Description
A plant-based formula designed to provide optimal pain relief and anti-inflammatory support through natural means.*
What Does Our DolorEx™ Formula Contain?
Our DolorEx™ formula consists of:
- Rhizoma corydalis (98% Tetrahydropalmatine) – 75 mg
- Schefflera arboricola (5% oleanic acid) – 100 mg
- Devil’s Claw Root (20% harpagosides)– 225 mg
- Peonia (Baishao) (10% Paeoniflorin) – 100 mg
Like our other nutraceuticals, our DolorEx™ formula is free from allergens such as gluten, soy, fish, lactose, milk, meat and wheat.
What Is the Recommended Daily Dosage?
We recommend 1 capsule per day or as advised by your healthcare professional.
Due to the sensitive nature of some of the herbs it is best used at bedtime. If daytime use is needed, please refrain from using if intending to drive or operate machinery.
What Does the Science Say?
Corydalis
The rhizome of Corydalis (known in TCM as Yanhuso) is an herb prized for its health-promoting effects. Officially listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, it has been widely used in China for the treatment of pain and inflammation [1].
Phytochemically, Corydalis is a source of 22 bioactive alkaloids such as D-corydaline, L-tetrahydropalmatine, L-tetrahydrocoptisine and L-tetrahydrocolubamine. Of these, L-tetrahydropalmatine is the most abundant one and also a potent pain remedy [2,3].
Lien et al (2016) observed, in vivo, that prolonged administration of Corydalis did not lead to increased tolerance. Having administrated Corydalis four times daily over a seven day period and measured the rodents’ responses to acute pain, the team noted Corydalis kept its potency while morphine lost its [4].
This important result suggests Corydalis could retain its pain-relieving properties during longer use without increasing dosage (contrary to other analgesic therapies).
Furthermore, a 2008 study by Yang et al, Corydalis could also be an effective agent in the treatment of opiate addiction [5]. Prior to that, Marcenac et al. (1986) demonstrated in a study that L-tetrahydropalmatine binds to D1 and D2 dopamine receptors [6]. Corydalis could thus potentially be an effective tool for reducing opioid drug craving and relapse.
Corydalis is the cornerstone of our Dolorex formula and works together with the other components through its pain-relieving and detoxifying properties.
Schefflera arboricola
A well known herb in TCM, under the name of Qi Ye Lian, where it is used as a remedy to promote blood circulation and relieve pain.
It is presently used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, numbness, abdominal pain, headaches, arthralgia and against sore & swollen throat. It has also been observed to relieve symptoms of asthma and could be used externally to treat bleeding and injuries [7,8].
Schefflera contains a variety of phytochemicals, including Gamma-Hydroxybutyric and fumaric acid. Hou et al. (1998) showed that a bibenzyl derivative from Schefflera was an effective inhibitor of NF-kB pathway activity [9], thus demonstrating its anti-inflammatory effects.
Schefflera arboricola supports the other components of Dolorex through its anti-inflammatory properties.
Devil’s Claw Root
Known in Latin as Harpagophytum procumbens, it has featured in traditional African herbal medicine as a remedy against stomach ailments. It’s active substance is the phytochemical harpagoside.
Modern-day clinical studies have shown it may:
- Assist in the relief of joint pain & support joint health [10]
- Help improve the density of bones [11]
In particular, studies involving human subjects showed that various parts of Devil’s Claw Root’s tuber extract, in the form of 50-60 mg harpagoside administered for 8-16 week significantly improved the clinical picture of subjects with knee and hip osteoarthritis in terms of pain, movement limitation and joint crepitus [10,11].
Studies also suggest that harpagoside exerts a significant anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the inflammatory stimuli mediated by suppressing c-FOS/AP-1 activity in OA chondrocytes under pathological conditions [12]. Animal studies simulating induced bone loss showed that oral administration of harpagoside significantly improved the recovery of bone mineral density and the overall architecture of the bone (achieved by harpagoside inhibiting the serum levels of biochemical markers of bone loss) [13]. It could thus have potential for mitigating age-dependent bone destruction disease.
The Devil’s Claw Root extract supports Corydalis in our Dolorex formula, derived from the highest-quality sources and standardized to 20% harpagosides.
