Description

Latin name: Epimedium Grandiflorum Morr. 
Chinese name: Yin Yang Huo
Family: Berberidaceae
Genus: Epimedium              
Plant original: Epimedium Brevicornum L        
Part used: Total herb/ aerial part 
Ingredients：Icariin Icariins
Specification：Icariin 5%, *0%, *0%, *0%, *0%, *0% Test By HPLC
Icariins 5%, *0%, *0%, *0%, *0%, *0% Test By HPLC 
Test Method：HPLC
Function：
1  Summary
Epimedium Grandiflorum Morr. (Yin Yang Huo in Chinese Name ) as one of the famous Chinese medicinal herbs, was most used for strengthening YANG in ancient China. 
Shape:  Perennial herbaceous, with height *0—*0cm.  Rhizome is crawling, with hard texture and in deep brown color.  Leafstalk is tall & thin, along with straight stem.  The flower, white in common, is about 6—8cm in diameter.  Seed appears to be brown or black brown.  Florescence for Epimedium grandiflorum: June to July; Fruit period: August.  
Cultivation: 1.  Field choice and soil preparation:  Choose empty land under broadleaf trees or rows between fruit trees, remove bush roots and weeds, then turn up the soil deep to *0cm with smashing the earth.  Excavate several field ditches in *0cm width according to the area size. 2.  Breeding:  According to the position of the hidden sprout, cut the stem in disorder underground into pieces with *0—*0cm long, so as to increase the pieces in monomer. 3. Field setting: Put the stem pieces crisscrossing along ditches in tow rows, step on tightly with covering a thin layer of soil. Irrigate the fields to infiltration, join the sections after water fully infiltrated.  Field setting should be done in autumn after gathering. 4. Field management:  Remove the weeds in time in spring next year after field setting when cultivating in rows of fruit trees, due to young seedling and wide row space.  No need to remove weeds and loosen the soil when cultivating under broadleaf trees due to shade with trees and less weeds.  Do not gather in the stem-leaf of the area part in the same year of field setting, just for growing healthy sprout over winter so as to promote breeding in speed to joint together.  
Harvest: Generally done in summer and autumn for aerial part. Clean the Epimedium grandiflorum after gathering, bind it in bundle, leave to dry in the sunshine. Store with sealed and moisture-proof.  
Distribution:  Epimedium grandiflorum most grows by broadleaf trees in balanced moisture, in shrubbery, and in shady hillside.  It’s in the best growing with fleshy humus soil, and distributing in large area.  It’s mainly distributed in China in North-east, Shanxi and Sichuan province.
2  The main chemical composition 
There are many ingredients in Epimedium grandiflorum, such as ceryl alcohol, hentriacontane, phytosterol, icariin, baohuoside I, baohuoside II, 2’’**-rhamnosylicaliside II, sagittatoside B, karisoside F, ikarisoside C, icariside I,II and epimedoside A. etc. 

The efficacy and mechanism 
The medicinal function of Epimedium grandiflorum was originally recorded in Shen Nong Peng Cao Tsing, acerbity, sweet & warm in nature, with efficacy of invigorating kidney & strengthening Yang, expelling wind-evil & desiccation.
In clinical, Epimedium grandiflorum Extract (Icariin) is widely used for male’s sterility and sexual dysfuction. Icariin has effect to speed lust. This kind of effect is caused by urging of semen secrete, filling the seminal vesicle, stimulating sensory nerve and exciting sexual desire indirectly. 
It’s proved by study that Icariin can clearly strengthen the weight of epididymis and seminal vesicle gland in small rat, but without influence to the weight of testis. Icariin also can promote the basic secrete of testosterone, which is identical to CAMP rising. Icariin rises the ratio of CAMP/CGMP by downward CGMP system and upward camp system.
The modern pharmacology study proves that the function of invigorating kidney, anti-aging and like-male hormone is to include special chemical material**-Icariin, which has clear biological activity, with increasing obviously the weight of epididymis and seminal vesicle gland in small rat and improving its growth, strengthening the secrete function in hypothalamus***-hypophysis***-sex gland axis***-adrenal cortex axis and thymus gland axis.
The reasons for functional disorder in penile erection is due to blood vessel nerve, endocrine, psychology, diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal cord nerve damage and smoking, etc, among which the incidence of diseases cover *0% in male adult.
Penile erection is a set of dynamics variation of blood in phallus corpora cavernosa under adjustment by nerve endocrine.  It helps increasing the pouring volume of blood in phallus corpora cavernosa through the slack effect on smooth muscle in penis artery and phallus corpora cavernosa in which the volume is bigger, inner-pressure is higher, thus pressing the vein under phallus albuginea and passing through leading vein in albuginea.  Therefore, the resistance for blood flowing from vein is strengthened, thus causing penile erection.
A study of molecule biology to penile erection proves that NO-CGMP access plays a major pole for adjustment in the processing of penile erection.  When having sex stimulus, with NOS catalysis, NO*-releasing from inner cell of phallus cavernous fistula, can activate GTP-cyclase inside the cells of smooth muscle, so as to increase the compound of CGMP, thus reducing the density of calcium ion inside the cells and causing loose of smooth muscle in phallus corpora cavernosa and making penile erection.  Furthermore, CGMP lost activity due to hydrolysis by PDE5, thus improving NO donor, or inhibiting activity of PDE5 so as to stop the medicine with CGMP hydrolysis.  This also can add up the density of CGMP to speed up penile erection.
Icariin has strong effect to loose smooth muscle in phallus corpora cavernosa, with systole caused by adrenaline.  This shows that icariin has effect for promoting penile erection.  This functional mechanism is related to NO-CGMP access; and icariin with inhibitory effect to PDE5 has direct ratio to the density changes of CGMP.
Dosage
The dosage of a standardized Epimedium grandiflorum Extract *0%Icariin
ranged from ******0 mg per day.