Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Cough & breathing
- Colds & fever
- Bowel health
- Urinary & fluids
- Skin
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
☯ TCM Properties
Invigorates the Blood, moves Qi, clears Heat, resolves toxicity, disperses accumulations, disperses extravasated Blood and alleviates pain; Promotes diuresis
Traditional Chinese Uses
Jue Chuang Cao (爵床) is the whole herb of Justicia procumbens (Herba Rostellulariae). Salty, pungent and bitter with a cold nature, entering the Liver, Gallbladder and Lung channels, it invigorates the Blood and moves Qi, clears Heat and resolves toxicity, disperses accumulations and static Blood, promotes urination and alleviates pain. It is used for wind-heat fever, sore and swollen throat, cough, jaundice and hepatitis, edema and nephritis, Damp-Heat dysentery, urinary difficulty, plus topically for carbuncles, sores and traumatic injury.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Jue Chuang Cao is a Pinyin folk name encountered in scattered regional Chinese materia medica references but cannot be reliably matched to a single botanical species in standard authorities such as the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Zhong Yao Da Ci Dian, or Flora of China. The literal translation suggests a small grass or herb used for sore- or wound-related applications, but multiple unrelated taxa have carried similar local names in different provinces. Without a verified Latin binomial, botanical features (habit, leaf form, inflorescence, fruit) cannot be described with confidence. Practitioners should treat this entry as unidentified pending authoritative source confirmation.
Active Constituents
Justicidin A
Arylnaphthalide lignanOne of the two cytotoxic principles originally isolated from this species. It is potently antiproliferative in tumour cell lines and is the compound most responsible for the plant's cytotoxicity. This is a genuinely cytotoxic constituent, not a mild one, and it is the reason the herb should not be treated as a benign heat-clearing plant at high or prolonged dosage.
Justicidin B
Arylnaphthalide lignanA closely related arylnaphthalide lignan of the whole plant, also cytotoxic. Justicidin B and its congeners account for much of the antiviral activity reported for extracts of this species.
Diphyllin (7-hydroxyjusticidin B)
Arylnaphthalide lignan aglyconeThe second of the two cytotoxic principles first characterised from Justicia procumbens. Mechanistically it is a potent inhibitor of vacuolar H+-ATPase, blocking endosomal and lysosomal acidification. That single action explains both its broad antiviral effect against enveloped viruses, which need a low-pH endosome to enter cells, and its cytotoxicity, since lysosomal function is essential to normal cells too.
Neojusticin A
Arylnaphthalide lignanOne of the arylnaphthalide lignans isolated from the whole plant and reported among the antiplatelet constituents of the species.
Neojusticin B
Arylnaphthalide lignanA further arylnaphthalide lignan of the whole plant, described alongside neojusticin A in the antiplatelet fraction.
Chinensinaphthol and chinensinaphthol methyl ether
Arylnaphthalide lignansMinor arylnaphthalide lignans of the whole plant, reported in the same isolations as the justicidins. They contribute to the lignan fingerprint used to authenticate the drug.
Taiwanin E and taiwanin E methyl ether
Arylnaphthalide lignansArylnaphthalide lignans isolated from Justicia procumbens. Like the other members of the series they are reported as cytotoxic and antiplatelet constituents rather than as separately characterised drugs.
Arylnaphthalide lignan glycosides
Lignan glycosidesThe plant carries glycosidic forms of the same lignan series alongside the aglycones. The glycosides were tested together with the aglycones in the antiviral work on this species; glycosylation generally reduces cell permeability, so the aglycone content is the better guide to a batch's potency.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs (aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants)
Antiplatelet activity is one of the best-replicated pharmacological findings for this species specifically. Chen and colleagues characterised arylnaphthalide lignans from Justicia procumbens as antiplatelet constituents in 1996, and Weng and colleagues reported two further new arylnaphthalide lignans with the same activity in 2004. The evidence is in vitro platelet-aggregation work rather than human pharmacokinetics, so the size of any clinical effect is unknown; but the traditional indication (invigorating Blood, dispersing extravasated Blood) points the herb at exactly the patient group most likely to be on antithrombotic drugs already.
