TCM Properties

Traditional Use

Clears heat and relieves toxicity, reduces abscess and expels pus — used for intestinal abscesses (acute appendicitis), pelvic inflammatory disease, hepatitis, dysentery, and heat toxicity causing pus formation
Dispels blood stasis and relieves pain — used for postpartum abdominal pain, dysmenorrhea, and stasis-heat pain in the Lower Jiao

Applied in gynecology — used for mastitis, tubal obstructive infertility, and pelvic endometriosis from damp-heat and blood stasis
Clears damp-heat in the intestines — used for ulcerative colitis, anal cryptitis, and typhoid enteritis

Yi Yi Fu Zi Bai Jiang San (薏苡附子败酱散) — Bai Jiang Cao as deputy with Yi Yi Ren and Fu Zi; for intestinal abscess with pus discharge in constitutionally cold patients
Da Huang Mu Dan Tang (大黄牡丹汤) — with Da Huang, Mu Dan Pi, Tao Ren, Hua Shi; for acute appendicitis with heat and blood stasis

Triterpenoid saponins (oleanolic acid and ursolic acid glycosides) — primary constituents of P. scabiosaefolia; anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and hepatoprotective
Iridoids (patrinoside, villosoides) — anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective glycoside compounds
Flavonoids (quercetin, rutin, kaempferol, luteolin) — antioxidant and anti-inflammatory secondary metabolites
Volatile oils — the characteristic soy-sauce odor compounds including isovaleric acid and β-caryophyllene
Polysaccharides — immunomodulatory macromolecules

Comprehensive phytochemistry and pharmacology — 233 compounds identified across two Patrinia species; triterpenoid saponins and volatile oils as main P. scabiosaefolia constituents; anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antitumor, hepatoprotective activities confirmed; clinical applications validated in pelvic inflammatory disease, hepatitis, and gynecological conditions (PMID 32846192)
Novel iridoids — nine unique iridoids and iridoid glycosides discovered from P. scabiosaefolia including three new iridoids and six new iridoid glycosides; structural characterization expands known phytochemical profile (PMID 33855012)

Spleen-Qi deficiency without heat toxicity — acrid-bitter cold nature damages Spleen Yang with prolonged use; avoid in cold-deficient patterns without abscess or heat toxin

Pregnancy — blood-moving and stasis-dispersing properties; use with caution; avoid high doses especially in the first trimester
MSK page not found — drug interaction data not available from Memorial Sloan Kettering integrative medicine database