Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Cough & breathing
- Digestion
- Bowel health
- Urinary & fluids
- Skin
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Heat and Toxins from the Lungs and skin; Cools the Blood and stops bleeding (topically)
Traditional Chinese Uses
Dong Qing Ye (Folium Ilicis Chinensis) is the dried leaf of Ilex chinensis, the Chinese holly, a Heat-clearing, toxicity-resolving herb. Bitter, astringent and cold, entering the Lung and Heart channels, it dispels Heat and toxins from the Lungs and skin and cools the Blood to stop bleeding. Internally it treats Lung-Heat cough, sore throat, and Damp-Heat patterns such as dysentery and urinary or biliary tract infection.
It is best known for topical use: as a cooling, astringent, antimicrobial application for burns and scalds, weeping eczema, dermatitis and skin ulcers, and to stanch traumatic bleeding, where the leaf is decocted into a wash or powdered onto the lesion. Decocted internally it is typically used around 9-15 g. Being cold and draining, it is used cautiously in Spleen-Stomach deficiency-cold.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Dong Qing Ye is the dried leaf of Ilex chinensis Sims (Aquifoliaceae), the Chinese holly, an evergreen tree 8–15 m tall native to broadleaf forests of central and southern China and cultivated as an ornamental. The bark is smooth and grey; young shoots are green and angled. Leaves are alternate, leathery, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 6–11 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, with shallowly crenate-serrate margins (not the rigid spines of I. aquifolium), a glossy dark-green upper surface, paler beneath, and a short petiole. Plants are dioecious; small white to lilac, four-merous flowers cluster in axillary cymes in spring. The fruit is a globose drupe 5–7 mm across that ripens bright red in autumn and persists into winter. Leaves are collected year-round, sun-dried, and used in TCM to clear heat, resolve toxin, and treat burns, sore throat, dysentery, and respiratory infection.
Active Constituents
Pedunculoside
Ursane-type triterpenoid saponinWith rotundic acid, one of the two most abundant components across the genus Ilex, and one of the first compounds isolated from Ilex chinensis leaf in the 1993 Chinese constituent study. It is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant but orally awkward: it is stable in simulated gastric and intestinal fluid yet readily metabolised by intestinal Bifidobacterium species and converted extensively to rotundic acid, giving poor bioavailability and rapid elimination.
Rotundic acid
Ursane-type pentacyclic triterpeneThe aglycone counterpart of pedunculoside and its main in vivo metabolite. In human liver microsomes it is metabolised readily, hydroxylated almost exclusively by CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 and glucuronidated by UGT1A4.
Ilexchinenosides A to X
Ursane- and oleanane-type triterpenoid saponinsA large series of saponins described from the leaves in successive studies from 2018 to 2021. Several protected HepG2 cells against N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (paracetamol) injury in vitro, and some inhibited nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated murine macrophages, which is the laboratory correlate of the traditional heat-clearing and toxin-resolving use.
Ilexchinene
18,19-seco-ursane triterpenoidA rare seco-ring ursane triterpenoid first isolated from Ilex chinensis leaves in 2023. It reduced inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglia, suppressed NF-kappaB activation and NLRP3 inflammasome formation and blocked ERK and JNK phosphorylation, and improved behaviour and microglial overactivation in LPS-treated mice.
Ilexchinenin A and ilexchinenin B
Pentacyclic triterpeneTwo previously undescribed triterpenes reported from the leaves in 2018 alongside nine new saponins and twelve known triterpenoids.
Ursolic acid
Ursane-type pentacyclic triterpeneA widely distributed triterpene present in this leaf and one of the compounds usually credited with its anti-inflammatory activity. It is not specific to Ilex chinensis, so activity attributed to it says little about this drug in particular.
Protocatechuic acid
Phenolic acidIsolated from the leaves in the 1993 constituent study, together with caffeic acid and syringin. Simple phenolic acids of this type contribute the astringent and antibacterial character relied on in the topical use for burns and ulcerations.
Syringin
Phenylpropanoid glycosideA sinapyl alcohol glucoside isolated from Ilex chinensis leaves.
⚠ Drug Interactions
CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 inhibitors or inducers (e.g. ketoconazole, ritonavir, rifampicin, carbamazepine)
A 2024 human liver microsome and recombinant enzyme study mapped the metabolism of pedunculoside and rotundic acid, the two most abundant Ilex constituents. Pedunculoside was the more stable, hydroxylated mainly by CYP3A4/5 and partly by CYP2C8; rotundic acid was metabolised readily, hydroxylated almost exclusively by CYP3A4/5 and glucuronidated by UGT1A4. Crucially, neither compound inhibited any major CYP isoform, with IC50 values above 50 micromolar against probe substrates. The direction of the interaction therefore runs into the herb, not out of it.
Clinical note: There is no in vitro basis for expecting Dong Qing Ye to raise levels of a co-prescribed CYP substrate. A strong CYP3A inhibitor or inducer could in principle change the patient's exposure to the herb's triterpenoids; this has not been tested in vivo.
