Chuan Shan Long
StarDioscorea nipponica Makino
Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Nerves & recovery
- Pain & joints
Cautions & contraindications
- Liver conditions
- Allergy risk
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Wind and eliminates Dampness; Invigorates the Blood, unblocks the collaterals and relaxes the sinews; Transforms Phlegm and alleviates cough
Traditional Chinese Uses
Chuan Shan Long is the dried rhizome of Dioscorea nipponica (Dioscoreaceae), a bitter, neutral herb that dispels Wind-Dampness while invigorating the Blood and unblocking the channels and collaterals. Entering the Liver, Lung, and Kidney channels, it is a mainstay for Wind-Damp painful obstruction (bi syndrome) with joint pain, stiffness, and numbness, and for traumatic injury, lumbar sprain, and stubborn sinew-and-bone pain, where it relaxes the sinews and frees movement. A second role is in the Lung: it transforms Phlegm and stops cough and wheezing in chronic bronchitis and phlegm-heat cough. Usual dose is 6-9 g decocted (larger amounts of fresh material), and it is commonly steeped in wine for chronic joint complaints. Its steroidal saponins underlie modern anti-inflammatory interest; it is used cautiously in pregnancy.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Chuan Shan Long is the dried rhizome of Dioscorea nipponica Makino (Dioscoreaceae), a perennial twining vine of cool temperate forests across northeastern China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Far East. The plant climbs to several meters via slender herbaceous stems bearing alternate, deeply five- to seven-lobed cordate leaves; small dioecious yellow-green flowers give rise to three-winged capsules. The horizontal rhizome is cylindrical, branched, and tough, rich in steroidal saponins including dioscin, which is a commercial precursor for diosgenin. In traditional Chinese medicine it is bitter and slightly cool, entering the Liver and Lung channels; it dispels wind-damp, unblocks the channels, relieves pain, transforms phlegm, and stops cough. It is used for rheumatic joint pain, lumbar pain, chronic bronchitis, and traumatic injury.
Active Constituents
Dioscin
Spirostanol steroidal saponinConcentration: The principal saponin of the rhizome
The best-studied constituent of this species. In animal arthritis models it suppresses Th17 and Th9 responses, inhibits the TL1A and DR3 axis and reduces synovial angiogenesis, which is the mechanistic basis for the drug's use in rheumatoid and gouty arthritis. Like other spirostanol saponins it is surface-active and lyses cell membranes at high concentration, and it is hydrolysed by gut flora to diosgenin, so oral and parenteral exposure are not equivalent.
Diosgenin
Spirostane steroidal sapogeninConcentration: The assay marker for this drug in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia
The aglycone of dioscin and the industrial starting material for semisynthetic steroid hormones. It is the quality-control marker the Pharmacopoeia measures. It is not converted to progesterone or any other steroid hormone by human metabolism; that conversion is a chemical process carried out in a factory.
Protodioscin and pseudoprotodioscin
Furostanol steroidal saponinConcentration: Major saponins alongside dioscin
Open-chain furostanol glycosides that are converted to the corresponding spirostanols on drying and acid treatment, so the saponin profile of the drug depends on how it was processed. Pseudoprotodioscin has reported lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical work.
Gracillin
Spirostanol steroidal saponinConcentration: Minor saponin
A structural congener of dioscin sharing its membrane-active and cytotoxic properties in cell culture.
Trillin
Spirostanol steroidal saponin (diosgenin monoglucoside)Concentration: Minor saponin
Isolated from the rhizomes of this species and shown in rats to reduce serum lipids and oxidative stress markers. The simplest of the drug's saponins, being diosgenin with a single glucose.
Diarylheptanoid glycosides
Diarylheptanoid glycosideConcentration: Minor non-saponin fraction
A structurally distinct group of phenolics reported from the rhizome, chemically unrelated to the steroidal saponins and to the curcuminoid-type diarylheptanoids of ginger relatives. Their contribution to activity is not established.
