Chuan Bo Shi
StarMaclura cochinchinensis (Lour.) Corner
Synonyms: Cudrania cochinchinensis (Lour.) Kudô & Masam., Vanieria cochinchinensis Lour., Cudrania javanensis Trécul
Also known as: Ch'uan Po Shih · Wade–Giles
Safety at a glance
No rule in our tables for this herb: pregnancy, breastfeeding, incompatible pairs (十八反 / 十九畏), herb–drug, dose ceiling. This is not a safety clearance.
Not graded — No toxicity grade is recorded. Most herbs in the catalogue carry none.
Traditionally used for
- Menstrual & women's health
- Pain & joints
Cautions & contraindications
- Bleeding disorders
☯ TCM Properties
Removes Wind and eliminates Dampness; Invigorates the Blood and regulates menstruation; Tonifies Deficiency
Traditional Chinese Uses
Chuan Bo Shi (Chuan Po Shi) is the wood and root of Maclura cochinchinensis (syn. Cudrania cochinchinensis, Moraceae), a thorny climbing shrub of southern China; its use was recorded as early as the Tang-dynasty Ben Cao Shi Yi. Sweet and warm, it dispels Wind and eliminates Dampness, invigorates the Blood and regulates menstruation, and tonifies Deficiency. It is used in decoction or medicinal wine for Wind-Damp painful obstruction (rheumatic joint pain and stiffness), lumbar and knee weakness, traumatic injury with Blood stasis, irregular or painful menstruation, and for supporting recovery in deficiency and post-partum weakness.
This is a regional folk medicinal; classical documentation is limited, so it should be used with professional guidance.
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Botanical Description
Maclura cochinchinensis is a spiny, scrambling shrub or woody climber of the mulberry family (Moraceae), reaching several meters, with tough stems armed with straight axillary thorns and containing milky latex. The alternate leaves are leathery, elliptic to obovate, entire, and glabrous with a rounded to notched apex. It is dioecious, bearing small unisexual flowers in dense globose axillary heads; female heads develop into fleshy orange-yellow syncarps. The bright yellow root and inner wood are the medicinal drug (Radix / Lignum Cudraniae, 穿破石), dug year-round, sliced and dried. It dispels wind and drains dampness, invigorates the blood and dredges the meridians, treating rheumatic pain, jaundice, amenorrhea and traumatic injury.
Thickets, forest margins, scrub, hillsides and streambanks in tropical and subtropical lowlands and hills.
Active Constituents
Macluraxanthone
Prenylated xanthoneConcentration: A principal xanthone of the roots, isolated in quantity sufficient for semi-synthetic modification
One of the two xanthones singled out from the roots for cytotoxic and antibacterial activity, and the scaffold used for semi-synthetic derivatives. Activity is cell-based and antibacterial only; no in vivo or human data support it.
Toxyloxanthone C
Prenylated xanthoneConcentration: Isolated from the roots together with macluraxanthone
Cytotoxic and antibacterial xanthone from the root, active against Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the isolation work. A preclinical finding, not a clinical antimicrobial.
Macochinxanthones A, B and C
FuranoxanthonesConcentration: Three new furanoxanthones reported from the roots alongside sixteen known xanthones
Furan-bearing xanthones isolated from the root. In the isolation study most of the root xanthones were cytotoxic to four cancer cell lines with IC50 values from 1.29 to 90.15 micromolar and antibacterial against Gram-positive organisms at 4 to 128 micrograms per millilitre.
Trihydroxyxanthones
XanthonesConcentration: Isolated from the heartwood, the plant part corresponding to the Lignum designation of this drug
Heartwood xanthones that shift macrophage polarisation between the M1 and M2 phenotypes and increase surface TLR4 expression in cell culture. This is the most directly relevant chemistry for a wood drug, since the better-studied xanthones come from the root.
Prenylated isoflavones
IsoflavonoidsConcentration: Two new prenylated isoflavones were characterised from Vietnamese material, with further flavonoids reported from Thai collections
A second class of prenylated phenolics accompanying the xanthones. Their pharmacology in this species is largely uncharacterised, and their presence and abundance vary with geographic origin of the material.
