Deer antlers: traditional Chinese medicine use and recent pharmaceuticals

Abstract

Deer velvet antlers (VA) have been used as a type of traditional Chinese medicine for over 2000 years, mainly for treating yang-deficiency syndromes. However, VA still largely remain a traditional remedy with scant science, although getting more attention as time goes. In recent years, our group has been trying to develop some efficacious drugs/functional food based on unique biological phenomena of VA, such as, for example, dead tissue (hard antler base) being attached to living tissue (pedicle) for over half a year without causing inflammation, a large-size wound (up to 10 cm in diameter) being left on top of a pedicle stump after previous antler casting healing within a week only with a negligible scar, and severely osteoporotic skeleton caused by intensive antler calcification fully reversing after the completion of antler calcification. Successful translation of these unique phenomena to clinical use would greatly benefit human health.