It was established that oral administration of lipid-based suspension of dry extract of Epimedium koreanum in wheat germ oil improved erectile function of aged rats.
Increase of Testosterone - A study conducted in over 40 male rats were given Icariin, a chemical that is contained inside of Epimedium and it was shown to have testosterone mimetic properties and has therapeutic potential in the management of hypoandrogenism.
Increase of Muscle Strength - The chemical contained inside of Epimedium known as Icariin has many studies conducted on it because of the Nitric Oxide boosting properties which play an important role with an athletes performance.
Erectile Dysfunction - Apart from being an Aphrodisiac, epimedium has been effectively used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. In a study, it was reported that icariin and Nitric oxide used on castrated rats was able to be a therapeutic effect on erectile dysfunction.
Oral treatment with icariin (> 98.6 % purity) for 4 weeks potentially improves erectile function. This effect is correlated with an increase in PSM and the expression of certain NOS in the CC of castrated rats. These results suggest that icariin may have a therapeutic effect on erectile dysfunction.
Memory Enhancer - Essential therapeutic drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have not been developed. Since the neuritic atrophy leading to synaptic losses is one of the critical causes of memory impairment in AD, the effects of several constituents in tonic herbal medicines on neuritic atrophy and memory deficits have been studied. The present study investigated the effects of icariin, a main constituent in Epimedii Herba, a well known tonic crude drug, in an in vitro AD model and transgenic mouse AD model (5xFAD). Amyloid β(1–42)‐induced atrophies of axons and dendrites were restored by post‐treatment with icariin in rat cortical neurons. Administration of icariin for 8 days (p.o.) improved spatial memory impairment in 5xFAD mice. These novel findings suggest that icariin may improve memory dysfunction in AD and have a potential to extend neurites even when amyloid β‐induced neurite atrophy has already occurred.
Increased flow of blood - A PDE5 or PDE4 inhibitor may increase the cGMP or cAMP levels and induce smooth muscle relaxation. cGMP-specific PDE5 inhibitors, such as sildenafil, may enhance penile erection after oral administration. Although these agents can be useful drugs to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), each has its limitation. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of icariin on PDE5 and PDE4 with papaverine as the control drug. Icariin and papaverine had a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on PDE4 and PDE5. Our previous studies showed that icariin significantly increased the cGMP levels of penile and clitoral CC in rabbits [20, 21]. In conclusion, icariin has a selective inhibitory effect on cGMP-specific PDE5 compared to cAMP-specific PDE4 and may be developed into an oral effective agent useful for the treatment of ED.