Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate (MgIG), an anti-inflammatory compound currently used to treat liver disease in Chinese medicine, is found effective in easing  symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by reducing inflammation in the lungs. A rat model study by a team of researchers at the Jiangsu Vocational College of Medicine in China has proved that the compound effectively inhibits airway inflammation in COPD and eases the symptoms. The scientists wrote in the study report published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine, that  this new finding suggests that MgIG might be an alternative for COPD therapy. The current treatment for COPD typically consists of bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and supplemental oxygen and antibiotics depending on the symptoms. However, the limitation with these regimes is that all these address just the symptom and not the cause of the disease– inflammation in the lungs– caused by several factors, including long-term exposure to irritants such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, and chemical gases, and rarely hereditary lung conditions. 

MgIG is a derivative of glycyrrhizic acid extracted from the roots of Chinese liquorice, a flowering plant. This is conventionally used as a sweetener, mostly in China, and as an anti-inflammatory compound, it is also used to help treat liver inflammation such as hepatitis and other inflammatory diseases, in traditional Chinese medicine.