Velvet Deer Horn, Lu Rong 鹿茸

Harts Horn, Velvet horn
Lu Rong (TCM)
Picture Dioscorides Materia Medica, Mathias, 1563

Picture Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491
Picture A vendor selling whole and sliced Deer horn of various grades. (Chengdu, 2009)
Picture Whole Velvet Deer horn (Chengdu 2009)
Picture Velvet Deer Horn slices; note the purplish colored marrow in the center
indicating young horn that was stilling growing when cut.
Zoological name:
Cervus spp.
A number of Deer species have been used, the main sources in TCM are:
  1. C. nippon (Sika Deer)
  2. C. elaphus (Red Deer)

Parts used:


Young Velvet Deer Horn

Temperature & Taste:


Warm, dry. Sweet, Salty

Classification:


N. Yang Tonic
 

Uses:


1. Warms and Tonifies the Kidney Yang, Benefits Vitality:
-debilitating and chronic conditions with Weakness of the Kidneys.
-Assists the growth of permanent teeth.
-Aphrodisiac for the male; spermatorrhea, impotence, poor sex drive
-tonic to the Bone, Marrow, Blood and Essence, strengthening the muscles and cartilage.
-chronic arthritis, backache, osteomyelitis, skeletal deformities, poor skeletal development;
-deafness, poor vision, vertigo;
-frequent, copious, clear urine;
-slow or retarded physical or mental development in children, learning difficulties, rickets etc. (TCM, West)

2. Benefits the Blood and Essence:
-debility, old age disorders etc.
-Consumption and similar conditions of debility in the West
-Tonifies the Yang, Blood, and Essence, while benefitting the Qi and Yin; it is therefore useful in all cases of Debility.
    
3. Warms and Strengthens the Uterus:
-leukorrhea, uterine bleeding, menorrhagia from a Cold and weak uterus.

4. Resists Poison, Promotes Sweat. (West)
-used for Fever and Epidemic disease

Dose:


Velvet Deer Horn: 1–2 grams in powder

Comment:


1. All the forms of Deer horn have an effect of strengthening the Kidneys, restoring Yang and benefiting Bones and Joints.
2. The best tonic is Velvet Deer horn, harvested while still growing, and therefore contains Blood, marrow and growth factors. It strengthens Yang and Qi, nourishes Yin, Blood and Essence. It is a sex tonic and restores degenerated Bones and Joints.
3. Ossified (Mature) Deer Horn, shed by the Deer naturally is weaker to strengthen the Kidneys and Yang, but stronger to move the Blood, and also strengthens Bones and may be use for toxic sores and swellings.
4. Burnt Deer horn (most used in the West and Ayurveda) also strengthens the Kidneys and Yang, although weaker than Velvet Deer horn. It was highly regarded as a medicine to Resist Poison, and is used in Antidotes. In Ayurveda it is also used for Cough, Bronchitis, Pleurisy and Pneumonia. It also stops Bleeding.
5. Deer Horn Glue more gently strengthens Yang but also nourishes Yin and Essence. Its main use is to stop Bleeding, especially Uterine bleeding associated with Kidney weakness and Blood deficiency.

Substitute:


1. Mature Deer horn is a cheaper substitute for the expensive Velvet Deer Horn. While it is not nearly as strong, it is still useful for Kidney Yang deficiency with lower back pain etc, and is considered stronger to reduce swelling and promote Blood circulation.

Main Combinations:



1. Consumption, Velvet Deer Horn with Sorrel Bugloss, Sandalwood, Cinnamon (West)
2. To tonify Yin, Yang and Essence and restore Qi and Blood:
i. Velvet Deer Horn with Tortoise plastron Gui Ban, Ginseng and Lycium Gou Qi (Goji) (as in Tortoise Shell and Deer Horn Syrup)
ii. Velvet Deer Horn with Ginseng, Cornus Shan Zhu Yu, Rehmannia Shu Di Huang, Dang Gui, Cinnamon, Aloeswood (Chen Xiang), Schisandra Wu Wei Zi (as in Deer Horn Pills)
3. Impotence, Male Infertility:
i. Velvet Deer Horn (Lu Rong) with Chinese Yam Shan Yao, Ginseng and Epimedium Yin Yang Huo.
ii. or Male Infertility, Velvet Deer Horn (Lu Rong), Morinda Ba Ji Tian with Raspberry fruit (Fu Pen Zi), Cistanche Rou Cong Rong,
iii. Velvet Deer Horn (Lu Rong), Cynomorium Suo Yang, Ginseng, Rehmannia Shu Di Huang, Eucommia Du Zhong, Epimedium Yin Yang Huo, Dang Gui, Cinnamon, Licorice (as in Nan Bao)

Major Formulas:


Nan Bao
Tu Si Zi Wan

Cautions:


The Velvet horn is generally not used in Deficient Heat conditions (Heat from Yin deficiency)

Main Preparations used:


Gelatin
GENERAL / REVIEW:
–Bioactive components of velvet antlers and their pharmacological properties.
–Health benefits of deer and elk velvet antler supplements: a systematic review of randomised controlled studies.
–Well-known polypeptides of deer antler velvet with key actives: modern pharmacological advances.
–Health Effects of Peptides Extracted from Deer Antler.
–Antlers – Evolution, development, structure, composition, and biomechanics of an outstanding type of bone.
–[Detection of chondroitin sulfate in Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum and Cervi Cornu of different specifications and its application in quality evaluation]
–[Principal component analysis of nutrients in five varieties of velvet antler (Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum)].
–[Research progress on identification and quality control of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum].