Gerontoxanthones A, B and H
Prenylated xanthonesConcentration: Reported from the roots of Maclura cochinchinensis var. gerontogea, an infraspecific taxon distinct from the type variety
Gerontoxanthone B is a potent naturally occurring aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist with anti-inflammatory activity, and gerontoxanthones A, B and H together with cudraxanthone P show retinoic acid receptor alpha agonism. Note the source: this chemistry is reported from the variety gerontogea and should not be assumed identical to material of the type variety.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Maclura tricuspidata (Zhe Shu, formerly Cudrania tricuspidata) root
The Chinese drug Chuan Po Shi is defined in the standard materia medica as the root of either Maclura cochinchinensis or Maclura tricuspidata, both Moraceae. Material bought under this name is therefore not reliably the species in this record, and the two differ chemically: the prenylated xanthone chemistry described here is from M. cochinchinensis, while M. tricuspidata carries its own distinct xanthone and flavonoid profile.
Clinical note: Specify the binomial when the species matters. Do not carry findings from one Maclura species onto the other, and treat published Chuan Po Shi data as species-indeterminate unless the paper names the plant.
Anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs (warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants, aspirin, clopidogrel)
The drug is classified as blood-invigorating and stasis-dispelling and is used traditionally for contusion, bruising and dysmenorrhoea. No coagulation assay, platelet study or case report exists for this species, so the concern is a category-level inference from its traditional action rather than a measured effect. Absence of an assay is not evidence of absence.
Clinical note: Reasonable to note bruising or bleeding in a patient already anticoagulated, but there is no basis for either a dose adjustment or a firm contraindication.
Dosage Calculator
⚖ Dosage Calculator
A weight-based mathematical estimate for Chuan Bo Shi. Not a prescription.
Evidence Tier
4 studies on recordRecorded 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
1 verified · 3 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Cytotoxic and antibacterial xanthones from the roots of Maclura cochinchinensis
- Trihydroxyxanthones from the heartwood of Maclura cochinchinensis modulate M1/M2 macrophage polarisation and enhance surface TLR4
- Xanthones from the roots of Maclura cochinchinensis var. gerontogea and their retinoic acid receptor-α agonistic activity
- Two new prenylated isoflavones from Maclura cochinchinensis collected in Hoa Binh province Vietnam
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
Cytotoxic and antibacterial xanthones from the roots of Maclura cochinchinensis
Three new furanoxanthones, macochinxanthones A to C, were isolated from the roots together with sixteen known xanthones. Most were cytotoxic against four cancer cell lines with IC50 values of 1.29 to 90.15 micromolar and many were active against Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at 4 to 128 micrograms per millilitre. Cell-free and cell-based work only.
Trihydroxyxanthones from the heartwood of Maclura cochinchinensis modulate M1/M2 macrophage polarisation and enhance surface TLR4
Xanthones from the heartwood, the wood part that corresponds to the Lignum designation of this drug, shifted macrophage polarisation between the M1 and M2 phenotypes and raised surface TLR4 expression in cultured macrophages. It gives an immunomodulatory mechanism consistent with traditional anti-inflammatory use, at the level of cell culture.
Xanthones from the roots of Maclura cochinchinensis var. gerontogea and their retinoic acid receptor-α agonistic activity
Root xanthones were assayed in a reporter system for retinoic acid receptor alpha agonism, with gerontoxanthones A, B and H and cudraxanthone P active. The plant material was the variety gerontogea rather than the type variety, so the result is reported here as evidence about that infraspecific taxon.
Two new prenylated isoflavones from Maclura cochinchinensis collected in Hoa Binh province Vietnam
Two previously undescribed prenylated isoflavones were isolated and characterised from Vietnamese Maclura cochinchinensis, extending the known phenolic chemistry of the species beyond the xanthones. A phytochemical characterisation with no efficacy claim attached.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Qiu Yuan (Seeking the Source in Materia Medica)
Qing dynasty, 1848Ling Nan Cai Yao Lu (Record of Medicinal Herbs Gathered in Lingnan)
Republican period, 1932References
- Lakornwong Waranya; Kanokmedhakul Kwanjai; Masranoi Jariya; Tontapha Sarawut; Yahuafai Jantana; Laphookhieo Surat; Suthiphasilp Virayu; Kanokmedhakul Somdej. Cytotoxic and antibacterial xanthones from the roots of Maclura cochinchinensis . Natural Product Research (2022) [DOI]
- Jansakun Chutima; Chulrik Wanatsanan; Hata Janejira; Utaipan Tanyarath; Pabuprapap Wachirachai; Supaweera Nassareen; Mueangson Onchuma; Suksamrarn Apichart. Trihydroxyxanthones from the heartwood of Maclura cochinchinensis modulate M1/M2 macrophage polarisation and enhance surface TLR4 . Inflammopharmacology (2022) [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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