Corydalis turtschaninovii
StarCorydalis turtschaninovii
Synonyms: Capnoides turtschaninovii, Pistolochia turtschaninovii
Safety at a glance
No rule in our tables for this herb: pregnancy, breastfeeding, incompatible pairs (十八反 / 十九畏), herb–drug, dose ceiling. This is not a safety clearance.
Not graded — No toxicity grade is recorded. Most herbs in the catalogue carry none.
Traditionally used for
- Digestion
- Menstrual & women's health
- Sleep
- Pain & joints
Western Herbalism Properties
Traditional Uses
The dried tuber of Corydalis turtschaninovii is a recognised botanical source of the East Asian medicinal drug Corydalis Rhizoma (in Chinese tradition the "Yan Hu Suo" group, and in Korea "Hyeonhosaek"). It is a famous analgesic used to invigorate the blood, move qi and relieve pain, including chest, abdominal and menstrual pain, and is also used in Korean folk medicine for pain and as a sedative. Its analgesic activity is attributed to the alkaloid tetrahydropalmatine and related isoquinoline alkaloids (TCM and Korean materia medica; peer-reviewed pharmacology of tetrahydropalmatine).
Botanical Description
Corydalis turtschaninovii is a small perennial herb of the Papaveraceae (Fumarioideae) native to northeastern Asia, including Korea, northeastern China, the Russian Far East and Japan. It grows 10-20 cm tall from a small, rounded underground tuber. The somewhat glaucous, blue-green leaves are once or twice divided into wedge-shaped, lobed segments. The flowers are borne in a short terminal raceme; each is two-lipped and prolonged backward into a curved nectar spur, blue to purplish-blue (occasionally paler), 2-2.5 cm long including the spur. The fruit is a slender capsule that splits to release small shining black seeds bearing a fleshy appendage. A spring ephemeral of deciduous woodland, forest margins, thickets and grassy slopes, it flowers early in the season and dies back to the tuber by summer. The tuber is rich in isoquinoline alkaloids.
Active Constituents
Dehydrocorydaline
Quaternary protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: One of the principal quaternary alkaloids of the tuber; content rises on vinegar processing
Dehydrocorydaline is one of three alkaloids whose content correlates positively with the analgesic effect of raw and vinegar-processed tuber in mice. It also has direct antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes through a multi-target mechanism.
Tetrahydropalmatine
Tetrahydroprotoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Major tertiary alkaloid; one of nine alkaloids quantified in crude and vinegar-processed tuber
The levorotatory enantiomer is a mixed dopamine D1/D2 receptor antagonist; in a mouse neuropathic pain model both its analgesic and its hypnotic effects were shown to be mediated by D1 and D2 receptors. Its content correlates positively with the analgesic activity of the tuber, and it is the constituent responsible for the sedative and cardiovascular toxicity seen in acute overdose of l-tetrahydropalmatine-containing products.
Corydaline
Tetrahydroprotoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Major tertiary alkaloid of the tuber
A characteristic tertiary alkaloid of the Corydalis tuber and one of the nine markers used to standardise crude and vinegar-processed material. It showed weaker neuraminidase inhibition than the quaternary alkaloids of the same rhizome.
Canadine
Tetrahydroprotoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Minor alkaloid isolated from the tuber
Of six alkaloids isolated from this species, canadine gave the strongest transactivation of MyoD in C2C12 myoblasts and increased myosin heavy chain expression during myogenesis via p38 MAP kinase and Akt. It also limited myotube protein degradation by downregulating the muscle-specific E3 ligases atrogin-1 and MuRF1.
Coptisine
Quaternary protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: One of nine alkaloids quantified in crude and processed tuber
Coptisine is one of the three alkaloids most closely correlated with the analgesic effect of the tuber in mice. As a quaternary alkaloid it also contributes to the neuraminidase-inhibitory activity of the rhizome extract.
Palmatine
Quaternary protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Isolated from a 95% ethanol extract of the rhizome
Palmatine was among the most active neuraminidase inhibitors isolated from this rhizome, acting as a reversible non-competitive inhibitor of Clostridium perfringens neuraminidase and suppressing bacterial growth.
Berberine
Quaternary protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Isolated from a 95% ethanol extract of the rhizome
Berberine showed reversible non-competitive inhibition of bacterial neuraminidase and suppressed growth of Clostridium perfringens. Seven quaternary alkaloids from this rhizome, berberine among them, inhibited the enzyme with IC50 values from 12.8 to 65.2 micromolar, more potently than the tertiary alkaloids tested alongside them.
Jatrorrhizine
Quaternary protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Minor quaternary alkaloid of the rhizome
One of the seven quaternary isoquinoline alkaloids isolated from this rhizome that inhibited Clostridium perfringens neuraminidase more strongly than the co-occurring tertiary alkaloids.
