Ji Gu Cao
StarAbrus cantoniensis Hance
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
- Heart & circulation
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Toxic — professional use only
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat and drains Dampness to relieve jaundice; Clears Heat and resolves toxins; Soothes the Liver and relieves pain; Invigorates Blood and disperses stasis
Traditional Chinese Uses
Ji Gu Cao (abrus herb, guangzhou abrus) is a cool herb used in Chinese medicine to clear Damp-Heat from the Liver and Gallbladder, promote blood circulation, and resolve masses. It is applied for hepatitis, jaundice, gallstones, and Liver-Gallbladder Damp-Heat conditions, as well as for Blood stasis conditions involving masses or painful accumulations. Modern Chinese medicine particularly values it for hepatic inflammatory conditions. Its name, meaning "chicken bone grass," refers to the plant's traditional use in bone-related folk preparations.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Abrus cantoniensis Hance is a slender, trailing or weakly climbing perennial subshrub in the Fabaceae, native to southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi), Hong Kong, and parts of Indochina, where it grows on dry hillsides and at forest margins. Stems are slender, woody at the base and herbaceous above, 0.5-1.5 m long, sparsely appressed-pubescent. Leaves are alternate and pinnately compound with 8-12 pairs of small oblong leaflets 5-15 mm long, glabrous above and finely hairy beneath. Small purple to pinkish papilionaceous flowers appear in short axillary racemes, followed by flattened, oblong, finely pubescent pods containing brown to greyish ovoid seeds. The whole above-ground plant, with or without root, is harvested in summer and autumn and sun-dried.
Active Constituents
Abrine (N-methyl-L-tryptophan)
Indole alkaloid (methylated amino acid)Concentration: the dominant alkaloid and the proposed quality-control marker; one UPLC determination reported 3.49% in an Abrus cantoniensis whole-herb decoction preparation
Abrine carries much of the antioxidant and antiproliferative activity attributed to the crude herb, and has since been studied as an IDO1 inhibitor in hepatocellular carcinoma models. Its name is dangerously close to abrin and the two are constantly confused in secondary sources: abrine is a small methylated tryptophan derivative, whereas abrin is a type-2 ribosome-inactivating lectin from Abrus precatorius seeds with a human lethal dose of roughly 0.1 to 1 microgram per kilogram. They are unrelated.
Hypaphorine
Indole alkaloid (tryptophan betaine)Concentration: one of the four principal alkaloids of the herb and one of the analytes tracked in rat plasma pharmacokinetics
Hypaphorine is absorbed after oral dosing of the herb extract and is used together with abrine to characterise systemic exposure. It has independently been associated with protection against acetaminophen liver injury in other contexts.
Schaftoside and isoschaftoside
Flavone C-glycosidesConcentration: leaf-enriched; schaftoside is reported around 40-fold higher in leaves than in stems
These C-glycosyl flavones are among the main circulating constituents after oral dosing and are used as leaf-authentication markers, since the leaf-to-stem ratio in a batch determines how much of them the decoction can deliver. Isoschaftoside has been picked out as a lactate dehydrogenase inhibitor in lipid-metabolism screens.
Vicenin-2
Flavone C-glycosideConcentration: reported roughly 100-fold higher in the leaves than in the stems, making it a marker of how leafy a commercial lot is
Vicenin-2 is one of the two compounds proposed for judging whether a batch of Ji Gu Cao is leaf-rich or has been bulked out with stem. It contributes to the antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract.
Soyasaponin I and soyasaponin Bb
Oleanane triterpenoid saponinsConcentration: principal saponins of the herb; soyasaponin Bb is one of the four analytes quantified in the rat pharmacokinetic study
The soyasaponins are the triterpenoid arm of the hepatoprotective activity; their phase I metabolites retain or increase binding to hepatoprotective targets, which fits the fact that the drug is given orally as a soup or decoction rather than parenterally.
Kaikasaponin III
Oleanane triterpenoid saponinConcentration: a characteristic saponin of the genus, studied alongside soyasaponin I for its hepatoprotective metabolism
Kaikasaponin III is one of the saponins whose metabolic fate has been mapped in hepatoprotection studies of this herb. It is a genus-level constituent and does not by itself distinguish Abrus cantoniensis from Abrus mollis.
