Traditionally used for
- Eye health
- Cough & breathing
- Digestion
- Urinary & fluids
- Skin
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
☯ TCM Properties
Resolves Phlegm, resolves toxicity and promotes urination; Kills parasites and alleviates pain
Traditional Chinese Uses
Mao Yan Cao ('cat-eye grass', Herba Euphorbiae Lunulatae) is the whole plant of Euphorbia lunulata, a Euphorbiaceae herb of northern and northeastern China. Bitter and pungent in flavour and cold in nature, entering the Lung, Stomach, Liver and Spleen channels, it resolves Phlegm and stops cough and wheeze, resolves toxicity and reduces swelling, promotes urination, and kills parasites while relieving pain and itching.
It is used for cough and asthmatic breathing with Phlegm, and for toxic sores, scrofula and skin lesions with itching, where it is frequently applied externally; it also serves for oedema with difficult urination and for parasitic complaints. Like other Euphorbias it contains an irritant, mildly toxic latex, so it is used in controlled doses, mainly topically or in carefully prepared internal preparations, and is avoided in pregnancy and in the weak or deficient.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
The pinyin name Mao Yan Cao (literally 'cat-eye grass') does not correspond to a standard entry in the principal Chinese materia medica references consulted, and no confident botanical identification can be made from the title alone. Several regional folk herbs share comparable colloquial names but differ widely in genus and family, so attribution to any one species would be speculative. Editorial fields are therefore left unpopulated pending verification against the source record or supplemental ethnobotanical documentation.
Active Constituents
ent-Abietane-type diterpene lactone
Diterpenoid lactoneConcentration: Minor constituent of the ethanol extract of the whole plant
The most cytotoxic single compound isolated from this species so far. It inhibited NCI-H460 lung and MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells with IC50 values of 19.5 and 18.6 micromolar, more potent in that assay than the cisplatin control run alongside it. Four other diterpenes from the same extract were moderately active at 32 to 58 micromolar.
Jatrophane-type diterpenoid
Macrocyclic jatrophane diterpeneConcentration: Minor constituent of the whole-plant extract, structure confirmed by X-ray crystallography
Jatrophanes are the Euphorbia diterpene class best known for modulating P-glycoprotein, and their presence is the reason this plant is a theoretical concern alongside drugs that are P-glycoprotein substrates. Its own cytotoxicity here was moderate.
Flavonol galactopyranoside gallates - quercetin and myricetin 3-O-(2'',3''-digalloyl)-beta-D-galactopyranosides and their monogalloyl analogues
Flavonol glycoside gallate estersConcentration: Prominent constituents of the polar fractions of the whole plant
The best-characterised polar constituents. The quercetin digalloyl and monogalloyl galactosides showed insulin-like activity in a ligand-dependent cell proliferation assay, and the galloylated flavonol glycosides as a group inhibited 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation, triglyceride accumulation and nitric oxide production in stimulated macrophages. These are cell-based findings with no human counterpart.
Free flavonoid aglycones and glycosides - quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, apigenin, luteolin, hyperin, myricitrin, isoquercitrin
Flavonols and flavonesConcentration: A large group; the species review counts 28 flavonoids among more than 150 characterised components
Quercetin and gallic acid from this plant showed interleukin-10-like activity in a ligand-dependent cell assay, which the authors offered as partial support for the plant's folk use in bronchial asthma. The compounds themselves are ubiquitous in plants and are not specific to this drug.
Hydrolysable tannins - 1,3,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose and tri-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucoses
GallotanninsConcentration: Isolated as discrete compounds from the whole plant
Contributed to the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation and of nitric oxide production in the same screen as the flavonol gallates. Clinically their main relevance is the general tannin property of binding proteins and alkaloids in the gut lumen.
Phenolic acids and coumarins - gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, ellagic acid, 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid, esculetin
Phenolic acids, ellagitannin-derived phenols and a simple coumarinConcentration: Minor constituents of the whole plant
Antioxidant phenolics of the kind common across the genus. Esculetin is a simple hydroxycoumarin and is not an anticoagulant coumarin; it should not be read as a warfarin-type constituent.
