This product is the root bark of the perennial herb Dictamnus dasycarpus (Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz.) from the beautiful steetgum resin family. It is produced in Liaoning, Hebei, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and other regions. It is harvested in spring and autumn, with the fibrous roots and outer rough bark removed. The bark is then longitudinally split, the woody core extracted, sliced, and dried for use.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Bitter, cold. act on spleen and stomach channels.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Clearing heat and drying dampness, dispelling wind and removing toxins.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for dampness-heat sores and toxins, eczema, scabies, and tinea. This product clears heat and dries dampness, clears heat and removes toxins, dispels wind, and relieves itching. It is used to treat dampness-heat sores and toxins, skin ulceration, and profuse yellow discharge, often combined with Atractylodes Rhizome, Sophora, Lonicera, and other herbs that dry dampness and remove toxins. For treating eczema, scabies, and skin itching, it is often combined with Sophora, Saposhnikovia Root, belvedere fruit, etc., and can be used both internally and externally for washing.
2. Used for jaundice with dark urine, dampness-heat arthralgia, this product both clears heat and dries dampness, and dispels wind to relieve arthralgia. For treating dampness-heat jaundice with dark urine, it is combined with Virgate Wormwood to promote bile secretion and reduce jaundice. For treating wind-dampness-heat arthralgia with red, swollen, hot, and painful joints, it is combined with Atractylodes Rhizome, Phellodendron Bark, Achyranthes Root, to achieve the effects of clearing heat, drying dampness, dispelling wind, and relieving arthralgia.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Benjing: "Mainly treats head wind, jaundice, cough with counterflow, dribbling urination: swelling and pain in the female genitalia, fixed arthralgia, dead flesh, inability to bend, stretch, rise, stop, or walk."
2. Yaoxing Lun: "Treats all heat toxin wind, aversion to wind, wind sores, scabies, red sores... Mainly resolves heat jaundice, alcohol jaundice, acute jaundice, grain jaundice, fatigue jaundice, etc., effectively."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

Use with caution in patients with cold deficiency.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

This product contains dictamnine, dictamnolactone, sitosterol, choline, fraxinellone, etc.

1. Antibacterial effect: In vitro tests showed that a 1:4 water extract of this product has varying degrees of inhibitory effects on multiple pathogenic fungi such as Trichophyton violaceum, Trichophyton concentricum, and Trichophyton schoenleinii. However, reports indicate that the ether, ethanol, and water extracts of this product showed no effect against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Mycobacterium phlei. A 1:20 decoction showed no killing effect on Trichomonas vaginalis.
2. Effects on the cardiovascular system and blood: The dictamnine contained in this product, in small amounts, has an excitatory effect on the isolated frog heart, increasing myocardial tension, minute output, and stroke volume. It also has a significant vasoconstrictive effect on the isolated rabbit ear. The pricklyash peel alkaloid has antiarrhythmic effects, and the skimmianine has ephedrine-like effects, increasing blood pressure in anesthetized cats, enhancing the contraction of the cat's nictitating membrane, dilating coronary arteries, and enhancing the pressor effect of adrenaline.
3. Effects on uterine and intestinal smooth muscle: Dictamnine has a strong contractile effect on the uterine smooth muscle of rabbits and guinea pigs. Skimmianine can also enhance the contraction of the in situ uterus in cats or rabbits, strengthening the effect of adrenaline on the uterus. Dictamnine and fagarine have no effect on the spontaneous contraction of the rat uterus but can weaken the contraction induced by oxytocin, while skimmianine can enhance it. Skimmianine can inhibit small intestine contraction, and fagarine can inhibit barium chloride-induced spasms in the isolated rabbit ileum. Fagarine and skimmianine can also relax the sphincter of Oddi. Reports indicate that a mixture of dictamnine, fagarine, and skimmianine has a stronger antispasmodic effect on rats and guinea pigs than individual alkaloids.
4. Anticancer effect: Eosin staining results show that the non-polar solvent extract and volatile oil of this product have in vitro anticancer activity. Fraxinellone and dictamnine isolated from the ether extract, along with a colorless transparent liquid from the volatile oil, are the active components for in vitro anticancer activity. A 45% concentration can kill Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, S180, and U14 cells, while phellodendrine, limonin, and β-sitosterol are ineffective.
5. The root bark of Dictamnus albus L. has antipyretic effects. Oral administration of its decoction to fever-induced rabbits (using the warm needle method) can reduce body temperature. Intravenous injection of another extract from the densefruit pittany root-bark (D. Albus var. Caucasicus) in dogs can shorten blood clotting time.
6. Other effects: A mixture of dictamnine, skimmianine, and fagarine can reduce the effect of adrenaline on the seminal vesicles of guinea pigs. Skimmianine can cause muscle paralysis and may lead to progressive hypotension in mammals due to myocardial involvement. Skimmianine can increase the tension of striated muscles and enhance the excitability of spinal reflexes. Common fenugreek seed alkaloid has weak pharmacological activity, but early reports indicate that it can reduce the chronaxy of nerves in neuromuscular preparations, initially reducing and then increasing the chronaxy of muscles. Additionally, common fenugreek seed alkaloid has certain anticancer effects, with 12.5 mg/kg extending the lifespan of P388 leukemia mice by 31%.