Glaucine
Aporphine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Minor tertiary alkaloid of the rhizome
An aporphine alkaloid of the rhizome; it was among the tertiary alkaloids that inhibited bacterial neuraminidase only weakly compared with the quaternary protoberberines.
Pseudodehydrocorydaline
Protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Minor alkaloid; first described from this species
A protoberberine alkaloid first isolated and structurally characterised from the tuber of this species during a screen for acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.
Oxoglaucidaline
Aporphine isoquinoline alkaloidConcentration: Minor alkaloid; first described from this species
A new aporphine alkaloid described from the tuber of this species in a study of cholinesterase-inhibitory constituents.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Sedatives and other central nervous system depressants (benzodiazepines, opioids, alcohol)
Levo-tetrahydropalmatine, a principal tertiary alkaloid of Corydalis tubers, is a mixed dopamine receptor antagonist with sedative-hypnotic action; in a mouse neuropathic pain model both its analgesic and its hypnotic effects were abolished by dopamine D1 and D2 receptor blockade. The clearest human evidence is a case series in which acute ingestion of an l-tetrahydropalmatine-containing product produced rapid, life-threatening central nervous system and cardiovascular depression in three children.
Clinical note: Warn patients of drowsiness and impaired driving. Do not combine with benzodiazepines, opioids, sedating antihistamines or alcohol without supervision, and reduce the dose in the elderly.
Antipsychotics and levodopa
The dopamine D1/D2 antagonism demonstrated for levo-tetrahydropalmatine in rodent models is pharmacologically the same action that produces extrapyramidal effects with antipsychotics and that opposes levodopa. No clinical interaction report exists for Corydalis turtschaninovii specifically, so this is inference from the receptor pharmacology of a major constituent rather than an observed event.
Clinical note: Avoid in Parkinson's disease and in patients on antipsychotics unless the prescriber is aware. Review for new rigidity, tremor or bradykinesia if it is used.
CYP3A4 substrates
Rats given a total alkaloid extract for 14 days showed increased hepatic CYP3A1 and CYP2E1 activity and mRNA, with CYP1A2 and CYP2C11 induced at the highest dose, while individual Corydalis alkaloids including tetrahydropalmatine inhibit cytochromes P450 in vitro. That work used the congener Corydalis yanhusuo, not Corydalis turtschaninovii, and no human pharmacokinetic interaction study exists for either species; the direction of any clinical effect is therefore genuinely uncertain.
Clinical note: Treat as a possible perpetrator with narrow-therapeutic-index CYP3A4 substrates such as ciclosporin, tacrolimus and direct oral anticoagulants. Separate the herb from critical medication and monitor drug levels or effect where they can be measured.
Hepatotoxic drugs (paracetamol, methotrexate, isoniazid)
Prolonged use of Jin Bu Huan Anodyne Tablets, a product whose active alkaloid was levo-tetrahydropalmatine, was associated with hepatitis in three adults. The botanical origin of the alkaloid in that product was never confirmed and the package labelling was wrong, so the case series cannot be attributed to Corydalis turtschaninovii; it does however establish that chronic exposure to a major alkaloid of this tuber has been followed by liver injury in humans.
Clinical note: Check baseline liver enzymes before prolonged courses and recheck if the herb is continued beyond a few weeks, particularly alongside other hepatotoxic drugs. Stop the herb and test promptly if jaundice, dark urine, nausea or right upper quadrant pain develop.
Corydalis yanhusuo (Yan Hu Suo) supplied as substituted or interchangeable Corydalis Tuber
Corydalis turtschaninovii and the closely allied Corydalis ternata are the official source of Corydalis Tuber in Korea, while the Chinese Pharmacopoeia drug Yan Hu Suo is Corydalis yanhusuo; tubers of the Chinese species are imported into Korean markets and sold under the same drug name despite differing in chemical composition and biological activity, which is why molecular methods have been developed to tell Corydalis tubers apart. Alkaloid content of commercial Corydalis yanhusuo supplements has separately been shown to vary widely between products.
Clinical note: Require species-level identification, not just the drug name Corydalis Tuber, on the certificate of analysis. Do not assume dosing or alkaloid content carries across from Corydalis yanhusuo data.
