Hai Feng Teng
StarPiper kadsura (Choisy) Ohwi
Synonyms: Piper taquetii, Piper rupigaudens, Piper subglaucescens, Piper futokadsura, Piper futokadsura var. macrophyllum, Piper arboricola
Traditionally used for
- Menstrual & women's health
- Pain & joints
- Heart & circulation
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Wind-Dampness; Unblocks the Channels and Collaterals; Relieves Painful Obstruction; Moves Qi; Alleviates Pain
Traditional Chinese Uses
Hai Feng Teng (kadsura stem, pepper kadsura vine) is a warm, pungent herb used in Chinese medicine to expel Wind-Cold-Damp from the channels and collaterals, relieve joint pain and stiffness, and promote the free circulation of Qi and Blood through the sinew and bones. It is used for Wind-Cold-Damp bi syndrome affecting the joints and muscles, as well as for traumatic injury pain and menstrual pain from obstruction. Its warming, channel-opening properties make it particularly appropriate for cold-type musculoskeletal conditions.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Piper kadsura is a woody climbing vine of the Piperaceae family, climbing by adventitious roots to 5 m or more on tree trunks and rocks in subtropical forests of southern China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The stems are slender, jointed at swollen nodes, greenish when young and becoming greyish brown with age, with a characteristic peppery aroma when broken. Leaves are alternate, leathery, ovate to broadly ovate, 6 to 12 cm long, with five to seven prominent palmate basal veins and a cordate to rounded base. The plant is dioecious; minute flowers lack a perianth and are densely packed in pendulous cylindrical spikes 3 to 12 cm long opposite the leaves. The fruit is a small globose drupe about 3 to 4 mm in diameter that ripens red.
Active Constituents
Kadsurenone
Benzofuranoid neolignanConcentration: Principal characterised neolignan of the stem; no Pharmacopoeia content limit is set for it
The compound that made this herb pharmacologically famous. Isolated from the methylene chloride extract of haifenteng at Merck in 1985, it is a specific competitive inhibitor of platelet-activating factor binding to its receptor, with a Ki of 58 nanomolar against 6.3 nanomolar for platelet-activating factor itself. It inhibits platelet-activating factor induced aggregation of rabbit platelets and human neutrophils at 2.4 to 24 micromolar and neutrophil degranulation at 2.5 to 50 micromolar, with no agonist activity of its own, and it is orally active in the guinea pig at 25 to 50 mg/kg.
It is the reason a bleeding-risk question has to be asked about this herb, and the reason the Merck platelet-activating factor antagonist programme that produced L-652,731 started here.
Futokadsurins A, B and C
Tetrahydrofuran lignansConcentration: Isolated from the aerial part alongside nine known neolignans
A set of 7,7'-epoxylignans described from the aerial part of the plant. They inhibit nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages activated with lipopolysaccharide and interferon gamma.
These come from the aerial part, not specifically from the stem that constitutes the drug, and the distinction should be preserved.
Galgravin
LignanConcentration: Minor characterised constituent
Suppresses NF-kappa-B activation in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages without significant cytotoxicity, downregulating tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 6, inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2, and reduces the same mediators in the lungs, serum and bronchoalveolar lavage of endotoxaemic mice.
Kadsurenin F
NeolignanConcentration: Minor constituent; also known from Lauraceae genera including Aniba and Nectandra
Reverses inflammatory phenotypes and inhibits nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. It also increases oxidative load and suppresses proteasome function in normal human fibroblasts and in Drosophila, so its profile is that of a proteasome inhibitor as much as an anti-inflammatory, which is a reason for caution rather than enthusiasm.
Volatile oil, including borneol, alpha-humulene and hydroxychavicol
Monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and allylbenzene phenolsConcentration: The comprehensive review counts 379 essential oil components reported for this species; borneol, alpha-humulene and hydroxychavicol were the compounds identified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry in a chromatographically purified antioxidant extract
The volatile fraction carries much of the radical-scavenging activity of crude extracts, with a half-maximal effective concentration comparable to ascorbic acid in the same assay. The aroma of the sliced stem comes from this fraction.
