Use with caution. Review interactions and contraindications below.
TCM Properties
- Taste
- bitter
- Temperature
- slightly cold
- Channels
- Urinary Bladder
Traditional Use
Primary Actions
- Clears heat and promotes urination — used for urinary tract infections, dysuria, urinary stones, and damp-heat stranguria (Lin syndrome) from heat accumulation in the Urinary Bladder
- Kills intestinal parasites — used for roundworms, hookworms, pinworms, and intestinal parasitic infestations
Secondary Actions
- Clears damp-heat from skin — used topically for vulvar itching and moist eczema from damp-heat in the skin
- Clears damp-heat jaundice — used for jaundice with damp-heat accumulation in the Liver-Gallbladder
Classic Formulas
- Ba Zheng San (八正散) — with Qu Mai, Mu Tong, Che Qian Zi, Hua Shi, Da Huang, Shan Zhi Zi, Gan Cao Shao, and Deng Xin Cao; for damp-heat stranguria with urinary difficulty, pain, and hematuria
Modern Research
Active Compounds
- Avicularin (quercetin-3-O-arabinoside) — primary flavonoid glycoside; anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and antibacterial
- Myricitrin and juglanin — flavonoid glycosides with antioxidant properties
- Quercetin and kaempferol — flavonols; anti-inflammatory and antioxidant secondary metabolites
- Caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid — phenolic acids with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity
- Hyperoside (quercetin-3-O-galactoside) — flavonol glycoside; anti-inflammatory
- Oxalic acid — dicarboxylic acid contributing to astringent action; caution in calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis
Studied Effects
- Pharmacopoeial quality assessment — UHPLC-CAD and UHPLC-ESI-MS methods validated for quantification of flavonoid glucuronides as primary quality markers; total flavonoid content 0.70–2.20% across European plant material samples (PMID 26047342)
- Anti-lipase activity — flavonol-3-O-glycosides (avicularin, myricitrin, juglanin) inhibit porcine pancreatic lipase in physiologically relevant IC50 range; suggests applications for metabolic and anti-obesity activity (PMID 31792306)
PubMed References
Safety & Interactions
Contraindications
- Pregnancy — bitter-cold herb with diuretic and potential uterine-stimulant action; traditional contraindication throughout pregnancy
- Spleen-Kidney deficiency without damp-heat — cold draining nature depletes Kidney and Middle Jiao Yang with prolonged use
Cautions
- Oxalic acid content — avoid prolonged high-dose use in patients with history of calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis; may promote further stone formation
- Diuretic effect may reduce renal clearance time for lithium and other renally excreted drugs — use with caution in patients on these medications
- MSK page not found — drug interaction data not available from Memorial Sloan Kettering integrative medicine database