Guang Jin Qian Cao
StarDesmodium styracifolium (Osbeck) Merr.
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Toxic — professional use only
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat, promotes urination, unblocks painful urinary dysfunction and expels stones
Traditional Chinese Uses
Guang Jin Qian Cao (Herba Desmodii Styracifolii) is the aerial portion of Desmodium styracifolium, sweet and bland in flavour and cool in nature, entering the Liver, Kidney, Bladder and Gallbladder channels. Classed among the herbs that drain Dampness and disinhibit water, it clears Heat, promotes urination, unblocks painful urinary dysfunction (lin syndrome) and, above all, expels stones. It is the leading Chinese herb for Damp-Heat stone conditions of the urinary tract, and is also used for gallstones and Damp-Heat jaundice.
For urinary and ureteric stones it is combined with Hai Jin Sha, Shi Wei, Ji Nei Jin and Hua Shi; for kidney stones with Da Huang, Hua Shi and Dong Kui Guo; and where the passage of stones causes bleeding it is paired with Sheng Di Huang, Pu Huang and Xiao Ji. It is typically decocted in generous doses (commonly 15-60 g). Note that it is distinct from Lysimachia-source Jin Qian Cao.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
Full-screen graph →Click a node for details · double-click to expand it · Ctrl/⌘ + scroll or two fingers to zoom and pan.
Botanical Description
Desmodium styracifolium is a perennial subshrubby herb of the Fabaceae, native to the warm hills, grassy slopes, and forest margins of southern China (notably Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hainan) and adjacent Southeast Asia. It grows 30–100 cm tall, the slender, ascending stems clothed in soft rusty-yellow hairs. The alternate leaves are usually unifoliolate (occasionally trifoliolate on vigorous shoots), the rounded to broadly elliptic leaflet 2–4 cm across, with a silvery-silky underside that gives a coin-like flash — the source of the name 'gold-coin herb'. Small purple papilionate flowers are borne in compact terminal and axillary racemes through summer, followed by short, several-jointed flat loments hooked with fine hairs. The entire above-ground plant is gathered in summer or autumn, washed, and dried. The species is distinct from Lysimachia christinae (the 'standard' Jin Qian Cao).
Active Constituents
Schaftoside
Apigenin C-glycosylflavone (6-C-glucosyl-8-C-arabinosyl apigenin)Concentration: 6.0 to 11.0 milligrams per capsule in the standardised total flavonoid preparation used clinically in China
The principal marker and the compound the standardised extract is quantified against. It activates the farnesoid X receptor and liver X receptor alpha, which regulate bile acid synthesis and cholesterol handling, and it is the compound whose plasma profile has been modelled physiologically after oral dosing of the total flavonoid extract. Its C-glycosidic linkage resists gut hydrolysis, so it is absorbed largely intact rather than as an aglycone.
Isoschaftoside
Apigenin C-glycosylflavone (isomer of schaftoside)Concentration: One of five C-glycosylflavones quantified in the total flavonoid extract
Co-occurs with schaftoside and is measured alongside it in pharmacokinetic and plasma protein binding studies of the standardised extract. Its disposition differs between normal and urolithiasis-model rats, which matters because the drug is given to people whose renal handling is already abnormal.
Vicenin-2
Apigenin di-C-glucosylflavoneConcentration: One of five C-glycosylflavones quantified in the total flavonoid extract
A di-C-glucoside of apigenin contributing to the flavonoid fraction that carries the antilithic activity. Like the other C-glycosides it is measured as a marker rather than dosed individually.
Isovitexin
Apigenin 6-C-glucosideConcentration: One of five C-glycosylflavones quantified in the total flavonoid extract
Part of the C-glycosylflavone group used to define the standardised extract. Phenolic hydroxyl and carbonyl groups of flavonoids of this type chelate calcium ions, which is the proposed physicochemical basis for inhibition of calcium oxalate nucleation, growth and aggregation.
