Da Luo San
StarArdisia crenata Sims
Also known as: Ta Lo San · Wade–Giles
Safety at a glance
- Caution · 4 recorded drug interactions, 2 major or contraindicated
- Note · Contraindications or side effects are listed
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
- Nose & throat
- Cough & breathing
- Digestion
- Pain & joints
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Heat, removes toxins , invigorates the Blood and stops pain
Traditional Chinese Uses
Da Luo San (also Da Lo San), botanically Ardisia crenata Sims (Radix Ardisiae Crenatae), is a southern-Chinese and ethnic-minority medicinal, its root more widely known as Zhu Sha Gen or Bai Liang Jin. Bitter and pungent in flavour and cool in nature, entering the Lung and Liver channels, it clears Heat and resolves toxicity, invigorates the Blood and disperses Stasis, dispels Wind-Damp, and stops pain.
Its best-known use is for Heat-toxin conditions of the throat, being taken for sore, swollen throat, tonsillitis and diphtheria; it is also applied to lymphadenitis, erysipelas and toxic swellings. Through its Blood-moving action it treats traumatic injury, heart and epigastric pain, and Wind-Damp painful obstruction (bi) with rheumatic bone pain. The root is decocted (about 3-9 g), powdered, or steeped in wine. Preparations are used with care, as the plant contains bioactive saponins.
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Botanical Description
Da Lo San (also rendered Da Luo San) is a Pinyin entry that cannot be matched with confidence to a single accepted Linnaean species in standard modern Chinese materia medica references including Bensky & Gamble, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, or major surveys of TCM drugs. The name may represent a regional folk medicine, a transliteration variant, or a minor ethnobotanical entry. Without a verified botanical or zoological identity, no morphological description can be responsibly provided, and all substantive fields are left null. This entry is flagged for further research and possible removal or correction once a reliable identification source is located.
Active Constituents
Ardisiacrispin A
13,28-epoxy-bridged oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinConcentration: root saponin content quantified as ardisiacrispin A was 22.17 +/- 4.75 mg/g in the red-berried variety and 25.72 +/- 1.46 mg/g in the white-berried variety
One of the two saponins originally isolated from Ardisia as utero-contracting principles. Root extracts of both A. crenata varieties are cytotoxic in vitro, with the strongest activity against melanoma WM793 and colon Caco2 cells.
Saponins of this class are membrane-active, which is the basis of both their cytotoxicity and their haemolytic potential.
Ardisiacrispin B
Triterpenoid saponinConcentration: reported as one of the main components of Ardisiae Crenatae Radix extract, at levels up to about 16% of the extract
The dominant saponin of the medicinal root. It is anti-inflammatory in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, suppressing nitric oxide, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta release, and attenuates colitis-associated cancer in mice via IL-6/JAK2/STAT3, TLR4/NF-kB and MAPK pathways. Twenty-six in vivo metabolites have been characterised in rat.
It belongs to the same utero-contracting saponin series as ardisiacrispin A, which is the basis of the pregnancy contraindication.
Ardicrenin
Triterpenoid saponinMarkedly cytotoxic: IC50 values of 1.17 micromol/L against A549, 1.19 against MCF-7, 3.52 against HepG2 and 16.61 against MDA-MB-231 cells. Potency at low micromolar concentration in normal-tissue-adjacent assays is a reason to treat the whole-root saponin fraction as a cytotoxic rather than a gentle preparation.
Bergenin
C-glycosidic isocoumarinUsed as the quality marker and main non-saponin active of the root in Chinese quality-control work; it is also present in the stems and leaves, which is the basis of current work on substituting aerial parts for the increasingly scarce root.
11-beta-D-Glucopyranosyl-bergenin
C-glycosidic isocoumarin glycosideOne of four bergenin variants identified in the root by HPLC fingerprinting, and the constituent with the strongest antibacterial activity found in that work, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.26 mg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus.
FR900359
Cyclic depsipeptideIsolated from A. crenata in 1988 and produced in the leaves by the bacterial endophyte Candidatus Burkholderia crenata rather than by the plant itself. It is the most potent and selective inhibitor of heterotrimeric Gq/11/14 proteins known, acting at nanomolar concentration and essentially irreversibly.
Gq blockade removes the signalling that drives receptor-mediated vasoconstriction and a large part of platelet activation. FR900359 produces strong vasorelaxation in mouse, pig and human pulmonary arteries ex vivo and lowers right ventricular systolic pressure in vivo. This is a serious cardiovascular pharmacology sitting inside an ostensibly ordinary throat remedy.