Abrus cantoniensis polysaccharides (ACP)
Plant polysaccharidesConcentration: obtained as water-extractable fractions of the whole herb
The polysaccharide fractions account for immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects that the small-molecule constituents do not explain, acting in part through the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway and through changes in gut microbiota. They are extracted by decoction, which is how the herb is actually used in southern China.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Abrus precatorius (Xiang Si Zi, jequirity bean, rosary pea) present as a substitute or as contaminating seed
Ji Gu Cao is the Chinese name for Guangzhou xiang si zi, Abrus cantoniensis. Two close congeners share the vernacular naming and the same habitat in Guangdong and Guangxi: Abrus mollis, called mao ji gu cao, and Abrus precatorius, called xiang si zi. Abrus cantoniensis and Abrus mollis are non-toxic herbs; Abrus precatorius is not, and its stems, leaves and above all its seeds contain abrin, a type-2 ribosome-inactivating lectin present as four isoforms with an estimated human lethal dose of 0.1 to 1 microgram per kilogram. A single chewed seed can poison an adult. The plants twine together in the same scrub, are collected by the same gatherers and are traded through the same markets, and at least one Western retailer lists Ji Gu Cao explicitly as Herba Abrus precatorius. Chinese poisoning reports include a case in which the glossy red and black seeds of Abrus precatorius were eaten in the belief that they were the fruit of Ji Gu Cao. Compounding this, the drug is often described in secondary sources as containing abrin when what it actually contains is abrine, an unrelated methylated tryptophan.
Clinical note: Buy Ji Gu Cao only from suppliers who authenticate to species, and reject any lot that contains pods or seeds. Whole red-and-black seeds in a bag of Ji Gu Cao are a red flag for Abrus precatorius contamination and the lot should be discarded, not picked over. Never accept material sold as Herba Abri without confirming which Abrus is meant, and never assume that a source describing abrin as a constituent of this herb is reliable.
Abrus cantoniensis pods and seeds left in the crude drug
The medicinal part is the dried whole herb with the fruit removed. The pods of Abrus cantoniensis are themselves toxic, with a reported intragastric LD50 in mice of 10.01 plus or minus 2.90 g/kg, and Chinese authentication guidance states plainly that the pods must be removed to avoid ingestion of the toxic seeds. The toxicity of the pods and seeds falls after boiling, but the mechanism is not established and this is not a reason to leave them in.
Clinical note: Inspect the material and remove any pods before decocting. Do not use unprocessed seed under any circumstances.
Abrus mollis (Mao Ji Gu Cao) supplied as Ji Gu Cao
Because wild Abrus cantoniensis has become scarce, Abrus mollis is routinely interchanged with it on herbal markets and in manufactured preparations. The two are hard to separate by eye, and formal discrimination has needed microscopy of the anatomical characters or UPLC-Q/TOF-MS metabolite profiling. Comparative work shows overlapping phytochemistry and comparable in vivo hepatoprotection, so this is a substitution problem rather than a poisoning risk, but it means published potency figures may have been generated on the other species.
Clinical note: Distinguish by the stems and leaves: Abrus mollis has stouter purple-brown stems densely covered in long soft hairs and larger oblong leaves hairy on both faces, whereas Abrus cantoniensis has slender greyish-brown stems with sparse hairs and smaller oblong leaves with a clearly netted surface. Where the clinical intent is jaundice or hepatitis the substitution is probably tolerable; where a specific study is being relied on, insist on the species that study used.
Hepatotoxic drugs and CYP3A-metabolised agents, in a patient using Ji Gu Cao for liver disease
The whole rationale for this herb is chronic hepatitis, cholecystitis and fatty liver, so it will predictably be taken by people already on hepatically cleared drugs. Its constituents have documented systemic exposure in rats, and the pharmacological reviews explicitly identify the absence of human clinical trials and of pharmacokinetic interaction data as the main gap in the evidence. No induction or inhibition of human CYP isoforms by this herb has been characterised either way.
