Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, aka Porcelainberry or Ron Grape. Photo courtesy Will Cook, www.carolinanature.com.

It sometimes happens, given the complex nature of our relationship with plants, that one person’s bane turns out to be another’s balm.

Take the case of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, a rapidly growing vine in the grape family. More commonly known as Porcelainberry or Amur Peppervine, the plant is native to Asia, and is characterized by beautifully sculpted leaves and multicolored berries that resemble bird’s eggs. Yet it causes grief among gardeners in the Northeastern US, who find that it can take over large areas in little time. The US Forest Service deems it an invasive pest, and several states prohibit sale of the plants.

In Japan, Ampelopsis is viewed more kindly. In fact, it has played a therapeutic role in Kampo, Japan’s ancient herbal medicine tradition, for thousands of years (for background visit www.holisticprimarycare.net and search “Kampo”). Modern research indicates that extracts of the berries, referred to in Japan as Ron Grapes, contain unique anti-fibrotic compounds that are proving therapeutic for people with advanced hepatitis.

Medicinal use of this plant in Japan goes back to the Edo period; in the northern regions particularly, there is a long history of use of Ampelopsis “wine” (Ampelopsis berries soaked for long periods in distilled spirits) as a remedy for general malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting and hepatomegaly.

In the 1970s, Dr. Minato Seki, then president of the Dokkyo Medical University took a particular interest in this plant, and he suggested that researchers at Dokkyo explore the possibility that Ampelopsis might be useful as a treatment for hepatic cirrhosis. Early animal studies published in the 1980s showed that alcohol extracts of the Ampelopsis fruits were able to inhibit collagen fiber formation in hepatic cell cultures. Investigators also found that Ampelopsis could slow lipid deposition in rat models of fatty liver disease.

Though Kampo practitioners continued to use the plant, interest in Ampelopsis never went past the level of animal studies until recently. With hepatitis B and C on the rise in Japan, as it is in many industrialized countries, researchers have begun looking for potential therapies.

Dr. Kenji Matsuo, formerly of the Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University, and now director of his own Matsuo Clinic, studied the impact of daily dosing with a powdered extract of ampelopsis in 10 of his patients with advanced hepatitis B and C. The patients, 6 men and 4 women, ranged in age from 40–81 years, and all had longstanding, antibody-confirmed hepatitis.

They were instructed to ingest 2 grams of a standardized, granulated Ampelopsis powder, packaged in straw-like single-servings, thrice daily with meals for 3 months. Dr. Matsuo measured a battery of blood markers including serum GPT, GOT, and γ-GTP at 1, 2 and 3 months. They also assessed prevalence of symptoms including malaise, abdominal discomfort, anorexia, nausea and pruritus, on a 4-step scale (symptom resolution; symptom improvement; no change; deterioration).

Two of the patients discontinued the study, one of whom died of concurrent hepatic cell carcinoma; the other dropped out owing to a perceived weight gain secondary to an increase in appetite.

While it is not possible to draw a definitive conclusion from an 8-patient cohort, Dr. Matsuo’s findings are certainly promising. Mean GPT values for the group went from 108.4 to 70.4 at 3 months, a 35% decrease. Mean GOT values went from 88.1 at baseline to 69.4, a 21% drop. The γ-GTP measurements went from a mean of 81.9 to 74.1, a 9.5% change that trended in the right direction but did not reach statistical significance (Matsuo K. Japan J Clin Pharmacol Therapeutics. 2003; 19(1): 109–118).

All of the patients showed similar patterns of change. In most cases, the reductions were already clear after one month of daily Ampelopsis supplementation. The changes in liver enzyme values were biggest in those with the highest baseline numbers.

In general, the patients’ subjective symptom assessments showed improvement over time, roughly tracking with the changes in the liver enzymes. Ampe-lopsis seemed to have the biggest effect on malaise, present among 9 of the original 10 patients, and improved or resolved in 7 of the 9 within two months of treatment, and on pain/discomfort, which was also present in 9 of the original 10, and improved in 7.

“The higher the improvement rate of the GPT level, the more clearly the symptoms were improved,” reported Dr. Matsuo. “In the patients with a low baseline GPT value, the subjective symptoms were not so clearly improved, and there was no improvement of GPT level observed either.”

In terms of safety and side-effects profile, there were no clinically significant ill effects from addition of the Ampelopsis extract to the daily diet. One woman, age 66, reported that her defecation frequency increased from once daily to 4–5 times daily within a couple of days after beginning on Ampelopsis. However, she did not have diarrhea; her bowel movements were normal, and the increased frequency short-lived. She continued treatment and completed the trial.

Dr. Matsuo concludes that the Ampelopsis extract is “a safe and useful processed food in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.” The granulated extract is available in Japan as a therapeutic food item, and it will soon be introduced into the US natural products market as AmGrape by Nature Science, a Japanese natural ingredient company.

Clearly, more work is needed to determine whether Ampelopsis extract should play a role in clinical management of patients with hepatitis. It does not seem to have anti-viral effects, so consequently it cannot be considered curative. But Dr. Matsuo’s preliminary data suggest that it does improve hepatic function, possibly due to its ability to delay fibrosis, though this must be confirmed in future studies.