All-Grass of Cairo Morningglory

Chinese
五爪龙
Pinyin
Wu Zhao Long
Latin
Herba Ipomoeae Cairicae

TCM Properties

Taste
bitter
Temperature
cool
Channels
Liver, Large Intestine

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

  • Clears heat and relieves toxicity — used for fever, liver disorders with jaundice, bronchitis, and inflammatory conditions with heat signs
  • Dispels wind-dampness and relieves rheumatic pain — used for joint pain, swelling, and inflammatory arthritis

Secondary Actions

  • Expels parasites — seeds used for anthelmintic action against intestinal worms
  • Promotes diuresis and reduces edema — used for oliguria and fluid accumulation
  • Stops pain — analgesic properties used for headache and inflammatory pain

Modern Research

Active Compounds

  • Scopoletin — coumarin with anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and spasmolytic activity
  • Umbelliferone — coumarin antioxidant with antibacterial properties
  • Arctigenin — lignan with anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activity
  • Matairesinol and trachelogenin — lignans with antioxidant and anti-estrogenic activity
  • Flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol) — antioxidant and anti-inflammatory secondary metabolites
  • Alkaloids — natural constituents with larvicidal activity against mosquito vectors

Studied Effects

  • Anti-inflammatory — methanol extract demonstrates anti-inflammatory activity in multiple experimental models
  • Antimicrobial — extracts active against Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and Candida species
  • Antiproliferative — aqueous and ethanolic extracts show cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cell lines in vitro
  • Larvicidal — alkaloid-rich fractions effective against Aedes and Culex mosquito larvae

Safety & Interactions

Contraindications

  • Cold-type conditions without heat signs — cool bitter nature contraindicated in deficiency-cold patterns

Cautions

  • Sparsely documented in TCM pharmacopoeia literature — primarily used in folk medicine in southern China; formal clinical safety data is limited
  • Seeds contain ergoline alkaloids common to Convolvulaceae family — seed preparations require caution; standard herbal (whole plant) use is generally considered safe
  • MSK page not found — drug interaction data not available from Memorial Sloan Kettering integrative medicine database

Conditions