Peonia Baishao
Peonia, known as Baishaoin TCM, has been used in China, Korea and Japan to treat rheumatoid arthritis, dysmenorrhea, muscle cramps & spasms, hepatitis and many other inflammatory and pain conditions for centuries.
Indeed, modern-day clinical studies have suggested that it has anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties [14,15,16].
From a phytochemical point of view, a combined water & ethonal extract of Peonia alba radixis typically rich in glucosides, containing over 15 of them. The most abundant ones are Peoniflorin and Albiflorin. These have been shown to inhibit acute & subacute inflammation and relieve pain [14,15].
Peonia is included in our Dolorex formula to work synergistically with Devil’s Claw Root to support pain relief & inhibition of inflammation.
Scientific References & Relevant Research
[1] Anonymous Yanhuso Pharmacopoeia of Peopleʼs Republic of China 2000; I : 108-108
[2] Kang DW, Moon JY, Choi JG, et al. Antinociceptive Profile of Levo-tetrahydropalmatine in Acute and Chronic Pain Mice Models: Role of spinal sigma-1 receptor. Sci Rep. 2016;6:37850.
[3] Choi JG, Kang SY, Kim JM, et al. Antinociceptive Effect of Cyperi rhizoma and Corydalis tuber Extracts on Neuropathic Pain in Rats. Korean J Physiol Pharmacol. 2012;16(6):387-92.
[4] Wang L, Zhang Y, Wang Z, et al. The Antinociceptive Properties of the Corydalis yanhusuo Extract. PLoS ONE. 2016;11(9):e0162875.
[5] Yang Z, Shao YC, Li SJ, et al. Medication of l-tetrahydropalmatine significantly ameliorates opiate craving and increases the abstinence rate in heroin users: a pilot study. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2008;29(7):781-8.
[6]Marcenac F, Jin GZ, Gonon F. Effect of l-tetrahydropalmatine on dopamine release and metabolism in the rat striatum. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1986;89(1):89-93.
[7] Potduang B, Chongsiriroeg C, Benmart Y, Giwanon R, Supatanakul W, Tanpanich S. Biological activities of Schefflera leucantha. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2006;4(2):157-64.
[8] Chen JK., Chen TT. Medical Herbology and Pharmacology City of Industry, CA Art of Medicine Press 2004 p. 314-315
[9] Hou D, Zhang W, Hui R. Separation and determination of chemical constituents in the volatile oil of three traditional Chinese crude drugs. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 1998;17(8):1423-6.
[10] Wegener T, Lüpke NP. Treatment of patients with arthrosis of hip or knee with an aqueous extract of devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens DC.). Phytother Res. 2003;17(10):1165-72.
[11] Chrubasik S, Thanner J, Künzel O, Conradt C, Black A, Pollak S. Comparison of outcome measures during treatment with the proprietary Harpagophytum extract doloteffin in patients with pain in the lower back, knee or hip. Phytomedicine. 2002;9(3):181-94.
[12] Haseeb A, Ansari MY, Haqqi TM. Harpagoside suppresses IL-6 expression in primary human osteoarthritis chondrocytes. J Orthop Res. 2017;35(2):311-320.
[13] Chung HJ, Kyung kim W, Joo park H, et al. Anti-osteoporotic activity of harpagide by regulation of bone formation in osteoblast cell culture and ovariectomy-induced bone loss mouse models. J Ethnopharmacol. 2016;179:66-75.
[14] Cao W, Zhang W, Liu J, et al. Paeoniflorin improves survival in LPS-challenged mice through the suppression of TNF-α and IL-1β release and augmentation of IL-10 production. Int Immunopharmacol. 2011;11(2):172-8.
[15] Cao C, Wang Y, You ., Pan H, Cao L, Liang R. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of total glucosides of peonia injection. Zhong Yao, Xin Yao, Yu Lin, Chuang Yao, Li 13. 2002; 163-165 (in Chinese).
[16] He DY, Dai SM. Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of paeonia lactiflora pall., a traditional chinese herbal medicine. Front Pharmacol. 2011;2:10.