Pellitorine and elemicin
Alkylamide and allylbenzene (alkenylbenzene) respectivelyConcentration: Minor constituents isolated from the aerial part
Pellitorine is the pungent isobutylamide typical of the pepper family. Elemicin is an alkenylbenzene of the same structural family as myristicin and safrole; several members of that family are genotoxic in rodents, and elemicin has not been quantified in the stem drug or evaluated for exposure at decoction doses.
Recorded here because it is a real finding in this species, not because a risk has been demonstrated. Both compounds were reported from the aerial part rather than the stem.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulants (aspirin, clopidogrel, ticagrelor, warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants)
Kadsurenone, the principal neolignan of the stem, is a specific competitive platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist that inhibits platelet-activating factor induced aggregation of rabbit platelets and of human neutrophils in the low micromolar range, and is orally active in vivo in the guinea pig and rat. Platelet-activating factor is a genuine platelet agonist, so blockade of its receptor is a real antiplatelet mechanism rather than an in vitro curiosity.
What is missing is any human data. There is no clinical pharmacodynamic study of Piper kadsura decoction on bleeding time or platelet function, no measurement of the kadsurenone concentration a normal dose achieves in plasma, and no reported bleeding case series. The interaction is mechanistically well founded and clinically unquantified.
Clinical note: Ask about this herb before elective surgery and in patients on dual antiplatelet therapy or anticoagulation, and stop it seven days preoperatively as for other antiplatelet herbs. Do not tell a patient the risk is negligible because no case has been reported; no one has looked.
Ciclosporin (studied as a P-glycoprotein probe with kadsurenone)
This entry records a negative result, which is worth having. In a rat blood and bile microdialysis study, kadsurenone was given intravenously at 20 and 30 mg/kg with and without ciclosporin A 20 mg/kg as a P-glycoprotein inhibitor. The hepatobiliary excretion ratio was 1.2 plus or minus 0.1 with ciclosporin and 1.3 plus or minus 0.2 without, which is no difference. Kadsurenone undergoes hepatobiliary excretion, but that excretion does not appear to be P-glycoprotein mediated.
The finding is specific to kadsurenone disposition in the rat and says nothing about whether the whole decoction affects ciclosporin, which has not been studied.
Clinical note: Do not cite a kadsurenone and ciclosporin interaction; the one study that looked found none. That is not a licence to combine the crude herb with ciclosporin in a transplant patient, where the herb has never been tested and the therapeutic index is narrow.
Kadsura heteroclita, Piper hancei and Usnea diffracta (documented market substitutes for Hai Feng Teng)
DNA barcoding of 38 market samples of Piper kadsura against reference sequences found that 18.4 percent were not Piper kadsura. The psbA-trnH region cleanly separates the genuine drug from its close relatives and common adulterants, while matK, rbcL and ITS2 all performed poorly on this material.
The named substitutes are of three kinds. Kadsura heteroclita, a Schisandraceae vine, is used as a regional substitute in Guangdong and carries dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans rather than neolignans. Piper hancei, a congener, is substituted in Zhejiang, Fujian and Hunan and has a different constituent profile despite the shared genus. Usnea diffracta is not a plant at all but a lichen, sold fraudulently on the strength of a superficially similar tangled appearance.
Clinical note: Require material identified to binomial, ideally with psbA-trnH barcoding for bulk purchases, and reject any consignment sold only as Hai Feng Teng or as Kadsura pepper stem. A stem that is not aromatic when cut is a warning sign. None of the substitutes is known to be dangerous, but none of them is the drug that was prescribed.
Kadsura coccinea and other Kadsura species (nomenclatural collision, not a pharmacological interaction)
The specific epithet of Piper kadsura and the genus name Kadsura both derive from the same Japanese word for a climbing vine, and neither has anything to do with the other. Piper kadsura (Choisy) Ohwi, with the widely used synonym Piper futokadsura Siebold and Zuccarini, is a member of Piperaceae in the order Piperales, among the magnoliids. Kadsura coccinea (Lem.) A.C.Sm. is a member of Schisandraceae in the order Austrobaileyales, one of the earliest-diverging lineages of flowering plants. They are about as distant as two angiosperms can be.
