Bai Lian
StarAmpelopsis japonica (Thunb.) Makino
Traditionally used for
- Skin
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat and resolves toxins; Disperses swelling and dissipates nodules; Promotes tissue regeneration and closes wounds; Stops pain
Traditional Chinese Uses
Bai Lian (ampelopsis root) is a cool herb used in Chinese medicine to clear Heat toxin, reduce inflammatory swellings, and promote healing of sores and burns. It is applied both internally and topically for carbuncles, abscesses, and infected wounds from Heat toxin, as well as for burns and scalds. As an anti-inflammatory and wound-healing herb, it addresses tissue damage from both internal Heat accumulation and external injury, and its cooling, soothing properties make it particularly valuable in burn treatment formulas.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Ampelopsis japonica (Thunb.) Makino is a perennial climbing vine in the Vitaceae, native to China, Korea, and Japan. It produces slender, somewhat woody twining stems that climb by branched tendrils opposite the leaves, arising from a thickened, fleshy, spindle-shaped tuberous root that is the medicinal part. Leaves are alternate, palmately compound or deeply pinnatifid with 3-5 ovate to lanceolate lobes 3-5 cm long, the segments coarsely toothed and glabrous. Small, inconspicuous yellow-green flowers appear in summer in axillary cymes opposite the leaves, followed by globose berries about 6 mm across that ripen pale blue to white with darker speckles. The root, harvested in spring or autumn, is peeled, sliced, and sun-dried for use.
Active Constituents
Gallic acid
Phenolic acidConcentration: isolated from a methanol extract of the dried root; 100 g of dried root gave 5.64 g of methanol extract
The most potent radical scavenger among the compounds isolated from the root, with a DPPH IC50 of 2.60 micrograms/mL, but essentially inactive against alpha-glucosidase (IC50 above 400 micrograms/mL).
(+)-Catechin
Flavan-3-olA major flavan-3-ol of the root, with DPPH IC50 10.08, alpha-glucosidase IC50 81.78 and acetylcholinesterase IC50 26.35 micrograms/mL. Catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin and epicatechin gallate together make up much of the astringent, tannin-like character of the root that underlies its traditional topical use on sores and burns.
(-)-Epicatechin
Flavan-3-olStrongly antioxidant (DPPH IC50 2.78 micrograms/mL), weakly active against alpha-glucosidase (IC50 88.73 micrograms/mL).
Kaempferol
FlavonolThe most potent alpha-glucosidase inhibitor isolated from the root (IC50 5.81 micrograms/mL, more potent than acarbose in the same assay), with moderate antioxidant activity (DPPH IC50 12.48 micrograms/mL).
Quercetin
FlavonolBoth strongly antioxidant (DPPH IC50 3.36 micrograms/mL) and a good alpha-glucosidase inhibitor (IC50 14.39 micrograms/mL). In a 3D human skin model, quercetin from this herb downregulated ET-1, VEGF and PTGS2 in keratinocytes, which is the basis of the skin-lightening use of Bai Lian in cosmetic formulations.
Resveratrol
StilbenePresent in the root together with the flavan-3-ols; DPPH IC50 13.19 and alpha-glucosidase IC50 28.81 micrograms/mL. Note that the oligostilbenes for which the genus Ampelopsis is better known are largely reported from other species, and should not be assumed present here.
Euscaphic acid
Triterpene acidInactive as a radical scavenger (DPPH IC50 above 400 micrograms/mL) but the most potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor of the isolated compounds (IC50 11.64 micrograms/mL) and a good alpha-glucosidase inhibitor (IC50 20.38 micrograms/mL).
Schizandriside
Lignan glycosideIsolated from the roots together with resveratrol, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (+)-gallocatechin and (-)-epicatechin gallate in the first modern constituent study of the drug. No specific pharmacology has been attributed to it in this species.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Aconitum preparations (Chuan Wu, Cao Wu, Fu Zi) - the classical shi ba fan incompatibility
Bai Lian is one of the herbs listed as antagonistic to Wu Tou in the eighteen incompatibilities (shi ba fan), the oldest and most consistently observed prescribing prohibition in Chinese herbal practice. Aconite alkaloids are cardiotoxic and neurotoxic in their own right with a narrow margin, so a combination that any competent Chinese pharmacy will refuse to fill is not one to reconstruct from first principles. The pharmacological basis has not been established in modern studies; the prohibition itself is well established in the tradition.
Clinical note: Do not prescribe Bai Lian in a formula containing Chuan Wu, Cao Wu or Fu Zi. Chinese dispensaries commonly flag or reject such a prescription.
Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (acarbose, miglitol) and other antidiabetic drugs
Five of seven compounds isolated from the root inhibited alpha-glucosidase more potently than acarbose in vitro, kaempferol at IC50 5.81 and quercetin at 14.39 micrograms/mL. Whether an oral decoction reaches inhibitory concentrations at the intestinal brush border in people has not been tested, so this is an in vitro signal only.
Clinical note: No dose adjustment is indicated on this evidence, but a diabetic patient starting the herb should monitor postprandial glucose as they would with any new herbal.