PROCESSING:
–[Research on chemical compositions in different processed products of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum].
–[Effects of different processing methods on water soluble polysaccharide contents and monosaccharide compositions in Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum].
–[Analysis of chondroitin sulfate content of Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum with different processing methods and different parts].

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY:
–Comparison of anti-inflammatory effect and protein profile between the water extracts from Formosan sambar deer and red deer.
–Antler extracts stimulate chondrocyte proliferation and possess potent anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulatory properties.
–Deer Velvet Antler Extracts Exert Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Arthritic Effects on Human Rheumatoid Arthritis Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes and Distinct Mouse Arthritis.
–Purification and identification of anti-inflammatory peptides derived from simulated gastrointestinal digests of velvet antler protein (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus).

ANTIOXIDANT:
–Antioxidant Peptides from the Collagen of Antler Ossified Tissue and Their Protective Effects against H2O2-Induced Oxidative Damage toward HaCaT Cells.
–Antler extracts stimulate chondrocyte proliferation and possess potent anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulatory properties.

STEM CELLS:
–Stem cells drive antler regeneration.
–A population of stem cells with strong regenerative potential discovered in deer antlers.

ENDURANCE TRAINING:
–Cornu cervi pantotrichum supplementation improves physiological adaptions during intensive endurance training.

APHRODISIAC:
–Effects of velvet antler polypeptide on sexual behavior and testosterone synthesis in aging male mice.

IMMUNOMODULATORY:
–Network Pharmacology, Molecular Docking and Molecular Dynamics to Explore the Potential Immunomodulatory Mechanisms of Deer Antler.
–Antler extracts stimulate chondrocyte proliferation and possess potent anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulatory properties.

CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD)
–Protective effect of EC-18, a synthetic monoacetyldiglyceride on lung inflammation in a murine model induced by cigarette smoke and lipopolysaccharide.

HEPATOPROTECTIVE:
–Deer antler based active ingredients have protective effects on LPS/d-GalN-induced acute liver injury in mice through MAPK and NF-κB signalling pathways.
–Protective effect of pilose antler peptide on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice.

LIVER FIBROSIS:
–Antler stem cells as a novel stem cell source for reducing liver fibrosis.

NEPHROPROTECTIVE:
–Purified Sika deer antler protein attenuates GM-induced nephrotoxicity by activating Nrf2 pathway and inhibiting NF-κB pathway.
–The Protective Effect of Sika Deer Antler Protein on Gentamicin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Vitro and in Vivo.

HYPOGLYCEMIC:
–Hypoglycemic activity of CPU2206: A novel peptide from sika (Cervus nippon Temminck) antler.

MAMMARY HYPERPLASIA:
–Pharmacodynamic structure of deer antler base protein and its mammary gland hyperplasia inhibition mechanism by mediating Raf-1/MEK/ERK signaling pathway activation.

CHONDROITIN:
–[Detection of chondroitin sulfate in Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum and Cervi Cornu of different specifications and its application in quality evaluation].

PROMOTES BONE HEALING:
–Deer antler extract promotes tibia fracture healing in mice by activating BMP-2/SMAD4 signaling pathway.

ENHANCES CARTILAGE:
–Investigating the molecular control of deer antler extract on articular cartilage.

OSTEOPOROSIS:
–Use of Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Technology to Analyze the Mechanism of Action of Velvet Antler in the Treatment of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis.
–The effect of deer antler from East Kalimantan to increase trabecular bone density and calcium levels in serum on osteoporotic mice.
–Pilose antler aqueous extract promotes the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by stimulating the BMP-2/Smad1, 5/Runx2 signaling pathway.

ARTHRITIS / RHEUMATISM:
–Deer Velvet Antler Extracts Exert Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Arthritic Effects on Human Rheumatoid Arthritis Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes and Distinct Mouse Arthritis.
–Velvet antler polypeptide partially rescue facet joint osteoarthritis-like phenotype in adult β-catenin conditional activation mice.

ANTI-AGING:
–Anti-Aging Effects of a Serum Based on Coconut Oil Combined with Deer Antler Stem Cell Extract on a Mouse Model of Skin Aging.

NEUROPROTECTIVE:
–Protective effects of Cervus nippon Temminck velvet antler polypeptides against MPP+‑induced cytotoxicity in SH‑SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE:
–Deer antler extracts reduce amyloid-beta toxicity in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer’s disease.

CANCER:
–Deer antlers: the fastest growing tissue with least cancer occurrence.
–Studies on the purification of polypeptide from sika antler plate and activities of antitumor.
BRAIN:
–Anti-tumour activity of deer growing antlers and its potential applications in the treatment of malignant gliomas.
BREAST:
–Peptidomic analysis of pilose antler and its inhibitory effect on triple-negative breast cancer at multiple sites.
LIVER:
–Antler-derived microRNA PC-5p-1090 inhibits HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting MARCKS, SMARCAD1, and SOX9.
PROSTATE:
–Sika deer (Cervus nippon) velvet antler extract attenuates prostate cancer in xenograft model.

PROTECTS FROM CHEMOTHERAPY TOXICITY:
–Gut Microbiota Combined with Metabolomics Reveal the Mechanisms of Sika Deer Antler Protein on Cisplatin-Induced Hepatorenal Injury in Mice.
–The Proteins from Sika deer antler as potential modulators on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in human embryonic kidney 293 cells

WOUND HEALING:
–Antlerogenic stem cells extract accelerate chronic wound healing: a preliminary study.
–Antler stem cell-conditioned medium stimulates regenerative wound healing in rats.