TCM Properties
- Taste
- sweet, sour
- Temperature
- neutral
- Channels
- Liver, Heart, Spleen, Kidney
Traditional Use
Primary Actions
- Dispels wind and eliminates dampness — used for rheumatic joint pain, numbness, and bi-syndrome from wind-damp obstruction
- Promotes digestion and resolves food stagnation — used for childhood malnutrition, dyspepsia, diarrhea, and abdominal pain from food accumulation
- Removes toxicity and reduces swelling — used for dysentery, jaundice, skin infections, and toxic swellings
Secondary Actions
- Activates blood circulation and alleviates pain — used for traumatic pain, headache, and abdominal pain from blood stasis
- Antitussive and antidiarrheal — addresses cough and diarrhea as secondary applications
Modern Research
Active Compounds
- Iridoid glycosides (paederoside, scandoside, asperulosidic acid) — primary bioactive constituents; analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective
- Flavonoids — antioxidant and anti-inflammatory secondary metabolites
- Volatile oils — contribute to the characteristic sulfur-containing odor; include paederoside thioether
- Triterpenoids and alkaloids — additional bioactive constituents with multiple pharmacological activities
Studied Effects
- Anti-inflammatory — iridoid glycosides inhibit NF-κB, COX-2, iNOS, IL-1β, and IL-6; IC50 of 15.30 μM for NO inhibition (PMID 37172671)
- Analgesic — aqueous fraction (iridoid + polysaccharide-rich) produces significant antinociception in acetic acid, formalin, tail-flick, and hot-plate pain models in mice (PMID 25115105)
- Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory on uric acid nephropathy — iridoid glycoside fraction reduces renal inflammation in animal models (PMID 22910180)
PubMed References
Safety & Interactions
Cautions
- Strong sulfurous odor when crushed — handle in well-ventilated areas
- MSK page not found — drug interaction data not available from Memorial Sloan Kettering integrative medicine database