Quercetin and kaempferol
FlavonolPhenolic constituents of the genus contributing antioxidant activity; minor relative to the saponin and bergenin fractions.
Spinasterol and beta-sitosterol-beta-D-glucoside
PhytosterolSterol constituents identified in early phytochemical work on the roots, alongside norbergenin, 11-O-syringylbergenin and a series of fatty acids.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Antihypertensives, nitrates, calcium channel blockers and PDE5 inhibitors
A. crenata is the plant source of FR900359, a selective and essentially irreversible Gq protein inhibitor. Gq is the transducer for the receptor signalling that maintains vascular tone, so its blockade abolishes vasoconstriction rather than merely opposing it. FR900359 produced strong vasorelaxation in large and small pulmonary arteries from mouse, pig and human ex vivo, at least as potent as current triple therapy for pulmonary hypertension, and in vivo it prevented and reversed experimental pulmonary hypertension in mice.
Two honest caveats. First, this pharmacology has been demonstrated for the purified compound, not for a decoction of the medicinal root. Second, FR900359 is concentrated in the leaves, whereas the Pharmacopoeia drug is the root, and it has not been quantified there. The hazard is therefore greatest for whole-plant or leaf-containing material and for the aerial-part substitutes now being promoted for the root.
Clinical note: Do not combine with vasodilator therapy without blood pressure monitoring, and avoid whole-plant or leaf-containing preparations altogether in patients on antihypertensives or nitrates. Investigate unexplained hypotension or syncope in a patient taking this herb.
Anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs
Thrombin-induced platelet activation, measured as P-selectin expression and calcium response in primary human platelets, is suppressed by FR900359, confirming that this arm of platelet activation is Gq-dependent. A Gq inhibitor present in the plant is therefore expected to be functionally antiplatelet.
Separately, the triterpenoid saponins that dominate the root are membrane-active and haemolytic in the way of saponins generally.
Clinical note: Avoid in patients on dual antiplatelet therapy or with a bleeding disorder; stop before surgery.
Use in pregnancy, and co-use with uterotonics (oxytocin, misoprostol, ergometrine)
Ardisiacrispins A and B were first characterised as utero-contracting saponins of Ardisia, and ardisiacrispin B is a principal constituent of Ardisiae Crenatae Radix, present at up to about 16% of the extract. The traditional record supports the same reading: A. crenata root is used in Chinese and Zhuang folk practice for amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea and fertility regulation, which is the ethnobotanical signature of a uterine stimulant.
Clinical note: Contraindicated in pregnancy at any stage. Do not combine with pharmacological uterotonics.
Ardisia crispa, Ardisia crenata var. bicolor and Ardisia japonica (Ai Di Cha)
The trade drug Ardisiae Crispae Radix et Rhizoma is formally sourced from three plants at once: Ardisia crenata Sims, Ardisia crispa (Thunb.) A. DC. and Ardisia crenata Sims var. bicolor. Roughly 161 compounds have been catalogued across that material, and the review literature explicitly notes that further systematic evaluation of efficacy and clinical safety is still required.
Severe overharvesting of wild A. crenata is now driving deliberate substitution with A. crispa and with the stems and leaves rather than the roots of A. crenata itself. Since FR900359 is a leaf constituent, moving from root to aerial parts is not a neutral change. Ardisia japonica (Ai Di Cha) is a further, quite separate drug of the same genus.
Clinical note: Ask suppliers which species and which plant part were supplied. Root and aerial-part material should not be treated as interchangeable regardless of what the bergenin assay shows.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 3–9 g | Daily | — | — | Standard oral dose per Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 73–79. Exact wording: Normally, 3–9 g is decocted with water as an oral |
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Da Luo San. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
5 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
5
0 verified · 5 unverified
Show 5 studies
- Comparative Quantitative Study of Ardisiacrispin A in Extracts from Ardisia crenata Sims Varieties and Their Cytotoxic Activities
- Triterpenoid saponins and phenylpropanoid glycoside from the roots of Ardisia crenata and their cytotoxic activities
- Pro-apoptotic and microtubule-disassembly effects of ardisiacrispin (A+B), triterpenoid saponins from Ardisia crenata on human hepatoma Bel-7402 cells
- Discovery of Potential Anti-Microbial Molecules and Spectrum Correlation Effect of Ardisia crenata Sims via High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Fingerprints and Molecular Docking
- Pharmacological Gq inhibition induces strong pulmonary vasorelaxation and reverses pulmonary hypertension
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
Comparative Quantitative Study of Ardisiacrispin A in Extracts from Ardisia crenata Sims Varieties and Their Cytotoxic Activities
Saponin content, quantified as ardisiacrispin A, was 22.17 +/- 4.75 mg/g in roots of the red-berried variety and 25.72 +/- 1.46 mg/g in the white-berried variety. Root extracts from both varieties were comparably cytotoxic, with the strongest activity against melanoma WM793 and colon Caco2 cells.
