Jin Qian Cao
StarLysimachia christinae Hance
Traditionally used for
- Urinary & fluids
- Skin
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Toxic — professional use only
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Damp-Heat and Resolves Jaundice; Promotes Urination and Relieves Stranguria; Expels Urinary Stones; Clears Heat and Resolves Toxicity; Reduces swelling
Traditional Chinese Uses
Jin Qian Cao (gold coin grass, lysimachia) is a cold herb with a strong affinity for the Liver and Gallbladder, where it clears Damp-Heat and promotes the expulsion of stones. It is widely used for gallstones and kidney stones, as well as the jaundice and urinary pain associated with stone-related Damp-Heat obstruction. Its drainage of Damp and Heat also extends to treating painful, difficult urination and damp-type skin conditions.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Lysimachia christinae is a creeping perennial herb in the Primulaceae family, native to central and southern China and parts of Vietnam. The slender, often reddish stems trail along the ground and root at the nodes, reaching 20-60 cm in length. The opposite leaves are broadly ovate to nearly orbicular, 1.5-4 cm across, with entire margins, short petioles, and conspicuous translucent dotted glands when held to the light. Solitary yellow flowers are borne in the leaf axils on slender pedicels in late spring and summer; they are five-lobed, funnel-shaped, and about 1-1.5 cm across. The fruit is a small dehiscent capsule containing many seeds. In TCM, the whole flowering plant (Jin Qian Cao) is harvested in summer and used as a sweet, salty, slightly cold herb to clear damp-heat, promote urination, and dissolve stones, particularly urinary and gallbladder stones.
Active Constituents
Quercetin
Flavonol aglyconeConcentration: Among the principal flavonoids of the aerial parts, with content varying markedly by growing region
One of the main flavonoids identified in Lysimachiae Herba by UFLC triple-TOF mass spectrometry and by UHPLC-MS/MS. It is the aglycone underlying much of the antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extract, and it and its glycosides are the compounds most often nominated in network-pharmacology analyses of the herb's anti-lithiasis effect.
Quercitrin
Flavonol glycoside, quercetin 3-O-rhamnosideConcentration: Major flavonoid glycoside of the herb
A principal glycosidic form in which the herb delivers quercetin. Flavonoid glycosides of this type dominate the polar fractions that carry the antioxidant and endothelial-protective activity of the extract.
Isoquercitrin
Flavonol glycoside, quercetin 3-O-glucosideConcentration: Characteristic flavonoid of the herb
Reported as one of the typical constituents of Lysimachia christinae alongside kaempferol and trifolin. Its abundance is one of the chemical features by which authentic material is distinguished from the Desmodium species substituted for it.
Kaempferol and its glycosides including trifolin
Flavonol and flavonol glycosidesConcentration: Second major flavonol series of the herb
Kaempferol, its 3-O-galactoside trifolin and related glycosides make up the second flavonol series of the drug and contribute to its antioxidant capacity.
Rutin
Flavonol glycoside, quercetin 3-O-rutinosideConcentration: Present among the flavonoid fraction
Identified in the herb and specifically implicated as the constituent responsible for the antiproliferative effect of the extract in breast cancer cell lines, which is a laboratory observation rather than a clinical indication.
Phenolic acids
Hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acidsConcentration: Minor to moderate fraction; contributes with the flavonoids to total polyphenol content
The phenolic acid fraction accompanies the flavonoids in the polar extract, and the n-butanol fraction richest in flavonoids and phenolics showed the strongest radical-scavenging and endothelial-protective activity.
Polysaccharides
Plant polysaccharidesConcentration: Water-extractable macromolecular fraction
An extractable macromolecular fraction with reported antioxidant activity in vitro. It is not a Pharmacopoeia assay target and is not the fraction to which the traditional stone-expelling action is attributed.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Desmodium styracifolium (Guang Jin Qian Cao)
Jin Qian Cao is one of the worst pinyin collisions in the materia medica. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia species is Lysimachia christinae, family Primulaceae, but Desmodium styracifolium, family Fabaceae, is used under the same name in Guangdong and Guangxi as Guang Jin Qian Cao and has its own separate Pharmacopoeia entry and a quite different chemistry.
The substitution is not occasional. A 2025 molecular authentication study using chloroplast atpF species-specific PCR and high-resolution melting analysis tested 60 commercial samples and found an adulteration rate of 51.67 percent: only 29 samples were genuine Lysimachia christinae, 29 were Desmodium styracifolium, one was Lysimachia hemsleyana and one was Lysimachia congestiflora.
Neither species is toxic, so this is a substitution of identity rather than a poisoning hazard. Its practical consequence is that a practitioner dosing from the Lysimachia evidence base may be giving a Fabaceae herb with a different flavonoid and alkaloid profile, and that half of published clinical experience under the name may not describe the species on the label.
Clinical note: Specify the binomial when ordering, and prefer suppliers who identify to species by DNA or by a chromatographic fingerprint. Authentic Lysimachia christinae shows black or dark-brown glandular dots and streaks on leaf and calyx, visible against the light after soaking; Desmodium styracifolium is a distinct legume with trifoliate or unifoliate leaves. Do not treat published Desmodium data as evidence for this record and vice versa.
Glechoma longituba (Lian Qian Cao) and other regional Jin Qian Cao plants
Beyond Desmodium, at least Glechoma longituba, family Lamiaceae, is used regionally under a Jin Qian Cao name in Jiangsu, Shanghai and Anhui, and Dichondra and Hydrocotyle species carry similar names elsewhere. Glechoma is readily told apart on inspection by its square stems, kidney-shaped crenate leaves and aromatic smell when rubbed, none of which Lysimachia has.
