Man Jing Zi
StarVitex trifolia L. var. simplicifolia Cham.
Traditionally used for
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Eye health
- Ears & hearing
- Colds & fever
- Pain & joints
☯ TCM Properties
Disperses Wind-Heat; Clears the Head and Brightens the Eyes; Dispels Wind and Stops Pain; Drains Dampness and Expels Wind
Traditional Chinese Uses
Man Jing Zi (vitex fruit, chaste tree fruit) is a cool, pungent-bitter herb that clears Wind-Heat from the head and face, making it a primary herb for Wind-Heat headache — particularly dull, heavy headaches, migraines, and temporal headaches. It also clears Wind-Heat from the eyes for red, swollen, painful eyes, and addresses Liver Yang rising for dizziness, tinnitus, and vertex pain. Its affinity for the head makes it a standard ingredient in formulas addressing upper body Wind-Heat and Liver Yang patterns.
Western Herbalism Properties
Pharmacological Effects
- Analgesic and antiinflammatory: Decoction i.p. analgesic in mice (hot plate, writhing); 70% methanolic extract anti-inflammatory in rats (Randall-Selitto) and bradykinin-antagonizing (Magnus method).
- Expectorant and antiasthmatic: Alcoholic extract expectorant in mouse phenol red test; decoction or petroleum ether extract relaxed isolated tracheal smooth muscle.
Source: Zhu YP. Chinese Materia Medica: Chemistry, Pharmacology and Applications. Harwood Academic, 1998, p. 105.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Vitex trifolia is an aromatic evergreen shrub or small tree in the Lamiaceae family reaching 1-6 m tall, native to coastal and inland tropical Asia, northern Australia, and Pacific islands. The young branches are quadrangular and densely covered with fine grey-felted hairs. Leaves are opposite and characteristically palmate with three (occasionally one or five) ovate to elliptic leaflets 2-9 cm long, dark grey-green and sparsely hairy above, white-tomentose below, releasing a sage-like fragrance when bruised. Lavender to bluish-violet two-lipped tubular flowers about 1 cm long are borne in terminal pyramidal panicles 8-18 cm long throughout much of the year. The fruit is a small globose drupe 4-6 mm across, ripening from green through reddish to black, hard and seed-like at maturity with a persistent enlarged calyx-cup; these dried fruits are Man Jing Zi.
Active Constituents
Casticin (vitexicarpin)
Polymethoxylated flavonolConcentration: the Chinese Pharmacopoeia assay marker for Viticis Fructus, with a minimum of 0.030% required in the dried fruit
Casticin and vitexicarpin are two names for the same compound, which is a common source of double-counting in herb literature. It suppresses nitric oxide and PGE2 production, lowers IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha, downregulates iNOS and COX-2, raises HO-1 and Nrf2, and inhibits nuclear NF-kB p65 along with Akt and MAPK activation. It also lowers prolactin release from pituitary cells and causes G2-M arrest in tumour cell lines.
Artemetin
Polymethoxylated flavoneConcentration: a secondary methoxylated flavonoid of the fruit, reported alongside penduletin and chrysosplenol
One of the methoxylated flavonoids that, with casticin, distinguish the Vitex flavonoid profile from the simple flavone glycosides of most exterior-releasing herbs.
Luteolin
FlavoneConcentration: present in the fruit and leaf
A common anti-inflammatory and antioxidant flavone; not specific to this species and not used to authenticate it.
Agnuside
Iridoid glycosideConcentration: reported from the fruit alongside eurostoside
A water-soluble iridoid that survives decoction. It is also the marker iridoid of Vitex agnus-castus, which is one reason the two very different Vitex drugs are so often conflated in Western product literature.
Rotundifuran
Labdane diterpeneConcentration: a characteristic diterpene of the fruit of this taxon (published mostly under the name Vitex rotundifolia)
Labdane diterpenes from Vitex fruit are the constituents most associated with dopaminergic activity and prolactin suppression in this genus, acting at dopamine D2 receptors.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Vitex negundo fruit (Huang Jing Zi) supplied as Man Jing Zi
A UK market authentication study of Chinese seed and fruit drugs found a sample of Viticis Fructus substituted by Huang Jing Zi, the fruit of Vitex negundo. The substitute is a cheap look-alike because V. negundo leaf is already harvested at scale for the separate drug Mu Jing Ye. The fruits are separable on inspection: V. negundo fruits are smaller, roughly 3-4 by 2-3 mm against 4-5 by 4-6 mm, with a shallowly toothed persistent calyx enclosing at least half the fruit rather than about a third.
Clinical note: Check fruit size and the depth of calyx toothing on receipt, or require a casticin assay against the pharmacopoeial 0.030% minimum. The substitute is not toxic, but the patient is not getting the prescribed drug.
Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree berry) preparations
Western supplements labelled simply Vitex are almost always Vitex agnus-castus, a European species used for cyclical breast pain and luteal phase complaints, and quite distinct from the Chinese Man Jing Zi. The confusion has a pharmacological edge because both drugs suppress prolactin: diterpenes from V. agnus-castus bind dopamine D2 receptors and inhibit prolactin release, and casticin from this taxon lowers serum prolactin in rats by 33.9%, 54.3% and 64.7% at 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg. A patient self-medicating with a chaste tree product while being prescribed Man Jing Zi is taking two prolactin-lowering herbs.
Clinical note: Ask specifically what any Vitex supplement in the patient's own list actually contains. Do not accept the genus name alone on an intake form.
