Acorus - Sweet Flags Acorus calamus - Sweet Flag Ayurvedic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) use Acorus preferably to treat central nervous system (CNS) related diseases such as epilepsy, insanity, mental weakness, or insomnia. Calamus has been widely used internally in both Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for degenerative central nervous system disorders associated with communication, focus, memory and learning. Paradoxically, calamus has both stimulating and sedating properties. Both α- and/or β-asarone possess a wide range of pharmacological activities such as antidepressant, antianxiety, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-Parkinson's, antiepileptic, anticancer, antihyperlipidemic, antithrombotic, anticholestatic and neuroprotective activities through its interaction with multiple molecular targets Nose-to-brain delivery of asarone for brain diseases is being studied. Asarone effectively modulates microglial morphological dynamics, this effect of asarone may functionally relate to its influence on neurogenesis. It is a promising neuroprotective agent for future prevention and treatment of microglia-mediated neuroinflammatory conditions. α-Asarone improved the quality of sleep, as indicated by an increased NREM bout duration, reduced arousal index, and decreased bout frequencies of NREM sleep and wakefulness. α-asarone treatment at low doses attenuated the depression-like behaviour during nicotine withdrawal. There are many reports of sedative and tranquillising properties of Acorus extracts and essential oil in animal models. Given that β-asarone is a major compound of the essential oil, its sedative and tranquillising activities may be due to the GABAA receptor modulating properties of this. The quantity of β-asarone in Acorus rhizome and essential oil, however, depends on the chemotype and thus varies considerably. The simple phenylpropanoid β-asarone induced the high potentiation of GABAARs. Its efficiency at a GABAA was significantly higher than that of known GABAA receptor modulators such as benzodiazepines or natural products such as valerenic acid. Anxiolytic effects of asarone were partially due to maintaining the balance between excitatory/inhibitory transmissions and attenuating neuronal hyper-excitability of excitatory neurons in the basolateral amygdala. As for toxicity, a study comparing the effects of lower, more rational doses of calamus (2012) reported that an “ethanolic extract of Acorus calamus (up to a dose of 600mg/kg BW) lacked any potential toxicity, as it neither caused any lethality nor changed the general behaviour in both acute and chronic toxicity studies in rats.” As to the dose of calamus likely to be present in 1 to 5 drops of medicated sesame oil, it is minimal as to preclude any toxicity whatsoever 1 Acorus gramineus - Japanese Sweet Flag Acorus gramineus is a traditional medicine used to treat various disorders including cognitive disorders [1] where of all the traditional Chinese medicines used in treating cognitive disorders, the rhizome appears with the highest frequency. In TCM it has an action of "calming heart and inducing tranquilisation" It contains β-asarone, α-asarone and other phenylpropenes as well as lignans, along with aporphine-type alkaloids with the essential oil having NMDA receptor antagonist-like action and possibly increases NE, DA and 5-HT, also decreasing the activity of acetylcholinesterase. A water extract demonstrated specific binding to striatal dopamine D1 and D2 receptors and competed with [3H]muscimol for specific binding to the GABA binding site of cortex GABAA receptor TLC: Fresh rhizome was suspended in hot acetone and the rhizome extracted. The filtrate was concentrated to a small sample. 2 TLC (silica, 0.2mm, glass backed, I2 visualisation) of a) acetone elution and b) mixed solvent (acetone:white spirits:1:1) of Acorus gramineus variegated. Rf's obtained were a) prominent spot at 0.68 b) 0.26, 0.56 and a higher Rf band. [1] https://doi.org/10.1155%2F2020%2F6752876 Asarones and the CNS: β-asarone produces an antidepressant effect, increases TH and could promote expression of GDNF, BDNF, and CNTF genes. β-Asarone functions as a neuroprotective effect in both in vivo and in vitro models of PD. α-asarone or β-asarone potentiated the NGF-induced neuronal differentiation. The antidepressant-like effect of α-asarone could be mediated through both noradrenergic (α1 and α2 adrenoceptors) and serotonergic (particularly, 5-HT1A receptors) systems. α- asarone effectively modulates microglial morphological dynamics, this effect of α-asarone may functionally relate to its influence on neurogenesis. α-asarone improved m1 mAChR expression and ACh levels, and attenuated the increased AChE activity in a mouse model of FXS. β-asarone antagonised Aβ neurotoxicity in vivo and improved the learning and memory ability. β-asarone might be effective for the treatment of AD 3