Starch
Storage polysaccharideConcentration: Dominant fraction by dry weight of the rhizome
Rhizome storage starch. Pharmacologically inert, but it dilutes the saponin content and means the drug's potency varies with harvest time and growing conditions; diosgenin content rises under mild drought.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Huang Yao Zi (Dioscorea bulbifera rhizome)
Both drugs are Dioscorea rhizomes used for Wind-Damp and swelling conditions, and this corpus contains both. They are not interchangeable and their toxicology is opposite in kind. Dioscorea bulbifera contains norclerodane diterpene lactones, of which diosbulbin B is the principal hepatotoxin; it forms reactive metabolites that bind covalently to hepatic protein and is an established cause of herb-induced liver injury, documented in rat metabolomic and proteomic studies as well as in clinical reports. Dioscorea nipponica contains no diosbulbins; its chemistry is steroidal saponin, not diterpene lactone. A liver injury attributable to one must not be attributed to the other, and a substitution in either direction changes the risk profile completely.
Clinical note: Verify the binomial on the label, not just the genus or a pinyin name. If a patient on a Dioscorea preparation develops raised transaminases, establish which species was supplied before attributing causality.
Antihypertensive and antianginal drugs
The clinical cardiovascular evidence in this area belongs to Di'ao Xinxuekang, a Dioscorea steroidal saponin capsule used for angina, on which meta-analyses of randomised trials exist. That product's declared botanical source is not this drug alone: published descriptions variously give Dioscorea panthaica, Dioscorea nipponica or both, and some accounts add Dioscorea zingiberensis. It is a purified saponin extract, not the crude rhizome. The evidence is therefore suggestive for the saponin class and not transferable in full to Chuan Shan Long decoction, but the same saponins are present and additive effects with nitrates, calcium channel blockers and beta-blockers cannot be excluded.
Clinical note: Do not present the Di'ao Xinxuekang trials to patients as evidence for Chuan Shan Long. In patients on antianginal therapy, monitor blood pressure and symptoms early in treatment and do not let herbal use displace prescribed antianginal drugs.
Methotrexate, biologic DMARDs and other immunosuppressants
The drug's saponin fraction is immunomodulatory rather than merely anti-inflammatory in animal arthritis models: dioscin from this species suppressed the Th17 cell response in collagen-induced arthritis, suppressed the TL1A and DR3 axis and Th9 cells in the same model, inhibited synovial angiogenesis, and the total saponin fraction inhibited the NALP3 inflammasome in gouty arthritis. A systematic review of its use across autoimmune disease describes the same multi-target immune mechanisms. Patients taking this drug are frequently the same patients on disease-modifying therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, so the exposures overlap in practice, but no human interaction study exists.
Clinical note: Do not stop or reduce prescribed DMARD therapy on the strength of herbal treatment. If both are used, keep the usual DMARD monitoring schedule of full blood count and liver function rather than relaxing it.
Warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs
Dioscin inhibits platelet activation and thrombus formation by raising cyclic nucleotide levels in platelets. That work used dioscin from Smilax china rather than from this species, but it is the same molecule, and dioscin is the principal saponin of Chuan Shan Long. The traditional indication of invigorating the Blood and unblocking the collaterals sits alongside this pharmacology rather than contradicting it.
Clinical note: In anticoagulated or dual-antiplatelet patients, ask about bruising and bleeding at each visit and consider stopping the herb seven days before elective surgery.
Drugs that cause haemolysis, and any parenteral saponin preparation
Spirostanol saponins including dioscin are surface-active molecules that complex membrane cholesterol and lyse erythrocytes in vitro, which is the standard haemolytic behaviour of the saponin class. Two things bound the clinical relevance for the oral drug. First, dioscin has very low oral bioavailability and is hydrolysed by intestinal flora to diosgenin, so the intact saponin does not reach the circulation in lytic concentrations from a decoction. Second, the haemolysis reported for this class is an in vitro and parenteral phenomenon. Historic injectable preparations of Dioscorea nipponica saponins are the setting where it would matter, and no controlled human haemolysis data for the oral drug were found.
Clinical note: Treat as a reason to avoid any injectable saponin preparation and to avoid concentrated extracts in patients with existing haemolytic anaemia or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. It is not a reason to withhold ordinary decoction doses. Gastrointestinal irritation, which is the same surfactant property acting locally, is the effect actually seen and is a reason to give the drug after food.
Hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives
This entry exists to correct a widespread claim rather than to record a real interaction. Diosgenin from Dioscorea species is the industrial precursor from which progesterone and corticosteroids are semisynthesised, and this is routinely misread as meaning that the herb yields hormones in the body. Human metabolism does not perform that conversion, and diosgenin taken orally does not raise progesterone. Some in vitro oestrogen-receptor activity has been reported for Dioscorea constituents, which is why the interaction is recorded as theoretical rather than dismissed outright.
Clinical note: Do not offer or accept this drug as a source of natural progesterone or as an alternative to hormone therapy. In hormone-sensitive cancer, the honest position is that the data are insufficient rather than reassuring.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 9–15 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 monograph 【穿山龙】【用法与用量】9～15g；也可制成酒剂用。 【注意】粉碎加工时，注意防护，以免发生过敏反应。 【性味与归经】甘、苦，温。归肝、肾、肺经。 — Matched to ChP by romanised drug name (pinyin 'Chuan Shan Long' → 穿山龙); the romanisation is unique across all 649 ChP monographs, and the match was cross-checked against this record's own TCM temperature. Quoted verbatim. |
Evidence Tier
Strong evidence · 7 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
2
1 verified · 1 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
5
3 verified · 2 unverified
Show 5 studies
- Anti-inflammatory Effect of Total Saponin Fraction from Dioscorea nipponica Makino on Gouty Arthritis and Its Influence on NALP3 Inflammasome
- Dioscin, a Steroidal Saponin Isolated from Dioscorea nipponica, Attenuates Collagen-Induced Arthritis by Inhibiting Th17 Cell Response
- Effects of dioscin from Dioscorea nipponica on TL1A/DR3 and Th9 cells in a collagen-induced arthritis mouse model
- Trillin, a steroidal saponin isolated from the rhizomes of Dioscorea nipponica, exerts protective effects against hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress
- Isolation and identification of active ingredients and biological activity of Dioscorea nipponica Makino
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
Dioscorea nipponica Makino: Unraveling multi-target mechanisms and clinical potential in autoimmune disease therapy
Systematic review of the species in autoimmune disease, drawing together the steroidal saponin chemistry with its reported effects on T helper cell subsets, inflammasome activation and inflammatory signalling. The clinical potential described is prospective; the underlying evidence base remains preclinical.
Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials on the Efficacy of Di’ao Xinxuekang Capsule and Isosorbide Dinitrate in Treating Angina Pectoris
Meta-analysis of randomised trials comparing a Dioscorea steroidal saponin capsule with isosorbide dinitrate in angina pectoris, reporting comparable or better symptom and electrocardiographic response for the herbal product. Important caveat for this record: the product is a purified saponin extract whose declared source is given in the literature variously as Dioscorea panthaica, Dioscorea nipponica or both, so it is not direct evidence for the Chuan Shan Long rhizome as dispensed, and the review also notes the methodological weakness of the included Chinese trials.
Anti-inflammatory Effect of Total Saponin Fraction from Dioscorea nipponica Makino on Gouty Arthritis and Its Influence on NALP3 Inflammasome
The total saponin fraction of this species reduced joint swelling and inflammatory markers in a rat model of gouty arthritis and suppressed NALP3 inflammasome activation. Uses the correct species and the whole saponin fraction rather than an isolated compound, which makes it the closest animal evidence to the crude drug.
Dioscin, a Steroidal Saponin Isolated from Dioscorea nipponica, Attenuates Collagen-Induced Arthritis by Inhibiting Th17 Cell Response
Dioscin isolated from this species reduced arthritis severity in the collagen-induced arthritis mouse model and suppressed the Th17 cell response, with reduced interleukin-17 production. Animal evidence for the immunomodulatory mechanism attributed to the drug in rheumatoid arthritis.
Effects of dioscin from Dioscorea nipponica on TL1A/DR3 and Th9 cells in a collagen-induced arthritis mouse model
Dioscin from this species suppressed the TL1A and DR3 signalling axis and Th9 cell differentiation in collagen-induced arthritis, extending the immunological mechanism beyond the Th17 pathway. Animal model only.
