Properties: Warm, acrid, highly toxic
Meridans Entered:
Primary: Liver
Traditional Actions/Indications:
- Dissipates swelling and alleviates pain
Painful swelling from knocks and falls
- Kills worms and alleviates itching
Lichen rash
Suggested Daily Dosage: Applied externally only.
Cautions: Contains toxic rotenones. Signs of poisoning include paroxysmal abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, paroxysmal body cramps, muscle tremor, slowing of breathing and finally death by respiratory centre paralysis.
Notable Constituents:
- Rotenone
Toxic heteropentacyclic compound that inhibits mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone reductase used as an antineoplastic agent and insecticide.
- Deguelin
Toxic rotenone that is an apoptosis inducer, an antineoplastic agent, an angiogenesis inhibitor, an antiviral agent, a mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone reductase inhibitor and an anti-inflammatory agent.
- α-Toxicarol
Toxic rotenone and isoflavone.
Does not appear in any formulae listed on this site
Research Links & References: (click to display)
Research Links:
Reference Notes:
Individual herb information has sourced mainly from TCM Wiki and American Dragon for basic data and then updated manually with my own notes. Zhou, Xie and Yan (2011): Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Vol. 5, and A+ Medical Encyclopaedia have been used for entries not available from those sources with additional material searched for and filled in where available. Western herbs not appearing in the Chinese literature have used Ross (2010): Combining Western Herbs and Chinese Medicine: A Clinical Materia Medica, White Rabbit Institute of Healing and therapeutika.ch. Choices of which source to use or combine have been my own.
These pages are intended to assist clinicians and are not intended for self-diagnosis or treatment for which a qualified professional should be consulted. Actions and indications are taken from traditional uses and do not necessarily reflect the evidence base which should be researched independently. Dosages are for guidance only and will vary dependening on the potency of the batch and the tolerance of the individual so should be evaluated by a professional based on individual needs.
