Qin Jiao
StarGentiana macrophylla Pall.
Traditionally used for
- Colds & fever
- Digestion
- Bowel health
- Urinary & fluids
- Nerves & recovery
- Pain & joints
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Liver conditions
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Wind-Dampness; Relaxes the Sinews and Unblocks the Collaterals; Clears Deficiency Heat; Clears Damp-Heat and Resolves Jaundice
Traditional Chinese Uses
Qin Jiao (秦艽) is the root of Gentiana macrophylla Pall. (Gentianaceae), Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae. It is bitter and acrid and cool, entering the Stomach, Liver and Gallbladder channels. It dispels Wind-Dampness, relaxes the sinews and unblocks the collaterals, clears deficiency Heat, and clears Damp-Heat to resolve jaundice.
Among the Wind-Damp herbs it is unusual in being cool and comparatively moistening rather than warm and drying, which makes it the herb for hot painful obstruction — joints that are red, swollen and hot as well as painful — and safe for use where fluids are already depleted. It relaxes contracted sinews and stiff joints, and is used for numbness of the limbs and for the sequelae of windstroke. Its second use is deficiency Heat: steaming-bone fever, afternoon fever and night sweats in consumptive disorders. It also treats Damp-Heat jaundice.
It is described as "the moist agent among the Wind medicines", and is used cautiously in patients with loose stools, since it can be mildly laxative.
Western Herbalism Properties
Pharmacological Effects
- Antiinflammatory: Gentianine 90 mg/kg i.p. reduced formaldehyde/egg-white ankle swelling in rats; effect absent after adrenalectomy/hypophysectomy or under pentobarbital, suggesting nervous-system activation of the pituitary-adrenal axis.
- CNS: Gentianine was sedative in mice, potentiated pentobarbital hypnosis, and 90 mg/kg i.p. raised the pain threshold 40% in rats; herb analgesic in mice.
- Anti-allergic shock and antihistaminic: Gentianine 90 mg/kg i.p. lessened anaphylactic shock and histamine-induced asthma and convulsion.
Source: Zhu YP. Chinese Materia Medica: Chemistry, Pharmacology and Applications. Harwood Academic, 1998, p. 262.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Gentiana macrophylla (large-leaf gentian) is a herbaceous perennial in the Gentianaceae family, native to grasslands and meadows of northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, growing 30-60 cm tall. It forms a stout, cylindrical, twisted yellowish-brown taproot 10-30 cm long that is intensely bitter. Basal leaves are large, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 12-20 cm long with 5-7 prominent parallel veins, forming a rosette; stem leaves are smaller, opposite, and clasping. The deep blue to purplish-blue, tubular-campanulate flowers are clustered in dense terminal and axillary whorls, each 1.5-2.5 cm long with five lobes. The fruit is an oblong capsule containing many small winged seeds. The harvested root is the medicinal Qin Jiao (POWO; Wikipedia).
Active Constituents
Gentiopicroside
Secoiridoid glycosideConcentration: 128.1 mg/g in dried root powder against 38.4 mg/g in flower, 18.1 mg/g in leaf and 17.9 mg/g in stem (HPLC, three batches)
By far the most abundant constituent of the root and the compound that carries most of the drug's activity. It suppresses inflammation through the iNOS, COX-2 and NF-kappaB cascade, is hepatoprotective in models of steatosis by raising PPAR-alpha and lowering SREBP-1c, and reduces synovial inflammation and fibrosis in animal osteoarthritis. Oral bioavailability is poor, roughly 12 to 18 percent, with substantial hepatic first-pass metabolism.
Loganic acid
Iridoid glycosideConcentration: 13.9 mg/g in dried root powder; also present in stem at 8.7 mg/g
A pharmacopoeial assay marker for this drug alongside gentiopicroside. In collagen-induced arthritis mice it dose-dependently reduced arthritis scores, systemic cytokines and synovial damage, acting both directly on aryl hydrocarbon receptor signalling in joint tissue and indirectly by enriching Lactobacillus murinus and raising the microbial tryptophan metabolite indole-3-acetic acid.