The collision is not harmless, because the English trade name for this drug is literally Kadsura pepper stem, and because Kadsura heteroclita is in fact used as a substitute for it in Guangdong. A supplier or practitioner reading Kadsura in the trade name and reaching for a Kadsura species has made an error the naming invites.
Clinical note: Treat the word Kadsura in this herb's trade name as noise. Confirm Piperaceae, confirm the binomial Piper kadsura, and keep this record separate from the Hei Lao Hu record for Kadsura coccinea in this database, which is a different drug with a different chemistry.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6–12 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】6～12g。 【性味与归经】辛、苦，微温。归肝经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Preparation Methods
Traditional decoction (Chinese materia medica: Hai Feng Teng)
Parts: dried stem (caulis)
The dried, sliced stem is decocted in water, traditionally about 6-15 g per day, and taken for wind-damp obstruction patterns (rheumatic and arthritic joint pain, muscular aches). Often combined with other channel-dredging herbs.
Ethanol/dichloromethane extract (research preparation)
Parts: stem
Organic-solvent extraction concentrates the neolignan fraction (kadsurenone, futoquinol, denudatin B) responsible for the anti-PAF and anti-inflammatory activities studied in the laboratory. Not a traditional consumer preparation.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 8 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
8
3 verified · 5 unverified
Show 8 studies
- Characterization of a platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist isolated from haifenteng (Piper futokadsura): specific inhibition of in vitro and in vivo platelet-activating factor-induced effects.
- Pharmacokinetics of kadsurenone and its interaction with cyclosporin A in rats using a combined HPLC and microdialysis system
- Galgravin Isolated from Piper kadsura Ameliorates Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Endotoxemia in Mice
- Neolignan Kadsurenin F Modulates Proteostatic Pathways and Possesses Potent Anti-Inflammatory Properties
- Neolignans from Piper futokadsura and Their Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Production
- Biological and Cytoprotective Effect of Piper kadsura Ohwi against Hydrogen-Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Stress in Human SW1353 Cells
- Kadsurenone is a useful and promising treatment strategy for breast cancer bone metastases by blocking the PAF/PTAFR signaling pathway
- Suitable DNA Barcoding for Identification and Supervision of Piper kadsura in Chinese Medicine Markets
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
Characterization of a platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist isolated from haifenteng (Piper futokadsura): specific inhibition of in vitro and in vivo platelet-activating factor-induced effects.
The foundational paper. Screening the methylene chloride extract of haifenteng against a rabbit platelet membrane receptor preparation identified kadsurenone as a specific competitive platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist, Ki 58 nanomolar against 6.3 nanomolar for platelet-activating factor. It blocked platelet-activating factor induced aggregation of rabbit platelets and human neutrophils at 2.4 to 24 micromolar and neutrophil degranulation at 2.5 to 50 micromolar with no agonist activity, was orally active at 25 to 50 mg/kg against platelet-activating factor induced cutaneous permeability in the guinea pig, and did not interfere with the other mediators and receptors tested. Three related structures from the same plant were poor antagonists, establishing structural specificity.
Receptor binding, cell assays and animal work. There is no human trial of this herb or this compound.
Pharmacokinetics of kadsurenone and its interaction with cyclosporin A in rats using a combined HPLC and microdialysis system
Blood and bile microdialysis in male Sprague-Dawley rats given kadsurenone at 20 and 30 mg/kg intravenously, with or without ciclosporin A 20 mg/kg as a P-glycoprotein inhibitor given ten minutes beforehand. The hepatobiliary excretion ratio was 1.2 with ciclosporin and 1.3 without, a null result: kadsurenone undergoes hepatobiliary excretion, but not apparently by way of P-glycoprotein.
Rat pharmacokinetics of the isolated compound. Recorded because the negative finding is as useful as a positive one and is easily misremembered in the opposite direction.