Dopamine D2 antagonists (antipsychotics, metoclopramide, domperidone)
Fructus Viticis lowers prolactin through two routes: dopaminergic activity of its diterpenes at D2 receptors, and estrogen receptor modulation by casticin, which inhibited estrogen-stimulated prolactin release from pituitary cells in vivo and in vitro with reduced ERalpha and increased ERbeta mRNA. Both routes run counter to D2 blockade. The evidence is animal and in vitro; no human interaction study exists.
Clinical note: Do not use Man Jing Zi to try to correct antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinaemia without the prescribing psychiatrist's involvement, and be aware that it may confuse interpretation of prolactin monitoring.
Dopamine agonists used for hyperprolactinaemia (bromocriptine, cabergoline)
The herb's prolactin-lowering activity is dopaminergic in the same receptor class the drugs act on, so the effects are expected to add. The dose-response for casticin is documented in rats but no human co-administration data exist.
Clinical note: Check prolactin if a patient on cabergoline or bromocriptine starts a Man Jing Zi formula, and consider that a falling level may not be the drug alone.
Oestrogen-containing contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy
Casticin counteracted the prolactin-stimulating effect of oestrogen and altered the balance of ERalpha and ERbeta expression in the studies above. Whether that produces any measurable effect on exogenous oestrogen therapy in humans has not been tested; the inference is from receptor-level animal work only.
Clinical note: No action needed for short courses at pharmacopoeial dose. Note it if the patient is on hormonal therapy for a hormone-sensitive condition and the herb is planned long-term.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 5–10 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】5～10g。 【性味与归经】辛、苦，微寒。归膀胱、肝、胃经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 6 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
6
4 verified · 2 unverified
Show 6 studies
- Casticin, a flavonoid isolated from Vitex rotundifolia, inhibits prolactin release in vivo and in vitro
- Anti-nociceptive and anti-hyperprolactinemia activities of Fructus Viticis and its effective fractions and chemical constituents
- Analysis of Antioxidant Phytochemicals and Anti-Inflammatory Effect from Vitex rotundifolia L.f
- Anti-inflammatory constituents from the fruits of Vitex rotundifolia
- Protective Effects of Casticin From Vitex trifolia Alleviate Eosinophilic Airway Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in a Murine Asthma Model
- Vitexicarpin, a Flavonoid from the Fruits of Vitex rotundifolia, Inhibits Mouse Lymphocyte Proliferation and Growth of Cell Lines in Vitro
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
Casticin, a flavonoid isolated from Vitex rotundifolia, inhibits prolactin release in vivo and in vitro
Casticin lowered serum prolactin in rats by 33.9%, 54.3% and 64.7% at 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, and inhibited prolactin release from oestrogen-stimulated pituitary cells, with reduced ERalpha and increased ERbeta mRNA proposed as the mechanism. The source plant is named Vitex rotundifolia, which is the currently accepted name for the taxon in this record.
Anti-nociceptive and anti-hyperprolactinemia activities of Fructus Viticis and its effective fractions and chemical constituents
Fractionation of Fructus Viticis identified the fractions and constituents responsible for its analgesic and prolactin-lowering activities in rodent models, giving experimental support for the classical use in headache and for the modern gynaecological application.
Analysis of Antioxidant Phytochemicals and Anti-Inflammatory Effect from Vitex rotundifolia L.f
Phytochemical profiling of Vitex rotundifolia, the accepted name for the Man Jing Zi taxon, with antioxidant assays and measurement of anti-inflammatory activity in cell models.
Anti-inflammatory constituents from the fruits of Vitex rotundifolia
Three new diterpenes and two new neolignans, with nineteen known compounds, were isolated from the fruits and tested for inhibition of inflammatory mediator production. This is the fruit drug itself rather than the leaf, so it speaks directly to Man Jing Zi.
Protective Effects of Casticin From Vitex trifolia Alleviate Eosinophilic Airway Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in a Murine Asthma Model
Casticin reduced eosinophilic airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness and oxidative stress in ovalbumin-sensitised mice. The casticin used was sourced from Vitex trifolia rather than from the var. simplicifolia material specifically, which matters because the two are commonly pooled in the literature even though only the variety is a Chinese Pharmacopoeia source of Viticis Fructus.
Vitexicarpin, a Flavonoid from the Fruits of Vitex rotundifolia, Inhibits Mouse Lymphocyte Proliferation and Growth of Cell Lines in Vitro
Vitexicarpin, which is the same compound as casticin, inhibited mouse lymphocyte proliferation and the growth of cultured cell lines, an early demonstration of the immunomodulatory and antiproliferative activity later characterised in detail.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
Contraindications
Its use is cautious in patients with stomach deficiency.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 26–31.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynastyReferences
- Chan EWC, Wong SK, Chan HT. Casticin from Vitex species: a short review on its anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties . Journal of Integrative Medicine (2018) [DOI]
- van der Valk JMA, Leon CJ, Nesbitt M. Macroscopic authentication of Chinese materia medica (CMM): A UK market study of seeds and fruits . Journal of Herbal Medicine (2017) [DOI]
- Kobayakawa J, Sato-Nishimori F, Moriyasu M, Matsukawa Y. G2-M arrest and antimitotic activity mediated by casticin, a flavonoid isolated from Viticis Fructus (Vitex rotundifolia Linne fil.) . Cancer Letters (2004) [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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