Flavonoid aglycones (apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, genistein)
Flavone and flavonol aglycones with one isoflavoneConcentration: Minor relative to the C-glycosides
Individually reported to have antiurolithic activity in preclinical models through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory routes. They are present at much lower levels than the C-glycosylflavones and should not be assumed to account for the effect of the whole extract.
Isoflavanones and their O-glycosides
Isoflavanone and coumaronochromone type isoflavonoidsConcentration: Minor constituents of the aerial parts
A group of isoflavonoids characterised from this species by phytochemical work in 2007. They contribute to the drug's chemical fingerprint and to its distinction from the unrelated plants sold under similar names, but no clinical activity is attributed to them.
Styracifoline
AlkaloidConcentration: Trace constituent
An alkaloid described from this species that inhibits protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, a negative regulator of insulin signalling, and binds the leptin receptor with STAT3 activation in silico and in vitro. Early-stage chemistry with no clinical bearing on the drug's use for urinary stones.
Desmodium styracifolium polysaccharide
Plant polysaccharide (carboxymethylated derivatives studied)Concentration: Fraction of the water-soluble extract; not standardised in the marketed flavonoid preparation
A separate active fraction from the flavonoids. In cell and rodent work the polysaccharide, particularly after carboxymethylation, reduces calcium oxalate crystal adhesion to renal tubular cells, promotes crystal endocytosis, and attenuates nano-calcium-oxalate-induced renal injury and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. The clinical preparation is standardised to flavonoids, not to this fraction, so the two are not interchangeable.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Jin Qian Cao (Lysimachia christinae)
Jin Qian Cao is the whole herb of Lysimachia christinae (Primulaceae), mainly from Sichuan; this drug is the aerial part of Desmodium styracifolium (Fabaceae), mainly from Guangdong and Guangxi. Both are separate monographs in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia with overlapping but not identical indications, and the shortened trade name jin qian cao is applied to both. A 2025 species-specific PCR and high-resolution melting study of 60 commercial samples labelled jin qian cao found only 29 were authentic Lysimachia christinae, with 29 being Desmodium styracifolium, an adulteration rate above 50 percent. The substitution runs both ways in practice, and neither herb is toxic, so the consequence is a wrong drug rather than a poisoning, and it is invisible without molecular or chromatographic testing.
Clinical note: Prescribe and order by binomial. If a formula specifies Lysimachia christinae, a supplier's jin qian cao is more likely than not to be the wrong species, so require authentication. The clinical stone evidence summarised in this record is for Desmodium styracifolium and does not transfer to Lysimachia.
Lian Qian Cao (Glechoma longituba), Xiao Jin Qian Cao (Dichondra micrantha) and Tian Hu Sui (Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides)
At least four unrelated plants circulate in Chinese commerce as jin qian cao, the name referring to the coin-shaped leaf rather than to any botanical group: besides the two pharmacopoeial species, Glechoma longituba of the Lamiaceae, Dichondra micrantha of the Convolvulaceae and Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides of the Apiaceae are all sold under it regionally. They differ in constituents entirely and share no evidence base.
Clinical note: The pinyin alone identifies nothing here. Confirm the family and binomial on every consignment, and do not extrapolate stone-passage evidence from one of these plants to another.
Tamsulosin and other alpha-blockers used as medical expulsive therapy
The standardised flavonoid extract has been studied as an adjunct to conservative management of ureteral stones, in which alpha-blockers are the usual pharmacological component. In a 2026 propensity-matched cohort of 284 patients the extract shortened mean time to stone passage from 12.24 to 9.06 days against conservative management alone, with no adverse drug reactions recorded over 30 days. No pharmacokinetic interaction study with tamsulosin exists; the concern is not toxicity but that the combination has not been formally tested and that neither agent removes the need for imaging follow-up.
Clinical note: Reasonable to use alongside standard medical expulsive therapy, but obstruction, infection, a solitary kidney, deteriorating renal function or a stone that has not passed within the expected window are urological problems, not herbal ones. Do not let a herbal adjunct delay referral.
