Nu Zhen Zi
StarLigustrum lucidum Ait.
Traditionally used for
- Dizziness
- Eye health
- Ears & hearing
- Digestion
- Energy & fatigue
☯ TCM Properties
Nourishes Liver and Kidney Yin; Brightens the Eyes; Blackens the Hair and Beard; Clears Deficiency Heat
Traditional Chinese Uses
Nu Zhen Zi (ligustrum fruit, glossy privet fruit) is a cool herb that nourishes and tonifies Liver and Kidney Yin. It addresses the classic Yin deficiency pattern presenting with lower back soreness, dizziness, premature greying, blurred vision, tinnitus, and weakening of the lower extremities — particularly in middle-aged or elderly individuals. Its gentle, non-cloying nature makes it suitable for long-term use without burdening digestion.
Western Herbalism Properties
Pharmacological Effects
- Immunologic: In vitro aqueous extract restored local GvH reaction in 9 of 13 cancer patients' cells and strongly augmented mitogen responses of lymphocytes from normal subjects and cancer patients.
- Antitumor and antimutagenic: Extract (50-100 µg/ml) reversed tumor-associated macrophage suppression (Renca, MBT); extracts, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid and nuzhenide inhibited benzo(a)pyrene mutagenicity; herb inhibited aflatoxin B1 mutagenesis and DNA binding.
- Antiinflammatory: Decoction 12.5-25 g/kg oral inhibited rat paw edema and granulation; 12.5 g/kg i.p. suppressed PCA, histamine capillary permeability and contact dermatitis in mice.
- Hematological: Ethanolic extract (40 g/kg) and oleanolic acid (100 mg/kg) oral countered cyclophosphamide leukopenia in mice; aqueous extract 0.2 g/kg s.c. promoted CFU-E growth.
- Hypoglycemic: Lowered blood glucose in alloxan-diabetic and normal mice (15 and 30 g/kg oral decoction for 10 days) and antagonized epinephrine/glucose hyperglycemia.
Source: Zhu YP. Chinese Materia Medica: Chemistry, Pharmacology and Applications. Harwood Academic, 1998, p. 648.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Ligustrum lucidum is an evergreen tree or large shrub in the Oleaceae, native to central and southern China and now widely planted as an ornamental and street tree across much of the temperate world, where it can become invasive. Mature trees reach 8-15 m tall, with a broad, dense, rounded crown and smooth, pale grey bark that becomes finely fissured with age. The opposite, leathery leaves are ovate to broadly lanceolate, 6-12 cm long, glossy dark green above and paler beneath, with entire margins and a long acuminate tip. In summer the species produces large, terminal, pyramidal panicles of small, creamy-white, strongly fragrant flowers with four reflexed petals. These are followed by abundant clusters of ellipsoid, blue-black, glaucous drupes 7-10 mm long, persisting through winter. It tolerates a wide range of soils and prefers full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained sites.
Active Constituents
Specnuezhenide
Secoiridoid glycosideConcentration: 0.83 to 5.22% of the dried raw fruit across 27 commercial batches, and 0.74 to 3.65% across 25 batches of the wine-steamed drug
The most abundant single constituent of the fruit and the compound whose content is conventionally used to judge quality. It degrades progressively during wine-steaming, so the raw and processed drugs are distinguished analytically by the ratio of specnuezhenide to salidroside rather than by either alone. Reported activities (immunomodulatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective) rest on preclinical work.
Salidroside
Phenylethanoid glycosideConcentration: 0.043 to 0.192% of the raw fruit, rising to 0.23 to 1.05% after wine-steaming
Rises several-fold during wine-steaming, partly at the expense of the secoiridoids, and is the marker used for the processed drug. Its interaction profile has been characterised directly: nature-identical salidroside showed no inhibition of seven CYP isoforms in human liver microsomes, no CYP1A2, CYP2B6 or CYP3A4 induction in hepatocytes, no MAO-A or MAO-B inhibition and no OATP1B1 or OATP1B3 inhibition at concentrations above those reached in plasma after a 60 mg oral dose.
Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid
Pentacyclic triterpene acidsThe two triterpenes used as chemical markers for Ligustrum lucidum preparations in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Both, and the crude ethanol extract, suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity in RAW264.7 cells without cytotoxicity, which is the mechanistic case usually made for the herb in osteoporosis. That case is entirely preclinical: no human bone-density or fracture trial of this herb exists.
Hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol
Simple phenylethanoidsConcentration: 0.060% and 0.069% respectively in one assayed batch
Minor phenolic constituents that are also salidroside degradation and biosynthesis relatives. Quantified in the batch used for the mouse myelosuppression study; no independent pharmacology at these levels.
Ligustroflavone
Flavonoid glycosideConcentration: 0.004% in one assayed batch
A characteristic flavonoid of the fruit, present at roughly a hundredth of the specnuezhenide level. Used as a fingerprint marker rather than as an active constituent in its own right.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Cyclophosphamide and other myelosuppressive cytotoxics
In cyclophosphamide-treated mice, medium and high doses of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi raised white cell and bone-marrow nucleated cell counts, lowered serum GM-CSF and thrombopoietin, shifted the bcl-2/bax balance, suppressed caspase-3 and increased MEK and phospho-ERK expression in marrow. Combination products containing the herb have been trialled in patients on chemotherapy, but no trial has isolated the herb or measured tumour outcome, so whether marrow protection comes at the cost of antitumour effect is unknown.
Clinical note: Do not add it to an active chemotherapy regimen on the strength of the mouse data. If a patient is already taking it, tell the treating oncologist and check the full blood count as usual rather than assuming protection.