Triterpenes and sterols
Triterpenoids and phytosterolsConcentration: Five triterpenes and four sterols were isolated alongside the diterpenes in a single campaign; the species review counts 73 terpenoids and 7 steroids in total
Structural background chemistry typical of the genus. None has been assigned a specific activity in this plant.
Latex diterpene esters of the tigliane and ingenane classes
Phorbol and ingenol ester diterpenesConcentration: Not characterised in Euphorbia lunulata itself; named here as the genus-level irritant class present in Euphorbia milky sap
Recorded as a safety-relevant gap, not as a demonstrated constituent. Every Euphorbia exudes a milky latex, and across the genus the vesicant, pro-inflammatory and tumour-promoting activity of that latex is attributed to tigliane and ingenane diterpene esters, which cause severe keratoconjunctivitis on ocular contact and blistering dermatitis on skin. The isolation work on E. lunulata has focused on ent-abietane and jatrophane diterpenes and on the polar phenolics, and has not characterised its latex irritants. Absence of an assay is not evidence that the latex is benign, and the plant is traditionally used for its milky sap.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Ze Qi (Euphorbia helioscopia) - shared folk name and documented confusion
The name Mao Yan Cao is applied in Chinese practice to more than one Euphorbia, and it overlaps in the regional literature with Ze Qi, Euphorbia helioscopia, which is a separate drug already held in this corpus. The two are different species with different diterpene inventories and different official standing, and a prescription written for Mao Yan Cao without a binomial does not determine which one arrives. This is a substitution risk arising purely from nomenclature, not from any pharmacological interaction between the two plants.
Clinical note: Write the binomial on the prescription and require the supplier to state it. Do not carry a dose or a safety experience from Ze Qi across to Euphorbia lunulata or the reverse; the corpus holds them as separate records for this reason.
Gan Cao (Glycyrrhiza uralensis)
The Eighteen Incompatibilities name licorice as incompatible with Gan Sui, Da Ji, Yuan Hua and Hai Zao, three of which are Euphorbiaceae drugs sharing the irritant diterpene chemistry of the genus. Euphorbia lunulata is not one of the four drugs the classical rule names, and no experimental work on this pairing exists for this species. It is recorded so that a practitioner who applies the classical rule by genus knows the extension is an inference, not a documented incompatibility.
Clinical note: If following the classical rule, avoid the pairing. If not, at least avoid it in the first course for a new patient, so that any adverse reaction can be attributed to one variable rather than two.
P-glycoprotein substrates - digoxin, ciclosporin, tacrolimus, several oral oncology agents
Jatrophane diterpenes from Euphorbia species are a well-known class of P-glycoprotein modulators, and a jatrophane has been isolated from this plant. The species extract was itself studied in a multidrug-resistant gastric cancer line (SGC7901/ADR), which is the model used precisely because efflux transport is the resistance mechanism. No transporter assay has been run on Euphorbia lunulata extract or on its jatrophane, so the concern is a class inference from a confirmed constituent class, not a measured interaction.
Clinical note: Avoid concurrent use with digoxin, calcineurin inhibitors and oral chemotherapy. If a patient is already on one of these and the herb is judged necessary, monitor the drug level or its clinical effect closely after starting and again after stopping.
Topical corticosteroids and eye medication - contact exposure to the fresh latex
The plant is traditionally applied as its milky sap, and Euphorbia latex across the genus causes severe keratoconjunctivitis on ocular contact and vesicant dermatitis on skin, attributed to tigliane and ingenane diterpene esters. This is not a pharmacological interaction with a medicine but a direct chemical injury that presents as a treatment failure - a patient using the sap topically and then rubbing an eye, or applying it under an occlusive steroid, sustains an injury that the co-prescribed topical will not resolve and may mask.
