Chui pen cao
StarSedum sarmentosum Bunge
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat and Drains Dampness; Clears Damp-Heat and Resolves Jaundice; Clears Heat and Resolves Toxicity; Disperses Swelling and Dissipates Abscesses; Counteracts Snake and Insect Venom
Traditional Chinese Uses
Chui Pen Cao (sedum herb, orpine herb) is a cool herb used in Chinese medicine to clear Heat toxin, reduce swelling, and cool the Blood. It is applied for carbuncles, boils, burns, and snakebites from Heat toxin accumulation, as well as for febrile illness with heat in the Blood level. Topically it is a folk remedy for burns and skin lesions. As a succulent herb used in both internal and external preparations, it represents the range of cooling and detoxifying herbs found in southern Chinese folk medicine.
Botanical Description
Sedum sarmentosum, stringy or creeping stonecrop, is a low, mat-forming perennial succulent herb of the family Crassulaceae, native to eastern China, Korea, and Japan and widely naturalized in temperate gardens and disturbed sites elsewhere, including parts of North America. It produces slender, prostrate, fleshy stems that creep along the ground and root readily at the nodes, sending up short ascending flowering shoots only 5 to 15 cm tall. The leaves are sessile and arranged in whorls of three, narrowly oblanceolate to spatulate, succulent, bright green, and 1 to 2.5 cm long. Loose terminal cymes of small, bright yellow, five-petalled star-shaped flowers appear in early summer; fruit follicles contain numerous minute seeds. The entire fresh or dried aerial herb is used.
Active Constituents
Sarmentosin
Cyanogenic glycoside (nitrile glucoside)Concentration: Major water-soluble constituent of the aerial parts
A characteristic marker compound of Sedum sarmentosum regarded as one of its principal hepatoprotective actives. Sarmentosin has shown protective activity against D-galactosamine-induced cytotoxicity in cultured hepatocytes and is used as a quality-control marker for the herb.
Quercetin
FlavonolConcentration: Present in the flavonoid fraction
A widely distributed antioxidant flavonol that scavenges free radicals, inhibits lipid peroxidation and modulates inflammatory signalling; contributes to the herb's reported antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
Isorhamnetin
Flavonol (methylated)Concentration: Constituent of the flavonoid fraction
Identified by network-pharmacology screening as an active ingredient of the herb (favourable oral bioavailability and drug-likeness); exerts antioxidant and cytoprotective activity relevant to liver protection.
Luteolin
FlavoneConcentration: Constituent of the flavonoid fraction
An anti-inflammatory and antioxidant flavone that suppresses NF-κB-driven cytokine production; part of the flavanone/flavone group linked to the herb's anti-fibrotic and hepatoprotective activity.
δ-Amyrone (delta-amyrone)
TriterpenoidConcentration: Isolated major triterpene of the extract
Characterised as an effective hepatoprotective constituent that promotes Nrf2-mediated antioxidant defence and suppresses the NF-κB inflammatory response in models of liver injury.
β-Sitosterol
PhytosterolConcentration: Minor lipophilic constituent
A plant sterol with anti-inflammatory and membrane-stabilising properties; identified among the herb's bioactive constituents contributing to overall antioxidant activity.
Megastigmane glycosides
Norisoprenoid glycosidesConcentration: Water-soluble minor constituents
Together with sarmentosin, these water-soluble glycosides show hepatoprotective effects against D-galactosamine-induced cytotoxicity in primary hepatocytes.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6-15g | Daily | — | — | — |
Preparation Methods
Decoction (Tang)
Parts: Whole aerial parts (fresh or dried herb)
Typically decocted at 15–30 g of dried herb (larger doses of 250 g fresh herb are used traditionally) in water; the strained liquid is taken for damp-heat jaundice and hepatitis. Being a cool, heat-clearing herb it is best used fresh when available.
Fresh herb juice / poultice (topical)
Parts: Fresh whole herb
The crushed fresh herb or its expressed juice is applied externally to swellings, abscesses, burns and snake or insect bites to clear heat, resolve toxicity and reduce swelling.
Clinical Studies
Hepatoprotective effects of Sedum sarmentosum on D-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide-induced murine fulminant hepatic failure
In a D-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide model of fulminant hepatic failure, Sedum sarmentosum extract reduced serum ALT/AST and pro-inflammatory mediators and improved survival and hepatic histology, supporting a hepatoprotective mechanism through suppression of inflammatory signalling.
The hepatoprotective effects of Sedum sarmentosum extract and its isolated major constituent through Nrf2 activation and NF-κB inhibition
Bioactivity-guided fractionation identified δ-amyrone as the effective hepatoprotective constituent. The extract and δ-amyrone protected against experimental liver injury by activating the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway and inhibiting NF-κB-mediated inflammation.
Flavanones from Sedum sarmentosum Bunge Alleviate CCl4-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Rats by Targeting TGF-β1/TβR/Smad Pathway In Turn Inhibiting Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition
Total flavanones from the herb attenuated carbon-tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in rats by down-regulating the TGF-β1/TβR/Smad signalling axis and inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition, reducing collagen deposition and improving liver function.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, 1578Modern Chinese Pharmacopoeia and clinical materia medica
20th–21st centuryReferences
- Bensky D, Clavey S, Stöger E. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd edition . Eastland Press, Seattle (2004) [DOI]
- Wang GW, Zhang XL, Wu QH, et al.. The hepatoprotective effects of Sedum sarmentosum extract and its isolated major constituent through Nrf2 activation and NF-κB inhibition . Phytomedicine 53:263-273 (2019) [DOI]
- Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology review. Traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological effects of Sedum sarmentosum: a review . Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 78(2):rgaf107 (2026) [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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