapidly each time; as soon as his throat hurts, he soon has difficulty even drinking water. We live in urban Beijing, where there are many Grade-A tertiary hospitals nearby and medical care is convenient, yet every time my child's throat hurt, going to the hospital did not bring quick relief.
Over the years I tried many methods, and finally settled on the most effective one: dropping the juice of fresh Sedum lineare into his nose. This method works quickly; the sore throat is usually relieved within half an hour and basically cured within 2–24 hours. This method has been tested on many children in my hometown with the same effect, and it is rare for it not to cure the condition overnight.
Sedum lineare is a plant of the genus Sedum in the Crassulaceae family. The whole herb contains substances such as chrysoeriol, trifolirhizin, and tritriacontane. Its effects are recorded in traditional TCM texts, and there is a dedicated entry for it in the Zhonghua Bencao (Chinese Materia Medica) published by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I have compared actual specimens of Sedum lineare; those produced in different regions differ slightly, and the one I commonly use is from the eastern Hubei region.
The Zhonghua Bencao lists its functions and indications as: clearing heat and resolving toxin, draining dampness, and stopping bleeding. It treats sore throat and swelling, red swollen eyes, heat-toxin welling-abscesses, ding wounds, erysipelas, shingles (herpes zoster), burns and scalds, venomous snake bites, jaundice, damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery, hematochezia, uterine bleeding, traumatic bleeding, and flat warts.
The Bencao Tuichen records that Sedum lineare, “for various febrile diseases with fever and vexation, sepsis (ding-wound with septicity), venomous snake bites, and blood poisoning, taking a large amount of fresh herb pounded into juice and drunk has the effect of emergency detoxification.” The Helan Yaojing records of Sedum lineare: “The raw juice can reduce high fever, disperse burning heat, stop vexing thirst, and relieve the burning pain of the throat, mouth, and tongue; it is also effective in treating diarrhea and red dysentery. For thrush, burning pain and ulcers of the throat, mouth, and tongue, weeping sores, and burns, take the leaves, squeeze out the juice, and use it as a gargle or apply it to the affected area.”
I began studying clinical medicine at a medical school in northern China last September. While studying the relevant content of Pathogenic Microbiology, Medical Immunology, and Pathology, I suddenly realized that the several diseases my child suffered all resembled the symptoms of Group A streptococcal infection. I therefore suspect that Sedum lineare has a strong inhibitory effect on Group A Streptococcus, but this hypothesis has not yet been verified by experiment.
With the help of several of my teachers at school, I read the relevant literature. I found that Gannan Medical University had researched Sedum lineare: Cao Xingling and others of Gannan Medical University published “Effect of the Ethanol Extract of Sedum lineare on the Expression of Inflammation-Related Proteins in the Spleen of Rats with Adjuvant Arthritis”; Liao Yuehua and others published “The Anti-inflammatory Action of Sedum lineare”; and Zhou Qing and others published “Study on the Anti-tumor Effect of Sedum lineare on Tumor-Bearing Mice and Its Immune Mechanism.” The university had also once produced an in-hospital preparation called Futong'an. But Gannan Medical University did not perform an antibacterial test of Sedum lineare against Group A Streptococcus, so it cannot yet be proved whether Sedum lineare inhibits Group A Streptococcus.
Searching the foreign web with the English terms “sedum lineare” and “streptococcus,” one cannot find any relevant English papers, which shows that there is as yet no related research abroad either.
But on CNKI I found an article on another Chinese herb, Jinqiaomai (Fagopyrum dibotrys), whose effects are similar, titled “Study on the Antibacterial Activity of Jinqiaomai.” Its authors—Yan Jiping, Wang Libo, Li Wei, Gao Huiyuan, and Wu Lijun—are from the School of Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, and Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Sanjing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The article was published in China Modern Chinese Medicine (2006, 06); the authors' research showed that Jinqiaomai has strong antibacterial activity against beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, pneumococci, and other bacteria.
Jinqiaomai, that is, wild buckwheat, also known as Jinsuo Yinkai or Kaijinsuo, is another effective herb in TCM for treating throat diseases. The Bencao Gangmu Shiyi (Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica) mentions: “There is a herbal remedy called Jinsuoshi, commonly known as Jinsuo Yinkai; it is a small vining, spreading plant. The local people use it to treat throat ailments with great effectiveness.” Now we know that the most common cause of sore throat is streptococcal infection.
It is a curious coincidence that Jinqiaomai also has the effect of treating furuncles and carbuncles, inflexibility of the hands and feet, and rheumatic pain—all related to beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection. But in my own trials, its effect on sore throat is far inferior to that of Sedum lineare; Jinqiaomai is more often used to treat cough and as an adjunctive treatment for lung cancer.
I am now seeking to carry out a test of Sedum lineare's inhibition of beta-hemolytic Streptococcus. Although I have not yet done this test, based on my clinical experience and my review of the above literature, I suspect that Sedum lineare may have the effect of inhibiting beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, and that its inhibitory action may be more pronounced than that of Jinqiaomai.
If we can verify the inhibitory effect of Sedum lineare on beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, then I believe we can fully combine Chinese and Western medical thinking and, using Sedum lineare, Jinqiaomai, and other such herbs, design compound formulas to treat tonsillitis, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic heart disease, acute glomerulonephritis, scarlet fever, and streptococcus-related skin diseases caused by Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection, relieving the suffering of countless patients like my son.