Alcachofra is the Brazilian name for the Globe Artichoke. It is in the Milk thistle family and grows to a height of about 2 meters, producing large violet-green flower heads. The flower petals and fleshy flower bottoms are eaten as a vegetable throughout the world which has led to its commercial cultivation in many parts of South and North America as well as Europe. The artichoke was used as a food and medicine by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and in Rome they were an important item on the menu at feasts. It wasn't until the 15^th century that they made their appearance in Europe.

The Artichoke is popular for its pleasant bitter taste which is attributed to phytochemicals found in the green parts of the plants called cynaropicrin and cynarin, sesquiterpene lactones with documented medicinal actions. The phytochemicals in artichoke have been well documented^(1-5)and the leaves rather than the flower have been found to be higher in medicinal value. The medicinal activity of the leaves are attributed to the presence of caffeoylquinic acids and acid derivatives, cynarin and luteolin.⁽¹⁾ In combination, leaf extracts have demonstrated a beneficial effect on the gallbladder, to stimulate the secretion of bile in the liver, detoxify the liver, and lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood.⁽⁶⁾ In addition, other compounds in the leaves have shown to posses a hypoglycemic effect.⁽⁷⁾

Cynarin, the main constituent in Alcachofra, has shown highly specific properties as a cholagogue (increases bile production in the liver), choleretic (increases the flow of bile from the gallbladder), and choliokinetic (increases the contractive power of the bile duct).^(8,9) Its cholagogue effects are the most notable due to artichoke leaf extracts' ability to increase the flow of bile by sixty percent⁽¹⁰⁾ and as much as four times normal in a 12-hour period.⁽⁸⁾

Alcachofra has been used in traditional medicine for centuries as a specific liver and gallbladder remedy as well as a snake bite remedy.^{(11, 12)} It's liver detoxifying and protective properties were the first to come to the attention of researchers in 1966 and investigations are still being conducted on artichoke leaf's beneficial pharmacologic effects on liver function as well as gall bladder function.^(13-18) A French patent describes an artichoke extract for treating liver disease, high cholesterol levels and kidney insufficiency. Artichoke has demonstrated lipid-producing and anticholesterolemic action by decreasing the rate of cholesterol synthesis in the liver and by mobilizing fat stores from the liver and other tissues such as white adipose tissue.⁽⁸⁾ In addition to cholesterol, other blood fats such as triglycerides are thought to be reduced through the use of artichoke.⁽⁸⁾

It's current uses in natural medicine include its use for all types of liver and gallbladder disorders, for the prevention of gallstones, liver diseases including those related to alcoholism, dyspepsia, chronic albuminuria, anemia, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, high cholesterol, and kidney disease.^{(8, 10)}

1. Monograph Artichoke. November 1992, The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, ed. Lippincott Company, St. Louis, MO
2. Hammouda RM, et al. HPLC evaluation of the active constituents in the newly introduced Romanian strain of Cynara scloymus culivate in Egypt. Planta Medica 1991; 57(suppl 2): A119
3. Puigmacia M, et al. Spectroscopic study of caffeolyquinic acid derivatives of Cynara scolymus. Planta Medica 1986; 52:529.
4. Dranik LI. [Quantitative analysis of cynarin in the leaves of the artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.)] Farm Zh, 1965
5. Nichiforesco E, et al. [On the determination of o-dihydrophenols of caffeic acid type present in artichoke leaves (Cynara scolymus L.)] Ann Pharm Fr, 1965 Jun
6. Stary, Frantisek. The Natural Guide to Medicinal Herbs and Plants. Ed Dorset Press, NY, NY 1992
7. Bianchini F.. Health Plants of the World. Milan, Italy Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1975.
8. Mowrey, Daniel. Herbal Tonic Therapies. Ed. Keats Publishing 1993 USA
9. Hammouda FM, et al. Flavonoids of Cynara scolymus L. cultivated in Egypt. Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 1993
10. Bartram, Thomas. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. Dorset, England. 1995
11. Sayed MD. Traditional medicine in health care. J Ethnopharmacol, 1980 Mar,
12. Ruppelt BM, et al. Pharmacological screening of plants recommended by folk medicine as anti-snake venom--I. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, 1991
13. Khalkova Zh, et al. [An experimental study of the effect of an artichoke preparation on the activity of the sympathetic-adrenal system in carbon disulfide exposure] Probl Khig, 1995
14. Adzet T, et al. Hepatoprotective activity of polyphenolic compounds from Cynara scolymus against CCl4 toxicity in isolated rat hepatocytes. J Nat Prod, 1987 Jul-Aug
15. Hinou J, et al. [Polyphenolic substances of Cynara scolymus L. leaves] Ann Pharm Fr, 1989
16. Bogaert JP, et al. [Organic acids, principally acid-alcohols, in Cynara scolymus L. (Compositae)] Ann Pharm Fr, 1972 Jun
17. Maros T, et al. [Effect of Cynara scolymus-extracts on the regeneration of rat liver. 2] Arzneimittelforschung, 1968 Jul Maros T, et al. [Effects of Cynara Scolymus extracts on the regeneration of rat liver. 1.] Arzneimittelforschung, 1966 Feb
18. Nichiforesco E. [Considerations on the stability of o-dihydroxyphenolic derivatives of artichoke leaves (Cynara scolymus L.)] Ann Pharm Fr, 1967 Apr
19. Beckstrom-Sternberg, S., Duke, JA, Ethnobotany Database, USDA

Inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis in primary cultured rat hepatocytes by artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) extracts.
Gebhardt R
J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1998 Sep;286(3):1122-8

High-dose aqueous extracts from artichoke leaves were found to inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis from 14C-acetate in primary cultured rat hepatocytes in a concentration-dependent biphasic manner with moderate inhibition (approximately 20%) between 0.007 and 0.1 mg/ml and more strong inhibition at 1 mg/ml. Cytotoxic effects detected by lactate dehydrogenase leakage and the 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-dephenyl tetrazolium bromide-assay were restricted to higher concentrations. Replacement of 14C-acetate by 14C-mevalonate largely omitted the inhibiting effect of artichoke extracts indicating an inhibition at the level of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA-reductase. However, no direct inhibition of this enzyme could be detected and no other enzymic steps later in the biosynthetic pathway for cholesterol seemed to be affected. Instead, inhibition was found to occur in a time-dependent manner, to last for several hours even after washing out the extracts by fresh medium and to be fully reversible within 20 hr after removal of the extracts. In addition, the stimulation of HMGCoA-reductase activity by insulin was efficiently blocked by the extracts, although other insulin-dependent phenomena, such as increased lactate production, were not influenced. These results suggest an indirect modulation of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA-reductase activity as the most likely inhibitory mechanism of the artichoke extracts. Screening of several known constituents of artichoke extracts revealed that cynaroside and particularly its aglycone luteolin were mainly responsible for inhibition, whereas chlorogenic acid was much less effective and caffeic acid, cynarin and other dicaffeoylquinic acids were without significant influence. Indeed, luteolin also efficiently blocked the insulin effect on cholesterol biosynthesis. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that artichoke extracts may inhibit hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis in an indirect but efficient manner and, thus, may contribute via this action to the recently confirmed hypolipidemic influence of this phytopharmacon in man.