Potassium citrate and other urinary alkalinisers
Preclinical work reports that extracts of this herb alkalinise urine, raise urinary citrate and lower urinary calcium and oxalate, which is the same set of changes potassium citrate is prescribed to produce. Combining them could in principle overshoot into a urinary pH favouring calcium phosphate crystallisation, though this has not been observed or measured in any human study of the combination.
Clinical note: If both are used in a stone-former, monitor urinary pH and 24-hour urine chemistry rather than assuming the herbal contribution is negligible, particularly in patients with calcium phosphate or infection stones where alkalinisation is unhelpful.
Obeticholic acid and other farnesoid X receptor agonists
Schaftoside, the marker flavonoid of this herb, activates the farnesoid X receptor and liver X receptor alpha, and extracts of the herb alleviate cholestatic liver disease in rodents through the farnesoid X receptor pathway. Farnesoid X receptor agonists are licensed drugs with dose-dependent pruritus and lipid effects. Whether the herb reaches receptor-relevant hepatic concentrations at ordinary doses is unknown, and no combination has been studied.
Clinical note: Listed as a mechanism-based flag rather than an observed interaction. In a patient on a farnesoid X receptor agonist for cholestatic liver disease, there is no evidence either way, so document the herb and watch for worsening pruritus.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 15–30 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 monograph 【广金钱草】【用法与用量】15～30g。 【性味与归经】甘、淡，凉。归肝、肾、膀胱经。 — Matched to ChP by romanised drug name (pinyin 'Guang Jin Qian Cao' → 广金钱草); the romanisation is unique across all 649 ChP monographs, and the match was cross-checked against this record's own TCM temperature. Quoted verbatim. |
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
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
In vitro / animal
4
1 verified · 3 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Total flavonoids of Desmodium styracifolium attenuates the formation of hydroxy-l-proline-induced calcium oxalate urolithiasis in rats
- Antilithic effects of extracts from different polarity fractions of Desmodium styracifolium on experimentally induced urolithiasis in rats
- Exploring the Therapeutic Mechanism of Desmodium styracifolium on Oxalate Crystal-Induced Kidney Injuries Using Comprehensive Approaches Based on Proteomics and Network Pharmacology
- Carboxymethylated Desmodium styracifolium polysaccharide reduces the risk of calcium oxalate kidney stone formation by inhibiting crystal adhesion and promoting crystal endocytosis
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
Randomized, double-blind, placebo parallel controlled clinical study on the treatment of ureteral calculi with total flavonoids of Desmodium styracifolium
The strongest human evidence located for this herb: a centrally randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Of 102 patients screened with ureteral stones 0.5 to 1.0 centimetres in diameter, 66 were enrolled, 48 to total flavonoids of Desmodium styracifolium (three 0.2 gram capsules three times daily) and 18 to matching placebo, for 28 days. Stone passage confirmed by urinary tract computed tomography occurred in 25 of 48 (52.08 percent) on the extract against 4 of 18 (22.22 percent) on placebo (P equals 0.029), with better symptom scores in the treatment arm. Five adverse events occurred in 4 of 48 treated patients (8.33 percent) versus none on placebo, a non-significant difference, and none were serious. The trial is small, single-centre and unequally allocated, and its DOI is registered with the Chinese DOI agency rather than Crossref.
Real-world effectiveness of total flavonoids from Desmodium styracifolium for ureteral stones: a propensity score-matched retrospective cohort study
Retrospective cohort of 341 outpatients with unilateral ureteral stones, 194 given the standardised total flavonoid extract and 147 not, reduced by one-to-one propensity score matching to 142 matched pairs. Mean time to stone passage was 9.06 days with the extract against 12.24 days without (P equals 0.003). The overall 30-day expulsion rate, 63.4 versus 47.9 percent, did not reach significance (P equals 0.09), but the difference was significant for stones of 5 to 9 millimetres (P equals 0.021) and for middle and lower ureteral stones (P equals 0.011). No adverse drug reactions were reported. Observational and unblinded, so it supports rather than establishes the randomised finding.