Clinical note: Never let the fresh sap near the eyes, and do not apply it under occlusion or alongside a topical steroid that could blunt the warning inflammation. Gloves for anyone handling the fresh plant. Ocular exposure is an ophthalmic emergency: irrigate immediately and refer, do not treat it as conjunctivitis.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| topical | Appropriate amount | — | — | — | No Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2025 monograph for this drug, so no pharmacopoeial dose is given here. *Euphorbia lunulata*, used chiefly externally. Like other *Euphorbia* species its latex is a severe skin and eye irritant and a co-carcinogen, and the plant is toxic taken internally; where folk sources give an internal dose it is small and the drug is decocted, but no pharmacopoeial figure exists. **Internal dose not established here.** The previous value was generic filler generated from tcm_category and has been removed rather than replaced with an estimate. |
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
1 verified · 3 unverified
Show 4 studies
- Euphorbia lunulata extract acts on multidrug resistant gastric cancer cells to inhibit cell proliferation, migration and invasion, arrest cell cycle progression, and induce apoptosis
- Two new diterpene derivatives from Euphorbia lunulata Bge and their anti-proliferative activities
- Flavonoids That Mimic Human Ligands from the Whole Plants of Euphorbia lunulata
- Inhibitory Effects of Constituents from Euphorbia lunulata on Differentiation of 3T3-L1 Cells and Nitric Oxide Production in RAW264.7 Cells
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
Euphorbia lunulata extract acts on multidrug resistant gastric cancer cells to inhibit cell proliferation, migration and invasion, arrest cell cycle progression, and induce apoptosis
An ethanol-then-hexane extract of the fresh aerial parts was tested on multidrug-resistant human gastric cancer SGC7901/ADR cells. It inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion in a time- and dose-dependent way, arrested the cycle at G2/M, and induced apoptosis through both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways - caspase-3, -8 and -9 activation, cytochrome c release from mitochondria, Bax up and Bcl-2 down, all abolished by the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK. Cell culture only, using a lipophilic extract that no patient receives.
Two new diterpene derivatives from Euphorbia lunulata Bge and their anti-proliferative activities
A new ent-abietane diterpene lactone and a new jatrophane diterpenoid were isolated from the whole plant with twelve known compounds. The abietane lactone inhibited NCI-H460 and MCF-7 cells at IC50 19.5 and 18.6 micromolar, more potent than the cisplatin control in the same assay; the other four diterpenes were moderate at 32 to 58 micromolar. It identifies the diterpene class that carries the cytotoxicity and confirms a jatrophane in this species.
Flavonoids That Mimic Human Ligands from the Whole Plants of Euphorbia lunulata
An acetone extract stimulated proliferation of insulin-dependent and interleukin-10-dependent cell lines. Fractionation gave a new quercetin 3-O-(2'',3''-digalloyl)-beta-D-galactopyranoside plus the monogalloyl analogue, hyperin, quercetin and gallic acid; the two galloyl galactosides showed insulin-like activity and quercetin and gallic acid showed interleukin-10-like activity. The authors offer the last as partial support for the plant's traditional use in bronchial asthma. A proliferation-based cell assay, not a model of diabetes or asthma.
Inhibitory Effects of Constituents from Euphorbia lunulata on Differentiation of 3T3-L1 Cells and Nitric Oxide Production in RAW264.7 Cells
A new myricetin digalloyl galactopyranoside and 23 known constituents were isolated, including flavonols, flavones, gallotannins, phenolic acids, ellagic acids and esculetin. The hydrolysable tannins, flavonoids and flavonol galactopyranoside gallates significantly inhibited 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation and triglyceride accumulation, and nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages. It is the source of most of the polar constituent inventory recorded here.
References
- Wang Yuwei, Yu Xiao, Wang Lingna, Zhang Fang, Zhang Yongqing. Research Progress on Chemical Constituents and Anticancer Pharmacological Activities of Euphorbia lunulata Bunge . BioMed Research International (2020) [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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