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata and Ampelopsis grossedentata sold as Bai Lian or under related pinyin names
Bai Lian is the tuberous root of Ampelopsis japonica. Other Ampelopsis species circulate as separate drugs with different chemistry and different traditional indications - Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (she pu tao) and the dihydromyricetin-rich Ampelopsis grossedentata (teng cha) among them. The constituent and pharmacology data summarised here are for Ampelopsis japonica root only.
Clinical note: Specify Ampelopsis japonica root when ordering, and do not transfer claims made for other Ampelopsis species (or for their very different flavonoid profiles) to this drug.
Uric-acid-lowering drugs (allopurinol, febuxostat, uricosurics)
An Ampelopsis japonica extract lowered uric acid in a rodent model by downregulating the urate transporters URAT1 and GLUT9, and separate work identified xanthine oxidase inhibitory constituents in the roots. Both mechanisms overlap with standard hypouricaemic drugs, but no human study has been done.
Clinical note: Not a reason to combine or to substitute. If a gout patient uses the herb, keep monitoring urate as usual.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 5–10 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】5～10g。外用适量，煎汤洗或研成极细粉敷患处。 【注意】不宜与川乌、制川乌、草乌、制草乌、附子同用。 【性味与归经】苦，微寒。归心、胃经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 4 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
4
2 verified · 2 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Effect of Ampelopsis Radix on wound healing in scalded rats
- Bioactive Components from Ampelopsis japonica with Antioxidant, Anti-α-Glucosidase, and Antiacetylcholinesterase Activities
- Ampelopsis japonica Extract Exhibited Significant Uric Acid-Lowering Effect by Downregulating URAT1/GLUT9 and Alleviates Inflammation Through TLR4/NF-κB Pathway
- The constituents of the roots of Ampelopsis japonica
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Effect of Ampelopsis Radix on wound healing in scalded rats
Male Sprague-Dawley rats with hot-water scald injuries were randomised to no treatment, 1 percent silver sulfadiazine, plain Vaseline, or Vaseline containing 5 or 20 percent ethanol extract of Ampelopsis japonica root, applied once daily for 21 days from 24 hours after injury. The 20 percent extract group had the smallest wounds by day 12 (19.0 plus or minus 4.6 percent of original size), significantly higher epithelialisation scores at day 14, lower TNF-alpha and higher IL-10 at day 14, and greater collagen deposition at days 14 to 21. Rodent topical data supporting the traditional use on burns and sores; there is no equivalent human trial.
Bioactive Components from Ampelopsis japonica with Antioxidant, Anti-α-Glucosidase, and Antiacetylcholinesterase Activities
Seven compounds were isolated from the dried roots and assayed. Catechin, kaempferol, quercetin, resveratrol and epicatechin were more potent radical scavengers than BHT, and all except gallic acid inhibited alpha-glucosidase more strongly than acarbose. Reported IC50 values: DPPH, gallic acid 2.60, epicatechin 2.78, quercetin 3.36, catechin 10.08, kaempferol 12.48, resveratrol 13.19 micrograms/mL; alpha-glucosidase, kaempferol 5.81, quercetin 14.39, euscaphic acid 20.38, resveratrol 28.81 micrograms/mL; acetylcholinesterase, euscaphic acid 11.64 and catechin 26.35 micrograms/mL.
Ampelopsis japonica Extract Exhibited Significant Uric Acid-Lowering Effect by Downregulating URAT1/GLUT9 and Alleviates Inflammation Through TLR4/NF-κB Pathway
An Ampelopsis japonica extract lowered uric acid in a rodent hyperuricaemia model, with downregulation of the renal urate transporters URAT1 and GLUT9, and reduced inflammatory signalling through the TLR4/NF-kappaB pathway. Rodent data only; no human hyperuricaemia study of this herb exists.
The constituents of the roots of Ampelopsis japonica
Six compounds - schizandriside, resveratrol, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (+)-gallocatechin and (-)-epicatechin gallate - were isolated from the roots of Ampelopsis japonica and characterised. Structural work only.
⚠ Rule-Based Cautions
These entries come from the deterministic rule tables that gate Verscienta's formula tools — classical pair prohibitions, pregnancy and lactation contraindications, and dose ceilings.
Incompatibilities (十八反 / 十九畏)
- 十八反: Wu Tou × Bai Lian — avoid combining with Fu Zi / Aconite / Aconitum / Chuan Wu / Cao Wu / Wu Tou / Shu Fu / Hei Shun Pian / Fu Pian / Guan Bai Fu / Xue Shang Yi Zhi Hao / Aconitum brachypodum
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynastyBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty (Li Shizhen, 1596)References
- Luo W, Huang R, Tao Y. Bridging traditional knowledge and modern science: A systematic review of Ampelopsis japonica with emphasis on novel anti-cancer compounds, polypharmacology and clinical translation potential . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2026) [DOI]
- Xiong HP, Mi JL, Le JM, Wu ZJ, Chen WS. Chemical Constituents of Ampelopsis japonica . Chemistry of Natural Compounds (2017) [DOI]
- Li YL, Liu F, Zhao LY, Li HX, Jumai A, Xu ZF, Qiu SX. Xanthine oxidase inhibitory constituents from the roots of Ampelopsis japonica . Natural Product Research (2024) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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