Clinical note: Reject aromatic, square-stemmed material supplied as Jin Qian Cao. The organoleptic check is quick and effective for this particular substitution, unlike the Desmodium one.
Diuretics and antihypertensives
The herb is used and described as a diuretic, and animal work reports that extracts increase ureteral peristalsis. Additive volume and electrolyte effects with loop or thiazide diuretics are a reasonable expectation, but no pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interaction study exists and no case reports have been published.
Clinical note: In older patients or those on established diuretic therapy, watch fluid status and electrolytes over prolonged courses. Do not represent this as a documented interaction.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 15–60 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】15～60g。 【性味与归经】甘、咸，微寒。归肝、胆、肾、膀胱经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 7 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
7
1 verified · 6 unverified
Show 7 studies
- Species-specific PCR and HRM assays targeting chloroplast atpF gene enable rapid authentication of Lysimachia christinae and detection of adulteration in commercial herbal products
- Lysimachia christinae Hance regresses preestablished cholesterol gallstone in mice
- Evaluation of the antioxidant and endothelial protective effects of Lysimachia christinae Hance (Jin Qian Cao) extract fractions
- Lysimachia christinae Hance aqueous extract ameliorates renal injury in kidney stone rats and calcium oxalate crystal-induced oxidative stress in HK-2 cells via inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway
- Lysimachia christinae Hance Extract Mitigates Kidney Stone Formation: Association with NOX2/ROS Axis Modulation and Ferroptosis
- Qualitative Analysis and Componential Differences of Chemical Constituents in Lysimachiae Herba from Different Habitats (Sichuan Basin) by UFLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS
- A Network Pharmacology Study on the Mechanisms of the Herbal Extract, Christina Loosestrife, for the Treatment of Nephrolithiasis
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
Species-specific PCR and HRM assays targeting chloroplast atpF gene enable rapid authentication of Lysimachia christinae and detection of adulteration in commercial herbal products
Developed species-specific PCR and high-resolution melting assays on a unique region of the chloroplast atpF gene, then applied them to 60 commercial Jin Qian Cao samples. The adulteration rate was 51.67 percent: 29 samples were authentic Lysimachia christinae, 29 were Desmodium styracifolium, one Lysimachia hemsleyana and one Lysimachia congestiflora.
The most consequential single finding for this record: roughly half of commercial material sold under this name is a different species.
Lysimachia christinae Hance regresses preestablished cholesterol gallstone in mice
In mice with lithogenic-diet-induced cholesterol gallstones, Lysimachia christinae reduced pre-established stones rather than merely preventing their formation, with changes in biliary cholesterol saturation.
Animal evidence for the traditional gallstone indication, using the correct species.
Evaluation of the antioxidant and endothelial protective effects of Lysimachia christinae Hance (Jin Qian Cao) extract fractions
Fractionation study finding that the n-butanol fraction of the ethanolic extract, richest in flavonoids and phenolics, had the strongest radical-scavenging and endothelial-protective activity.
Establishes which fraction carries the antioxidant activity; it does not bear on the stone indications.
Lysimachia christinae Hance aqueous extract ameliorates renal injury in kidney stone rats and calcium oxalate crystal-induced oxidative stress in HK-2 cells via inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway
Aqueous extract of Lysimachia christinae improved inorganic ion handling and renal histopathological injury in a rat nephrolithiasis model, and reduced calcium oxalate crystal-induced oxidative stress in HK-2 human proximal tubule cells, with the authors attributing the effect to inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling.
Combined animal and cell study; no human data.
Lysimachia christinae Hance Extract Mitigates Kidney Stone Formation: Association with NOX2/ROS Axis Modulation and Ferroptosis
Reports that Lysimachia christinae extract reduced kidney stone formation in a rodent model, associating the effect with modulation of the NOX2 and reactive oxygen species axis and with ferroptosis.
Preclinical mechanism work; a second independent laboratory reaching a broadly similar oxidative-stress conclusion.
Qualitative Analysis and Componential Differences of Chemical Constituents in Lysimachiae Herba from Different Habitats (Sichuan Basin) by UFLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS
Profiled the constituents of Lysimachiae Herba across Sichuan Basin collection sites by ultra-fast liquid chromatography with triple time-of-flight mass spectrometry, identifying flavonoids, phenolic acids, amino acids, tannins, fatty acids and coumarins, and quantifying how markedly composition varies with growing region.
Relevant to dosing consistency: the same authenticated species differs substantially in content between habitats.
A Network Pharmacology Study on the Mechanisms of the Herbal Extract, Christina Loosestrife, for the Treatment of Nephrolithiasis
Computational network-pharmacology analysis nominating candidate active compounds and targets of Lysimachia christinae in nephrolithiasis.
Hypothesis-generating only. Network pharmacology predicts targets from databases and does not test them; it carries no clinical weight on its own.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi (Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica), Zhao Xuemin
Qing dynasty, compiled from 1765, printed 1871Bai Cao Jing (Mirror of the Hundred Herbs)
Qing dynasty, mid-18th century, surviving through citation in Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi YiZhi Wu Ming Shi Tu Kao (Illustrated Investigation of Names and Natures of Plants), Wu Qijun
Qing dynasty, 1848Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Yaodian)
Modern standard, 2010 and subsequent editionsReferences
- Liu S, Luorong Q, Hu K, Cao W, Tao W, Liu H, Zhang D. Aqueous Extract of Lysimachia christinae Hance Prevents Cholesterol Gallstone in Mice by Affecting the Intestinal Microflora . Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology (2021) [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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