Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum
StarClerodendrum cyrtophyllum
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
Western Herbalism Properties
Gallery
Botanical Description
Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum (Lamiaceae, formerly Verbenaceae), known in Chinese as dà qīng (大青) and lù bian qīng, is an evergreen shrub or small tree 1–4 m tall, native to southern China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and adjacent Southeast Asia. The branchlets are slender, sub-quadrangular, finely puberulent when young. Leaves are opposite, simple, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 6–20 cm long, entire, glabrous above and slightly pubescent on the veins beneath, with a long-acuminate apex; they turn bluish-black on drying, a feature reflected in the Chinese name dà qīng ('great blue-green'). The inflorescence is a large terminal corymbose panicle of many small white tubular five-lobed flowers with long-exserted stamens. The fruit is a small bluish-purple to black drupe seated in a persistent reddish calyx. Habitat is forest margins, thickets and roadsides at low to mid elevations.
Active Constituents
Acteoside (verbascoside)
Phenylethanoid glycosideConcentration: Major leaf constituent; 0.803 g, reported as 0.54 percent, recovered from the ethyl acetate fraction of a leaf extract
The principal antioxidant of the leaf. Isolated acteoside scavenged DPPH and ABTS radicals with IC50 values of 79.65 and 23.00 micrograms per mL and accounts for most of the total antioxidant capacity of leaf extracts. It also carried the cytoprotective effect of the leaf against tert-butyl hydroperoxide damage in cell culture.
Cirsilineol
Methoxylated flavoneConcentration: One of three major components identified by HPLC-DAD-Orbitrap-MS in the crude leaf ethanol extract
A polymethoxylated flavone identified alongside acteoside as a dominant component of the leaf ethanol extract used in the published anti-inflammatory and toxicity work. Its individual contribution to that activity has not been separated out.
Cirsilineol-4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside
Flavone glycosideConcentration: One of three major components identified by HPLC-DAD-Orbitrap-MS in the crude leaf ethanol extract
The glucoside of cirsilineol and the third of the three compounds that dominate the leaf ethanol extract. Because the same extract is the one shown to be teratogenic in zebrafish embryos, this compound class is present in the toxicological as well as the pharmacological work.
Luteolin
FlavoneConcentration: Isolated from the leaves; not quantified as a percentage of dry leaf in the source reviewed
Luteolin extracted from the leaves protected HepG2 cells from tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced oxidative stress. The same study examined its cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, so the compound has a dose above which the protective effect reverses.
C29 sterol reported from Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum
SterolConcentration: Isolated at milligram scale as a structural novelty; no assay level established
A previously undescribed C29 sterol characterised from this species. It is reported as a chemical novelty; no pharmacological activity has been attached to it, and it should not be treated as an active principle.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Da Qing Ye (Isatis tinctoria leaf)
This species is the historical Da Qing Ye. Chinese herbal textual research finds that the ancient materia medica Da Qing, including Li Shizhen's entry, refers to the plant now called Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum, and that Isatis indigotica only displaced it as the pharmacopoeial source in the modern period, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia editions from 1977 onwards codifying Isatis. A national survey found material from six families and fifteen species circulating as Da Qing Ye, this species among them. The chemistry does not carry across: Isatis leaf is defined by indigo, indirubin and epigoitrin, whereas this species is defined by acteoside and methoxylated flavones. Adulteration of the Isatis drugs remains current, with recent quality work finding widespread substitution of Daqingye and Banlangen with Strobilanthes species.
Clinical note: Do not accept this record as a source of pharmacopoeial Da Qing Ye and do not transfer Isatis dosing, antiviral evidence or safety data to it. If a prescription calls for Da Qing Ye, confirm the botanical source with the supplier; if material identified as Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum is dispensed against it, treat it as a different drug.
Drugs taken during pregnancy or by women who may conceive
The leaf ethanol extract is teratogenic to zebrafish embryos. Exposure at 80 to 200 micrograms per mL raised mortality and reduced hatching, and 20 to 40 micrograms per mL produced yolk sac and pericardial oedema, spinal deformation and shortened body length, with a teratogenic index of 3.87 at 96 hours post fertilisation and upregulation of p53, caspase-8 and bax over bcl2. No mammalian reproductive toxicity study and no human pregnancy data were located. Zebrafish teratogenicity is a screening signal, not a human risk estimate, but for a herb with no reproductive safety data it is the only relevant evidence there is.
Clinical note: Avoid in pregnancy and while trying to conceive. This is a precaution based on animal screening data and the complete absence of human reproductive safety information, not on a documented human harm.