Clinical note: Treat concurrent use with narrow-therapeutic-index drugs as uncharacterised rather than safe. In patients with active liver disease, monitor liver enzymes as you would for any other herbal hepatic remedy rather than assuming the herb is protective.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 15–30 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】15～30g。 【性味与归经】甘、微苦，凉。归肝、胃经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 4 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
4
2 verified · 2 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Discrimination of Abrus cantoniensis Hance and Abrus mollis Hance using UPLC-Q/TOF-MS and assessment of their in vivo hepatoprotective effects
- In vitro antioxidant activities and anti-proliferative properties of the functional herb Abrus cantoniensis and its main alkaloid abrine
- Phytochemical profiles, antioxidant activities of functional herb Abrus cantoniensis and Abrus mollis
- Simultaneous determination of abrine, hypaphorine, schaftoside and soyasaponin Bb in rat plasma by UPLC–MS/MS and its application to a pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of Abrus cantoniensis Hance extract
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
Discrimination of Abrus cantoniensis Hance and Abrus mollis Hance using UPLC-Q/TOF-MS and assessment of their in vivo hepatoprotective effects
Untargeted UPLC-Q/TOF-MS was used to separate the two morphologically similar species that are traded interchangeably as Ji Gu Cao, and the hepatoprotective effect of each was then compared in vivo. The study is the practical basis for saying that Abrus mollis substitution is a chemical identity problem rather than a safety one, and it identifies the markers that separate them.
In vitro antioxidant activities and anti-proliferative properties of the functional herb Abrus cantoniensis and its main alkaloid abrine
Extracts of Abrus cantoniensis and its principal alkaloid abrine were assayed for radical scavenging and for antiproliferative effect on cultured cells. This is the study most often cited for abrine as the active alkaloid of the herb, and it is worth noting that the compound tested was abrine, the methylated tryptophan, and not the toxic lectin abrin of Abrus precatorius.
Phytochemical profiles, antioxidant activities of functional herb Abrus cantoniensis and Abrus mollis
A side-by-side phytochemical and antioxidant comparison of the two Abrus species used as Ji Gu Cao, establishing where their profiles overlap and where they differ. It is the reference point for judging whether an Abrus mollis substitution materially changes what the patient receives.
Simultaneous determination of abrine, hypaphorine, schaftoside and soyasaponin Bb in rat plasma by UPLC–MS/MS and its application to a pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of Abrus cantoniensis Hance extract
A validated UPLC-MS/MS assay tracked four marker constituents in rat plasma after oral dosing of Abrus cantoniensis extract, showing that the alkaloids abrine and hypaphorine, the flavone C-glycoside schaftoside and the saponin soyasaponin Bb are all systemically absorbed. This is the only substantive pharmacokinetic data available for the herb and it is preclinical.
Historical Texts
Ling Nan Cai Yao Lu
Republic of China, 1932, compiled by Xiao BudanPharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China
Modern, 2020 editionReferences
- Zhang G, Hao E, Xiao J, Yao C, Wang Y, Luo H. Abrus cantoniensis Hance: Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacology of a promising traditional Chinese medicine . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2024) [DOI]
- Liu CJ, Li HX, Chen ZH, Li JJ, Shi W, Zhang FX. A review of the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of Abri Herba (Ji-Gu-Cao) . Phytochemistry (2024) [DOI]
- Lin X, Li H, Wang T, Xiao X, Huang B. The Traditional Uses, Nutrition, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of the Medicinal Abrus Species: A Comprehensive Review . Chemistry & Biodiversity (2025) [DOI]
- Zhang Z, Lu L, Liu Y, Qing L. Comparing and authenticating on anatomical aspects of Abrus cantoniensis and Abrus mollis by microscopy . Pharmacognosy Research (2015) [DOI]
- Xu YB, Liu XK, Wang JW, Xia TY, Jiang HL, Feng L, An YL, Li ZW, Zhang DD, Guo DA. Chemometrics-driven LC–MS analysis reveals key metabolites and chemical diversity in Abrus cantoniensis Hance stems and leaves . Journal of Chromatography A (2025) [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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