Galgravin Isolated from Piper kadsura Ameliorates Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Endotoxemia in Mice
Galgravin suppressed NF-kappa-B activation in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages without notable cytotoxicity, reducing tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 6, inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2, and reduced the same mediators in bone marrow derived macrophages. In lipopolysaccharide-challenged mice it lowered pulmonary transcript levels of these mediators, serum tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 6, lavage interleukin 6, cyclooxygenase 2 in lung, liver and kidney, and alveolar haemorrhage.
Mouse endotoxaemia model with an isolated compound. Not evidence for the herb in rheumatic disease.
Neolignan Kadsurenin F Modulates Proteostatic Pathways and Possesses Potent Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Isolation of kadsurenin F as an active component of Piper kadsura, followed by testing in normal diploid human fibroblasts and in Drosophila. The compound increased oxidative load and suppressed proteasome function, and separately reversed inflammatory phenotypes and inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.
Cell culture and fly work. The proteasome inhibition is a finding to weigh against the anti-inflammatory one, not a separate benefit.
Neolignans from Piper futokadsura and Their Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Production
Three new tetrahydrofuran lignans, futokadsurins A, B and C, were isolated from a methanol extract of the aerial part along with nine known neolignans and with L-tryptophan, pellitorine, phytol, elemicin and a trimethoxyphenyl aldehyde. The lignans inhibited nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages activated by lipopolysaccharide and interferon gamma.
Phytochemistry with a cell-based assay, on the aerial part rather than the stem drug.
Biological and Cytoprotective Effect of Piper kadsura Ohwi against Hydrogen-Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Stress in Human SW1353 Cells
Microwave-assisted extraction followed by liquid-liquid partition and column chromatography gave an extract whose radical-scavenging half-maximal effective concentration approximated that of ascorbic acid. In SW1353 chondrosarcoma cells the extract reduced hydrogen peroxide induced apoptosis, raised SOD-2, glutathione peroxidase and catalase transcripts and the Bcl-2 to Bax ratio, and acted through JNK, MEK/ERK and p38. Borneol, alpha-humulene and hydroxychavicol were the components identified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry.
Single cell-line study. SW1353 is a chondrosarcoma line used as a chondrocyte surrogate, which is a limitation the authors share with much of this literature.
Kadsurenone is a useful and promising treatment strategy for breast cancer bone metastases by blocking the PAF/PTAFR signaling pathway
Platelet-activating factor receptor upregulation was associated with increased incidence of bone metastasis, and platelet-activating factor enhanced breast cancer cell migration and cancer-driven osteoclastogenesis. Kadsurenone attenuated both by partially blocking platelet-activating factor receptor signalling.
Cell and molecular work with a clinical correlation. The title's framing as a treatment strategy is well ahead of the evidence, and nothing here supports giving the herb to a cancer patient.
Suitable DNA Barcoding for Identification and Supervision of Piper kadsura in Chinese Medicine Markets
Thirty-eight market samples plus eight GenBank sequences of a close relative and common adulterants were tested against four barcode loci. Amplification, sequencing and sequence-acquisition rates were 100 percent for psbA-trnH and far lower for matK, rbcL and ITS2. Using psbA-trnH, 18.4 percent of the market samples of Piper kadsura were not Piper kadsura.
Market authentication study. It is the quantitative basis for treating unbarcoded Hai Feng Teng as suspect.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Zai Xin (The Materia Medica Renewed), traditionally attributed to Ye Tianshi
Qing dynasty, printed 1841The Feng Teng group of trade names in the later materia medica and modern commerce
Qing dynasty to the presentPharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, Piperis Kadsurae Caulis
Current editionsReferences
- Pan H, Wang C, Qin Y, Zhang N, Bian Z, Chen T, Liu Y, Lei X, Li X. Piper kadsura (Choisy) Ohwi: A comprehensive review of botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and quality control . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2025) [DOI]
- Zhang N, Li R, Yu H, Shi D, Dong N, Zhang S, Wang H. Development of an LC-MS/MS method for quantification of kadsurenone in rat plasma and its application to a pharmacokinetic study . Biomedical Chromatography (2013) [DOI]
- Liu J, Wei X, Zhang X, Qi Y, Zhang B, Liu H, Xiao P. A Comprehensive Comparative Study for the Authentication of the Kadsura Crude Drug . Frontiers in Pharmacology (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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