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 5 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
5
2 verified · 3 unverified
Show 5 studies
- Developmental toxicity of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum turcz ethanol extract in zebrafish embryo
- Antioxidant activities of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz leaf extracts and their major components
- Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of the Ethanol Extract of Clerodendrum Cyrtophyllum Turcz in Copper Sulfate-Induced Inflammation in Zebrafish
- Cytoprotective effects and antioxidant activities of acteoside and various extracts of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz leaves against t-BHP induced oxidative damage
- Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Clerodendron Cyrtophyllum Turcz. Ethanolic Extracts against Staphylococcus aureus from Bovine Mastitis
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
Developmental toxicity of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum turcz ethanol extract in zebrafish embryo
Leaf ethanol extract, whose three major components were acteoside, cirsilineol and cirsilineol-4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, was tested on zebrafish embryos from 6 hours post fertilisation. Concentrations of 80 to 200 micrograms per mL increased mortality and reduced hatching; 20 and 40 micrograms per mL caused yolk sac and pericardial oedema, spinal deformation and shortened body length. The extract met both prediction models for teratogenicity, with a teratogenic index of 3.87 and an LD25 over no-observed-adverse-effect concentration ratio of 15.73 at 96 hours. This is the only substantial toxicology on the species and it is a fish embryo model, not a mammalian or human one.
Antioxidant activities of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz leaf extracts and their major components
Solvent fractions of a leaf extract were compared across DPPH, ABTS, superoxide, hydroxyl radical and ferrous chelation assays. The ethyl acetate fraction was the strongest radical scavenger and reducing agent, and twelve phenolic components were identified from it. Acteoside was the major component at 0.803 g or 0.54 percent, with DPPH and ABTS IC50 values of 79.65 and 23.00 micrograms per mL, and was concluded to be principally responsible for the antioxidant effect. Chemical assays only; no cellular, animal or human endpoint.
Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of the Ethanol Extract of Clerodendrum Cyrtophyllum Turcz in Copper Sulfate-Induced Inflammation in Zebrafish
Leaf ethanol extract had a DPPH IC50 of 16.45 micrograms per mL and, in zebrafish larvae exposed to copper sulfate, reduced oxidative fluorescence at 5 and 20 micrograms per mL, downregulated hsp70 and gadd45bb, upregulated sod, and lowered cox-2, pla2, c3a, mpo, il-8 and il-1beta expression. The paper records the Vietnamese traditional uses of the plant for migraine, hypertension, throat inflammation and rheumatic arthritis. Zebrafish larval model; the protective concentrations here overlap the teratogenic concentrations found in the embryo study by the same group.
Cytoprotective effects and antioxidant activities of acteoside and various extracts of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz leaves against t-BHP induced oxidative damage
Leaf extracts and isolated acteoside were tested against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced oxidative damage in cell culture, supporting acteoside as the compound carrying the cytoprotective activity of the leaf. Cell-culture evidence only.
Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Clerodendron Cyrtophyllum Turcz. Ethanolic Extracts against Staphylococcus aureus from Bovine Mastitis
Ethanolic extract inhibited Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine mastitis at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 250 micrograms per mL, increased bacterial membrane permeability and intracellular reactive oxygen species, and removed about half of established biofilm at twice the MIC while downregulating icaA, sarA and sigB. An MIC of 250 micrograms per mL is weak for a crude extract and this is a veterinary in vitro study; it does not support use as an antibacterial in people.
Historical Texts
Ming Yi Bie Lu (Miscellaneous Records of Famous Physicians)
Attributed to Tao Hongjing, c. 500 CEBen Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica)
Ming dynasty, 1596Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China
1977 edition onwardsVietnamese traditional medicine (bo may)
Recorded in modern Vietnamese practiceReferences
- Ma Lin, Xia Guangcheng. 植物硅酸体的研究及在青岛三千多年来古环境解释中的应用 . Chinese Science Bulletin (1989) [DOI]
- Hiu-Lam Ngai, Sau-Wan Cheng, Tin-Sum Tse, Hung Kay Lee, Pang-Chui Shaw. Quality assessment of medicinal material Daqingye and Banlangen from Isatis tinctoria Fort. reveals widespread substitution with Strobilanthes species . PLOS One (2025) [DOI]
- Peng Wang, Fujiang Guo, Junjie Tan, Cheng Huang, Guangyin Wang, Yiming Li. A novel C29 sterol from Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum . Chemistry of Natural Compounds (2012) [DOI]
- Gang Li, Jing Zhou, Mengyu Sun, Juren Cen, Jing Xu. Role of luteolin extracted from Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz leaves in protecting HepG2 cells from TBHP-induced oxidative stress and its cytotoxicity, genotoxicity . Journal of Functional Foods (2020) [DOI]
- Jing Zhou, Xiaoxue Zheng, Qi Yang, Zhenyi Liang, Donghai Li, Xiaobo Yang, Jing Xu. Optimization of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction and Radical-Scavenging Capacity of Phenols and Flavonoids from Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz Leaves . PLoS ONE (2013) [DOI]
- Xu Liu, Yusen Zhang, Ziyue Xu, Jiadong Zhu, Xinyu Zhu, Jiayi Zhao. Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Acetylcholinesterase and β-Lactamase Inhibitory Activities of Essential Oils from Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum Turcz. and Clerodendrum fortunatum L. . Records of Natural Products (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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