Clinical note: Avoid combining with antithrombotics without monitoring. Stop the herb at least a week before elective surgery or dental extraction, and ask about it when investigating unexplained bruising or a rising INR in a patient taking warfarin.
Lysosomotropic and autophagy-modulating drugs (chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, bafilomycin-class agents)
Diphyllin, a major lignan of this plant, is a potent vacuolar H+-ATPase inhibitor that prevents endosomal acidification. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine raise endolysosomal pH by a different route to the same end. Combining agents that converge on lysosomal pH is a plausible route to additive impairment of lysosomal degradation, autophagy and the lysosomal sequestration of weak-base drugs. No study has tested the combination, so this remains inference from mechanism.
Clinical note: Flag rather than forbid. Where a patient is on long-term hydroxychloroquine, prefer a different Blood-invigorating herb, or keep the course of Jue Chuang Cao short.
Justicia adhatoda (Adhatoda vasica, Malabar nut) and data attributed to it
Most of the pharmacological and safety literature that appears under the genus name Justicia belongs to Justicia adhatoda, a far better studied species whose activity rests on the quinazoline alkaloids vasicine and vasicinone. Those alkaloids are bronchodilator and uterotonic, and Justicia adhatoda carries a well-known caution in pregnancy on that basis. Justicia procumbens is chemically a different plant: its characteristic constituents are arylnaphthalide lignans, not quinazoline alkaloids. Neither the bronchodilator claims nor the oxytocic caution transfers, and neither does the reassurance from Justicia adhatoda's comparatively larger safety record. The risk here is a reference-database error rather than a physical adulteration.
Clinical note: When reading any source that says only 'Justicia', check which species. Do not use Justicia adhatoda's respiratory indications to justify this herb, and do not assume this herb is safe in pregnancy merely because the genus-level warning does not seem to apply; its lignans are cytotoxic and it has no pregnancy safety data of its own.
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
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
Antitumor Agents, 81. Justicidin-A and Diphyllin, Two Cytotoxic Principles from Justicia procumbens
The isolation paper that identified justicidin A and diphyllin as the cytotoxic principles of this species. It established that the herb's cytotoxicity is carried by the arylnaphthalide lignan series rather than by a minor or incidental constituent, which remains the framework for everything published on the plant since.
Antiplatelet Arylnaphthalide Lignans from Justicia procumbens
Arylnaphthalide lignans isolated from Justicia procumbens were assayed for inhibition of platelet aggregation, identifying the antiplatelet constituents of the species. This is the primary evidence behind the bleeding-risk caution for this herb and it is on Justicia procumbens itself, not on a congener.
Antiviral activity of lignans and their glycosides from Justicia procumbens
Lignans and their glycosides isolated from Justicia procumbens were tested for antiviral activity, establishing the lignan series as the antiviral fraction of the plant. Later mechanistic work on diphyllin, a member of that series, attributes the effect to inhibition of vacuolar H+-ATPase and consequent failure of endosomal acidification.
Cytotoxic activity of lignans from Justicia procumbens
A modern re-examination of the lignan constituents of Justicia procumbens and their cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines, confirming the arylnaphthalide series as the cytotoxic fraction. Taken with the 1986 work it means the cytotoxicity of this herb is a stable, replicated finding rather than an isolated report.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica)
Han dynasty, compiled by the 2nd century CEXin Xiu Ben Cao (Tang Materia Medica)
Tang dynasty, 659 CEReferences
- Weng JR, Ko HH, Yeh TL, Lin HC, Lin CN. Two New Arylnaphthalide Lignans and Antiplatelet Constituents from Justicia procumbens . Archiv der Pharmazie (2004) [DOI]
- Okigawa M, Maeda T, Kawano N. The isolation and structure of three new lignans from Justicia procumbens Linn. var. leucantha honda . Tetrahedron (1970) [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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