CYP and MAO substrates, and OATP1B1/1B3 substrates such as statins
There are no CYP, transporter or clinical interaction data for the whole Fructus Ligustri Lucidi extract. The one constituent that has been examined properly, salidroside, was negative across seven CYP isoforms, CYP induction in human hepatocytes, MAO-A, MAO-B and OATP1B1/1B3 at supra-physiological concentrations. That makes a salidroside-mediated interaction implausible, but says nothing about the secoiridoids or triterpenes, which are the bulk of the drug. A comprehensive review of the species (206 isolated compounds) reports no interaction or CYP data at all.
Clinical note: Treat this as unstudied rather than safe. Reasonable to keep the herb out of regimens containing narrow-index drugs such as warfarin, ciclosporin or tacrolimus until data exist.
Mis-specified market grades and other Ligustrum species sold as Nu Zhen Zi
Commercial Fructus Ligustri Lucidi is traded in different shape grades, and DNA barcoding confirms the round-form material as genuine Ligustrum lucidum while separating it from adulterants; the round form assays higher for specnuezhenide than the so-called chicken-waist form. Across authenticated batches specnuezhenide ranges from 0.83 to 5.22% in the raw drug, and wine-steaming shifts both markers again. The practical hazard is not toxicity but dose: the same weight of herb can deliver very different amounts of the constituents on which its reputation rests.
Clinical note: Specify raw or wine-steamed (jiu zheng) explicitly, since the two have measurably different chemistry, and prefer suppliers who report specnuezhenide content.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6–12 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】6～12g。 【性味与归经】甘、苦，凉。归肝、肾经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Liver and kidney yin are nourished while blood is cooled and bleeding stopped, gently and without cloying.
Premature greying, dizziness and bleeding from yin deficiency.
Core pair of a classical formula — Er Zhi Wan, Yi Fang Ji Jie (Wang Ang)
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
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
3
3 verified · 0 unverified
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
Preliminary Efficacy and Safety of Reishi & Privet Formula on Quality of Life Among Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial
Phase II double-blind trial in 82 patients with non-small cell lung cancer across eight Chinese cancer centres, randomised 3:1 to a fixed reishi-and-privet combination 3.36 g/day or placebo for six weeks alongside chemotherapy. The primary quality-of-life outcome (FACT-L total) favoured the herbal arm but did not reach significance (P = .086), and neither did general health (P = .050) or emotional well-being (P = .090). Adverse event rates did not differ. This is the closest thing to human evidence for the herb, and it is a negative-trend result for a two-herb product, not for Ligustrum lucidum alone.
Effect of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus on myelosuppression in mice induced by cytoxan
Cyclophosphamide-induced myelosuppression in mice. Medium and high doses of the fruit raised white cell and bone-marrow nucleated cell counts and adjusted thymus and spleen indices, lowered serum GM-CSF and thrombopoietin, regulated bcl-2/bax, suppressed caspase-3 and increased MEK and phospho-ERK. The paper also quantified the extract used: specnuezhenide 0.281%, salidroside 0.094%, tyrosol 0.069%, hydroxytyrosol 0.060%, ligustroflavone 0.004%.
Fructus Ligustri Lucidi ethanol extract inhibits osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells via the RANKL signaling pathway
The ethanol extract and its triterpenes oleanolic and ursolic acid suppressed RANKL-induced multinucleate osteoclast formation and TRAP activity in RAW264.7 cells without cytotoxicity, and downregulated TRAF6, NFATc1, c-Fos, TRAP, cathepsin K and MMP-9. They did not affect apoptosis of mature osteoclasts or Src expression. This is the mechanistic basis for the herb's antiosteoporotic reputation; it stops at cell culture.
In Vitro Evaluation of the Potential for Drug Interactions by Salidroside
Nature-identical salidroside was tested for inhibition of CYP1A2, 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6 and 3A4 in human liver microsomes, for CYP1A2, 2B6 and 3A4 induction in cryopreserved human hepatocytes, against recombinant MAO-A and MAO-B, and against OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 in transfected HEK293 cells. All were negative at concentrations above the roughly 2 micromolar plasma level predicted from a 60 mg oral dose. Relevant here because salidroside is one of the two pharmacopoeial markers of the wine-steamed drug.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
Contraindications
Its use is prohibited in patients with diarrhea due to deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach or yang deficiency.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 368–376.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynastyBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty (1596)Yi Fang Ji Jie
Qing dynasty (1682)References
- Cao Mayijie; Wu Jie; Peng Ying; Dong Baohua; Jiang Yunxiu; Hu Changjiang; Yu Lingying; Chen Zhimin. Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, a traditional Chinese Medicine: Comprehensive review of botany, traditional uses, chemical composition, pharmacology, and toxicity . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2023) [DOI]
- Chen Liping; Huang Dong; Jiang Lin; Yang Jihong; Shi Xiaoyu; Wang Rong; Li Wenbin. A review of botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and applications of the herb with the homology of medicine and food: Ligustrum lucidum W.T. Aiton . Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024) [DOI]
- Gao Liangliang; Li Chun; Wang Zhimin; Liu Xiaoqian; You Yun; Wei Hua; Guo Tao. Ligustri Lucidi Fructus as a traditional Chinese medicine: a review of its phytochemistry and pharmacology . Natural Product Research (2014) [DOI]
- Li Yan-Peng; Wang Si-Jia; Zang Yi-Mei; Hu Zhong-Sheng; Liu Chun-Sheng. Sources of varieties and quality of circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi . Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines (2016) [DOI]
- Ji Xiaotong; Liu Xiaoqian; Li Chun; Yang Lixin; Feng Weihong; Wang Zhimin. [Content change of main components in processed Ligustrum lucidum fruits of different processing time and their characteristic quality standard based on UPLC technology]. . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica), PMID 30717532 (2018) [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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