Trillin, a steroidal saponin isolated from the rhizomes of Dioscorea nipponica, exerts protective effects against hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress
Trillin, isolated specifically from the rhizome of this species, lowered serum lipids and reduced oxidative stress markers in hyperlipidaemic rats. Supports a lipid-lowering property for the saponin fraction, in an animal model at doses not comparable to clinical decoction.
Isolation and identification of active ingredients and biological activity of Dioscorea nipponica Makino
Isolated and structurally characterised constituents from the rhizome of this species and tested their activity in cell-based assays. Useful as a species-specific chemical inventory rather than as therapeutic evidence.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Liver conditions
- Allergy risk
Contraindications
When it is processed to crush to pieces, pay attention to protect in order to avoid anaphylactic response.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 117–121.
Historical Texts
Dongbei Yao Zhi Zhi (Records of Medicinal Plants of Northeast China)
Modern, 20th centuryPharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, monograph Chuan Shan Long (Rhizoma Dioscoreae Nipponicae)
Modern, 2020 editionModern clinical usage in Chinese rheumatology
Modern, from the mid-20th centuryReferences
- Ou-yang, Si-hong; Jiang, Tao; Zhu, Lin; Yi, Tao. Dioscorea nipponica Makino: a systematic review on its ethnobotany, phytochemical and pharmacological profiles . Chemistry Central Journal (2018) [DOI]
- Yuan, Li; Sun, Yang-En; Liang, Ya-Peng; Yao, Da-Hong; Guo, Ya-Ping; Song, Xun; He, Zhen-Dan; Zhao, Bing. Advances in Research on Dioscorea nipponica Makino: Chemical Constituents, Biological Activities and Developmental Prospects . Molecules (2026) [DOI]
- Wu, Chenguang; Zhang, Rui; Wang, Jingjing; Chen, Yao; Zhu, Wenhui; Yi, Xiang; Wang, Yan; Wang, Lifan; Liu, Peng; Li, Ping. Dioscorea nipponica Makino: A comprehensive review of its chemical composition and pharmacology on chronic kidney disease . Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (2023) [DOI]
- Meng, Qiong-lin; Chi, Jun; Li, Yi-xiao; Zhang, Wei-jin; Zhang, Ling-xia; Wang, Zhi-min; Dai, Li-ping. Diarylheptanoid glycosides from Dioscorea nipponica rhizomes . Fitoterapia (2024) [DOI]
- Tan, Rong; Hu, Zixia; Zhou, Mengyue; Liu, Ying; Wang, Yang; Zou, Ying; Li, Kunna; Zhang, Shiyu; Pan, Jie; Peng, Ying; Li, Weiwei; Zheng, Jiang. Diosbulbin B: An important component responsible for hepatotoxicity and protein covalent binding induced by Dioscorea bulbifera L. . Phytomedicine (2022) [DOI]
- Li, Jie; Feng, Senling; Du, Zhenya; Wu, Zhuzhu; Mo, Wei; Chen, Xiaoming; Wu, Jiancong; Lin, Yanming; Cheng, Chunsong; Sui, Xinbing; Wu, Qibiao. Research Progress on the Biological Activities and Clinical Applications of Pseudoprotodioscin . Current Issues in Molecular Biology (2025) [DOI]
- Lee, Ga Hee; Lee, Jin Pyo; Heo, Na Yoon; Lee, Chang-Dae; Kim, Gyeongchan; Wahab, Akram Abdul; Rhee, Man Hee; Lee, Sanghyun; Lee, Dong-Ha. Dioscin from smilax china rhizomes inhibits platelet activation and thrombus formation via up-regulating cyclic nucleotides . Scientific Reports (2025) [DOI]
- Wang, Ran; Xue, Zhigang; Li, Zixing; Cao, Huan; Wang, Jiayu; He, Runze; Gao, Haoyuan; Gao, Runmei. Mild Drought Promotes Biomass Accumulation and Increases Diosgenin Content in Rhizomes of Dioscorea nipponica . Plants (2025) [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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