This product is the whole herb of the annual herbaceous plant common andrographis herb (Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Nees) from the creeping rostellularia herb family. It is cultivated in the southern, eastern, and southwestern regions of mainland China. The quality is better when harvested at the beginning of autumn when it has just flowered. It is cut into segments, dried, and used raw or fresh.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Bitter, cold. Act on lung, stomach, large intestine and small intestine meridians.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Clearing heat and removing toxins, drying dampness, and reducing swelling.

bubble_chart Indications

1. It is used for external contraction of wind-heat, early stage of warm disease, lung heat with cough and panting, lung abscess with expectoration of pus, and sore throat. This product is bitter and cold, with the ability to clear heat and remove toxins, and is particularly effective in clearing lung fire. Therefore, it can be applied to all conditions caused by lung fire. For treating external contraction of wind-heat or early stage of warm disease with fever and headache, it is often used in combination with Lonicera, Forsythia, Mentha, etc. For treating lung heat with cough and panting, it is often combined with Skullcap Root, White Mulberry Root-Bark, Chinese Wolfberry Root-bark; for treating lung abscess with expectoration of purulent sputum, it is often used with Heartleaf Houttuynia Herb, Platycodon Root, waxgourd seed, etc.; for treating sore throat, it is often combined with Scrophularia Root, Great Burdock Achene, Isatis Root, etc.
2. It is used for dampness-heat diarrhea, heat strangury with painful urination, eczema, and cutaneous pruritus. This product is bitter, drying, and cold, with the effects of clearing heat, removing toxins, and drying dampness, so it can be applied to all dampness-heat syndromes. For treating gastrointestinal dampness-heat, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and dysentery with pus and blood, it can be used alone or in combination with Purslane Herb, Coptis Rhizome, etc. For treating bladder dampness-heat with dribbling and painful urination, it is often combined with Plantain Seed, lalang grass rhizome, Phelloendron Bark, etc. For treating eczema and cutaneous pruritus, it can be ground into powder and mixed with glycerin for topical application.
3. It is used for abscesses, sores, and snake or insect bites. This product clears heat, removes toxins, dries dampness, and reduces swelling, so it can be used to treat dampness-heat fire toxin syndromes. For treating abscesses, sores, and snake or insect bites, it can be used alone or in combination with Lonicera, wild chrysanthemum flower, chinese manyleaf paris rhizome, etc., decocted for oral use, and the fresh product can be mashed for external application, all of which have the effect of removing toxins and dispersing swelling.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. 《Lingnan Herbal Records》: "Can detoxify snake venom, and also treat cough due to internal damage."
2. 《Quanzhou Materia Medica》: "Clearing heat and removing toxin, reducing inflammation and swelling, treating throat inflammation, dysentery, and high fever."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

Decoct and take 6-15g. Often used in pills, powders, and tablets. Apply an appropriate amount externally.

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

Deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach should not be used.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

This product contains andrographolide, deoxyandrographolide, neoandrographolide, and other compounds in its leaves. The roots also contain various flavonoids. Andrographis paniculata decoction has varying degrees of inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus, Diplococcus pneumoniae, hemolytic streptococcus, dysentery bacillus, and cold-damage disease bacillus. It enhances the phagocytic ability of human white blood cells against bacteria; it has antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, cholagogic, anti-snake venom, and muscarinic effects; and it also has pregnancy-terminating effects.