Mao Dong Qing (Ilex pubescens root) or Nü Zhen Zi (Ligustrum lucidum fruit) supplied under a shared dong qing name
Three unrelated drugs circulate under names built on dong qing. Dong Qing Ye, also called Si Ji Qing, is the leaf of Ilex chinensis and is used for lung heat, burns and ulcerations. Mao Dong Qing is the root of Ilex pubescens, a different species used for cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease. Nü Zhen Zi is the fruit of Ligustrum lucidum, an entirely different family, and its tree is also called dong qing in some regions; Li Shizhen already had to separate the two entries. Pedunculoside and rotundic acid, which dominate the pharmacology literature, occur across the whole genus Ilex, so a study naming only pedunculoside does not establish that the material was Ilex chinensis.
Clinical note: Order and check this herb by binomial and by part, Ilex chinensis leaf, not by the pinyin alone, and be sceptical of a supplier who cannot say which species and which organ the material came from.
Insulin and oral glucose-lowering drugs
Pedunculoside, isolated from Ilex species generally rather than from this leaf specifically, reduced blood glucose and raised insulin alongside its anti-inflammatory effects in a rat diabetic cardiomyopathy model, acting through Nrf2/HO-1. There is no study of the whole Dong Qing Ye leaf in a diabetic model and no human data.
Clinical note: No routine action required; a note to check glucose if a diabetic patient takes the herb long term is proportionate to the evidence.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 6 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
6
3 verified · 3 unverified
Show 6 studies
- Triterpenoids from the leaves of Ilex chinensis
- New triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of Ilex chinensis
- New triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of Ilex chinensis and their hepatoprotective activity
- Ilexchinene, a new seco-ursane triterpenoid from the leaves of Ilex chinensis with therapeutic effect on neuroinflammation by attenuating the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway
- Preclinical metabolism and metabolic drug–drug interaction profile of pedunculoside and rotundic acid
- Pedunculoside inhibits cardiomyocyte inflammatory biomarkers via Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in high glucose-induced H9c2 cells and diabetic cardiomyopathy model rats
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
Triterpenoids from the leaves of Ilex chinensis
Eleven previously undescribed compounds, the triterpenes ilexchinenin A and B and nine saponins ilexchinenosides A to I, were isolated from Ilex chinensis leaves along with twelve known triterpenoids. Eight compounds significantly inhibited nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated murine macrophages and nine protected HepG2 cells against paracetamol-induced damage.
New triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of Ilex chinensis
Eight new saponins, the ursane-type ilexchinenosides J to M and oleanane-type ilexchinenosides N to Q, were isolated with three known saponins. Six of them showed significant hepatoprotection against paracetamol-induced HepG2 damage and one moderately inhibited nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated macrophages.
New triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of Ilex chinensis and their hepatoprotective activity
Seven further saponins, ilexchinenosides R to V (ursane-type) and W to X (oleanane-type), were isolated with four known saponins. Five of the eleven compounds showed hepatoprotective activity against paracetamol-induced injury in HepG2 cells.
Ilexchinene, a new seco-ursane triterpenoid from the leaves of Ilex chinensis with therapeutic effect on neuroinflammation by attenuating the MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway
Ilexchinene, an 18,19-seco-ursane triterpenoid new to this leaf, reduced inflammatory mediator overexpression in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglia, suppressed NF-kappaB activation and NLRP3 inflammasome formation and prevented ERK and JNK phosphorylation. In LPS-treated mice it improved behavioural deficits, reduced overactivated microglia and lowered brain inflammatory mediators. A corrigendum to this paper was published in Phytomedicine in 2025 (doi 10.1016/j.phymed.2024.156320); the article itself has not been retracted.
Preclinical metabolism and metabolic drug–drug interaction profile of pedunculoside and rotundic acid
Pedunculoside and rotundic acid, the most abundant components of Ilex species, were incubated with human liver microsomes and recombinant enzymes. Eight pedunculoside and six rotundic acid metabolites were identified through hydroxylation, glucuronidation, acetylation and glucose conjugation. Pedunculoside was the more stable; its hydroxylation is mainly CYP3A4/5 with some CYP2C8, while rotundic acid hydroxylation is almost exclusively CYP3A4/5 and its glucuronidation is UGT1A4-mediated. Neither compound inhibited any major CYP isoform, with IC50 values above 50 micromolar.
Pedunculoside inhibits cardiomyocyte inflammatory biomarkers via Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in high glucose-induced H9c2 cells and diabetic cardiomyopathy model rats
Pedunculoside at 10 and 20 micromolar improved viability and reduced apoptosis, inflammation and oxidative stress in high-glucose-stimulated H9c2 cardiomyocytes, raising nuclear Nrf2 with HO-1 and NQO1; the Nrf2 inhibitor ML385 reversed this. In diabetic cardiomyopathy model rats it lowered blood glucose, raised insulin, reduced myocardial injury, apoptosis, inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress and upregulated Nrf2, HO-1 and NQO1. The compound is common to the genus Ilex and the study used isolated pedunculoside, not Dong Qing Ye leaf.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynastyReferences
- Zhao HR, Wang MS, Zhou GP. [Studies on constituents of Ilex chinensis Sims] . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica) 1993;18(4):226-8, 255; PMID 8216789 (1993)
- Wu L, Li D, Wang P, Dong L, Zhang W, Xu J, Jin X. In Vitro Stability and Pharmacokinetic Study of Pedunculoside and Its Beta-CD Polymer Inclusion Complex . Pharmaceutics (2024) [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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