Anisodus tanguticus

Anisodus tanguticus (Chinese: 山莨菪; pinyin: shān làng dàng) is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.

It contains high levels of the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which affect primarily the parasympathetic nervous system and can act as anticholinergic agents.

Anisodus tanguticus is grown and harvested in order to extract two alkaloids, anisodamine and anisodine, which can be obtained from the roots of the plant. These alkaloids are used as anticholinergic drugs in China for acute circulatory shock. Anisodamine in particular was introduced into clinical use in China in 1965 through the manufacture of a synthetic drug that concentrated the alkaloids from the plant. It was first used to treat epidemic meningitis, but was later used to treat other ailments, including glomerulonephritis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemorrhagic necrotic enteritis, eclampsia, pulmonary edema, and circulatory shock. Anisodamine has also been found to be highly beneficial in cases of noise-induced hearing loss, dilating the capillaries and improving microcirculation in the bony labyrinth; while Anisodine has been used clinically for migraine and diseases of the fundus occuli due to vasospasm.

Source: Wikipedia