The paper's own conclusion is that white-berried material could serve as an alternative saponin source; for a practitioner the useful number is the absolute saponin load of the root, which is high.
Triterpenoid saponins and phenylpropanoid glycoside from the roots of Ardisia crenata and their cytotoxic activities
Two new triterpenoid saponins and one new phenylpropanoid glycoside were isolated from A. crenata roots and six compounds assayed by MTT. Ardicrenin was strongly cytotoxic, with IC50 values of 1.17 +/- 0.01, 1.19 +/- 0.06, 3.52 +/- 0.23 and 16.61 +/- 1.02 micromol/L against A549, MCF-7, HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 cells respectively.
Pro-apoptotic and microtubule-disassembly effects of ardisiacrispin (A+B), triterpenoid saponins from Ardisia crenata on human hepatoma Bel-7402 cells
The combined ardisiacrispin A and B fraction from A. crenata induced apoptosis in human hepatoma Bel-7402 cells and disassembled microtubules.
Microtubule disruption is a general cytotoxic mechanism rather than a selective anticancer one, which is a further reason to regard the saponin fraction of this root as an actively cytotoxic material.
Discovery of Potential Anti-Microbial Molecules and Spectrum Correlation Effect of Ardisia crenata Sims via High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Fingerprints and Molecular Docking
A. crenata Sims is recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for laryngeal disease and upper respiratory tract infection, and this study tested that indication mechanistically. Root extracts inhibited Candida albicans and Aspergillus flavus at MICs of 1.56 and 0.39 mg/mL. Among four bergenin variants identified by HPLC fingerprinting, 11-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-bergenin was the most active antibacterial, with an MIC of 0.26 mg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus.
The concentrations are in the milligram-per-millilitre range, that is, weak in absolute terms; this supports a topical or throat-contact rationale rather than a systemic antimicrobial one.
Pharmacological Gq inhibition induces strong pulmonary vasorelaxation and reverses pulmonary hypertension
FR900359, the Gq inhibitor isolated from Ardisia crenata, produced strong vasorelaxation in large and small pulmonary arteries from mouse, pig and human tissue ex vivo, at least as potent as current triple therapy. Local pulmonary application prevented the rise in right ventricular systolic pressure in healthy mice and in mice with hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension, and chronic application both prevented and reversed Sugen-hypoxia pulmonary hypertension.
This study is on the purified compound, not on the herb, and is included here because it establishes how consequential the plant's Gq-inhibitory constituent is in vivo. It is the evidence behind treating leaf-containing A. crenata material as a cardiovascular liability rather than an inert throat remedy.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
Contraindications
Its use is cautious in pregnant women.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 73–79.
Historical Texts
Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Yao Dian), as Zhu Sha Gen
Modern, People's Republic of ChinaReferences
- Wu DH, Lyu CG, Zhao D, Yang CG, Liu SQ, Zhu JT, Yang YL, Guo LP, Kang CZ. Ardisia Crispae Radix et Rhizoma: A review of botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2025) [DOI]
- Mamoru Fujioka, Shigetaka Koda, Yukiyoshi Morimoto, Klaus Biemann. Structure of FR900359, a cyclic depsipeptide from Ardisia crenata sims . The Journal of Organic Chemistry (1988) [DOI]
- Chaweewan Jansakul, Herbert Baumann, Lennart Kenne, Gunnar Samuelsson. Ardisiacrispin A and B, Two Utero-Contracting Saponins from Ardisia crispa . Planta Medica (1987) [DOI]
- Zhonghua Jia, Kazuo Koike, Taichi Ohmoto, Muyun Ni. Triterpenoid saponins from Ardisia crenata . Phytochemistry (1994) [DOI]
- Zhou W, Yang G, Wen Y, Xiao Q, Sun L, Li Y, Gong Z, Wang Y. Metabolites-Based Network Pharmacology to Preliminarily Verify In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Ardisiacrispin B . International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023) [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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