Total flavonoids of Desmodium styracifolium attenuates the formation of hydroxy-l-proline-induced calcium oxalate urolithiasis in rats
In a hydroxy-L-proline model of calcium oxalate urolithiasis in rats, the total flavonoid fraction reduced renal crystal deposition and urinary calcium excretion and increased renal osteopontin expression, osteopontin being an endogenous inhibitor of crystal adhesion to tubular epithelium. This is the preclinical basis for the flavonoid fraction being the one standardised for clinical use.
Antilithic effects of extracts from different polarity fractions of Desmodium styracifolium on experimentally induced urolithiasis in rats
Fractionation study establishing which part of the extract carries the antilithic activity in experimentally induced rat urolithiasis. It underpins the decision to standardise the clinical preparation on the flavonoid fraction rather than on the crude herb or the polysaccharide.
Exploring the Therapeutic Mechanism of Desmodium styracifolium on Oxalate Crystal-Induced Kidney Injuries Using Comprehensive Approaches Based on Proteomics and Network Pharmacology
Combined proteomic and network pharmacology analysis of oxalate crystal-induced kidney injury treated with this herb, implicating inhibition of p38 MAPK signalling, reduced cathepsin D expression and suppression of autophagy in renal tubular cells. Mechanistic and hypothesis-generating; it does not measure stone outcomes.
Carboxymethylated Desmodium styracifolium polysaccharide reduces the risk of calcium oxalate kidney stone formation by inhibiting crystal adhesion and promoting crystal endocytosis
Shows that the polysaccharide fraction, distinct from the flavonoids, reduces adhesion of calcium oxalate crystals to renal tubular cells and increases their endocytic clearance. Relevant because the marketed preparation is standardised to flavonoids, so this activity is not necessarily present in the clinical product.
Historical Texts
Lingnan materia medica of the Republican and early People's Republic period
20th century, southern ChinaPharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China
Current editions, including 2020Botanical nomenclature for this species
2018 onwardReferences
- Zhao M, Duan JA, Che CT. Isoflavanones and their O-glycosides from Desmodium styracifolium . Phytochemistry (2007) [DOI]
- Li X, Chen C, Zhang T, Ding N, Zheng P, Yang M. Comparative pharmacokinetic studies of five C-glycosylflavones in normal and urolithiasis model rats following administration of total flavonoids from Desmodium styracifolium by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry . Journal of Separation Science (2022) [DOI]
- Li X, Chen C, Ding N, Zhang T, Zheng P, Yang M. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling and simulation to predict the plasma concentration profile of schaftoside after oral administration of total flavonoids of Desmodium styracifolium . Frontiers in Pharmacology (2022) [DOI]
- Opryshko V, Prokhach A, Akimov O, Riabushko M, Kostenko H, Kostenko V, Mishchenko A, Solovyova N, Kostenko V. Desmodium styracifolium: Botanical and ethnopharmacological insights, phytochemical investigations, and prospects in pharmacology and pharmacotherapy . Heliyon (2024) [DOI]
- Wang L, Hu W, Huang Z, Zhou Z, Chen N, Li Y, Hu Y, Yang F, Shen C, Lou Q, Xin T, Pu X. Species-specific PCR and HRM assays targeting chloroplast atpF gene enable rapid authentication of Lysimachia christinae and detection of adulteration in commercial herbal products . Industrial Crops and Products (2025) [DOI]
- Zhang Z, Guan G, Tang Z, Wan W, Huang Z, Wang Y, Wu J, Li B, Zhong M, Zhang K, Nong L, Gao Y, Cao H. Desmodium styracifolium (Osb.) Merr. Extracts alleviate cholestatic liver disease by FXR pathway . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2025) [DOI]
- Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office, Department of Health, Hong Kong. Herba Lysimachiae versus Herba Desmodii Styracifolii . Easily Confused Chinese Materia Medica series, Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office
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.
📝 Notes
Public notes from the community and your own private notes on Guang Jin Qian Cao.
No notes yet.