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Corydalis turtschaninovii. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
6 studies on recordRecorded 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
6
0 verified · 6 unverified
Show 6 studies
- Cholinesterase inhibitory and anti-amnesic activity of alkaloids from Corydalis turtschaninovii
- A biochemometrics strategy combining quantitative determination, bioactivity evaluation and relationship analysis for identification of analgesic alkaloids of raw and vinegar-processed Corydalis turtschaninovii
- Neuraminidase inhibitory activities of quaternary isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis turtschaninovii rhizome
- Canadine from Corydalis turtschaninovii Stimulates Myoblast Differentiation and Protects against Myotube Atrophy
- Antibacterial Activity and Multi-Targeting Mechanism of Dehydrocorydaline From Corydalis turtschaninovii Bess. Against Listeria monocytogenes
- Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase by Corydalis turtschaninovii on interferon-γ stimulated macrophages
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
Cholinesterase inhibitory and anti-amnesic activity of alkaloids from Corydalis turtschaninovii
A 70% ethanol extract of the tuber inhibited acetylcholinesterase, and sixteen alkaloids were isolated including two new ones. In mice with scopolamine-induced memory impairment, pseudoberberine at 5 mg/kg orally reversed deficits in the passive avoidance test and shortened escape latency in the water maze. This is a rodent behavioural and in vitro enzyme study, not a trial in people.
A biochemometrics strategy combining quantitative determination, bioactivity evaluation and relationship analysis for identification of analgesic alkaloids of raw and vinegar-processed Corydalis turtschaninovii
Nine alkaloids were quantified across ten batches of raw and vinegar-processed tuber, and the analgesic effect of each batch was measured in mice. Multivariate analysis linked tetrahydropalmatine, coptisine and dehydrocorydaline most closely to analgesic activity. The study describes the processed drug as well as the raw one, and the analgesia was measured in rodents.
Neuraminidase inhibitory activities of quaternary isoquinoline alkaloids from Corydalis turtschaninovii rhizome
A 95% ethanol extract of the rhizome inhibited Clostridium perfringens neuraminidase by 68% at 30 micrograms per millilitre, and ten isoquinoline alkaloids were isolated. Seven quaternary alkaloids inhibited the enzyme with IC50 values of 12.8 to 65.2 micromolar, more potently than the three tertiary alkaloids; palmatine and berberine were reversible non-competitive inhibitors and suppressed bacterial growth. Enzyme and bacterial culture work only.
Canadine from Corydalis turtschaninovii Stimulates Myoblast Differentiation and Protects against Myotube Atrophy
Six alkaloids were isolated from the plant and screened in C2C12 muscle cells. Canadine most strongly transactivated MyoD, raised myosin heavy chain expression and increased formation of multinucleated myotubes via p38 MAP kinase and Akt, and it reduced protein degradation caused by colon carcinoma conditioned medium by downregulating atrogin-1 and MuRF1. Cell culture only, with no animal or human confirmation.
Antibacterial Activity and Multi-Targeting Mechanism of Dehydrocorydaline From Corydalis turtschaninovii Bess. Against Listeria monocytogenes
Dehydrocorydaline isolated from this species was shown to inhibit Listeria monocytogenes and the authors mapped a multi-target antibacterial mechanism. This is a food-microbiology study in bacterial culture and says nothing about infection in people.
Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase by Corydalis turtschaninovii on interferon-γ stimulated macrophages
The extract modulated inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in interferon-gamma stimulated macrophages, giving a cellular basis for the traditional anti-inflammatory use of the tuber. Macrophage culture work only.
Historical Texts
Leigong Paozhi Lun (Master Lei's Treatise on Preparing Drugs)
Northern and Southern Dynasties, c. 588 CEBen Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, compiled 1578, published 1596Dongui Bogam (Precious Mirror of Eastern Medicine), Heo Jun
Joseon Korea, 1613Chinese Pharmacopoeia processing standard for vinegar-processed Corydalis
Modern standard, 2020 editionReferences
- Chung KF; Chen PY. Correct authorship of Corydalis yanhusuo (Papaveraceae) . Phytotaxa (2026) [DOI]
- Lee KJ; Suh Y. Molecular Application to Identify Corydalis Tubers . Planta Medica (2012) [DOI]
- Luis PB; Schneider C. Large variability in the alkaloid content of Corydalis yanhusuo dietary supplements . Frontiers in Pharmacology (2025) [DOI]
- Yan J; He X; Feng S; Zhai Y; Ma Y; Liang S; Jin C. Up-regulation on cytochromes P450 in rat mediated by total alkaloid extract from Corydalis yanhusuo . BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2014) [DOI]
- Horowitz RS; Feldhaus K; Dart RC; Stermitz FR; Beck JJ. The Clinical Spectrum of Jin Bu Huan Toxicity . Archives of Internal Medicine (1996) [DOI]
- Liu YY; Wang TX; Zhou JC; Qu WM; Huang ZL. Dopamine D1 and D2 receptors mediate analgesic and hypnotic effects of l-tetrahydropalmatine in a mouse neuropathic pain model . Psychopharmacology (2019) [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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