Swertiamarin
Secoiridoid glycosideConcentration: 6.2 mg/g in dried root powder
One of the two seco-iridoids identified as the key skin-permeating actives when this herb is formulated transdermally, together with gentiopicroside. It contributes anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activity in preclinical models.
Sweroside
Secoiridoid glycosideConcentration: 2.05 mg/g in dried root powder
A minor seco-iridoid of the root studied mainly for hepatoprotection in metabolic steatotic liver disease models. Its contribution to the clinical effect of the whole root at ordinary doses is likely small given its low abundance relative to gentiopicroside.
Roburic acid
TriterpenoidConcentration: 3.6 mg/g in dried root powder; not detected in flower, stem or leaf
A root-specific triterpenoid marker. It has been shown to inhibit osteoclast activity by targeting PTP1B in models of glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis, which is of some interest given that this herb is used in the same patients who receive long-term steroids for rheumatic disease.
Isoorientin and vitexin
C-glycosyl flavonesConcentration: Present in flower, leaf and stem (isoorientin up to 3.8 mg/g in leaf, vitexin up to 4.7 mg/g in leaf) but not detected in the root
Included here as a negative marker. These flavones are absent from the root, which is the only part listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, so their detection in a sample labelled Qin Jiao indicates aerial-part contamination or substitution rather than a genuine root drug.
Gentianine
Monoterpene pyridine alkaloidConcentration: Minor; largely an artefact and gut-flora product formed from gentiopicroside in the presence of ammonia
A ring-nitrogen transformation product of gentiopicroside rather than a large native constituent. Older Chinese pharmacology attributes anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of the crude drug to it, but because its formation depends on extraction conditions and intestinal flora, the quantity a patient is actually exposed to varies with preparation method.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Long Dan Cao (Gentianae Radix et Rhizoma, Gentiana scabra and related species)
Both drugs are Gentiana and both are dominated by gentiopicroside, which makes them look interchangeable on a chromatogram to anyone not looking carefully. They are not. Qin Jiao is Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix, the root of the large-leaved gentians, and is used for wind-damp painful obstruction, deficiency heat and damp-heat jaundice. Long Dan is Gentianae Radix et Rhizoma, the root and rhizome of Gentiana scabra, Gentiana manshurica, Gentiana triflora and Gentiana rigescens, an intensely bitter cold drug for liver and gallbladder damp-heat. Their pharmacopoeial monographs, doses and clinical targets differ, and the chemical overlap in gentiopicroside content is not a reason to substitute one for the other.
Clinical note: Check the binomial and the Latin drug name on every delivery, not the pinyin. A supplier listing only Gentiana or only radix gentianae has told you nothing. Because Long Dan is the far colder and more purgative of the two, an accidental substitution in an elderly patient prescribed Qin Jiao for chronic joint pain will most often present as diarrhoea and appetite loss.
Gentiana straminea, Gentiana crassicaulis and Gentiana dahurica supplied as Qin Jiao
The 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia defines Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix as the dried root of any of four species: Gentiana macrophylla, Gentiana straminea Maxim., Gentiana crassicaulis Duthie ex Burk. and Gentiana dahurica Fisch., the last of which is separately distinguished in trade as Xiao Qin Jiao. These are legitimately interchangeable under the monograph, but multi-omic and chemometric work has been needed precisely because the four differ in constituent profile and biological activity, and content of the assay markers gentiopicroside and loganic acid is not equal across them.
Clinical note: This is not a safety alarm but it does matter for reproducibility of effect: a patient who responded to one batch may respond less to the next if the source species changed. Where a course of treatment is working, keep the same supplier and source species, and record which species was dispensed.
CYP3A4 substrates, inhibitors and inducers
Gentiopicroside is absorbed poorly (oral bioavailability roughly 12 to 18 percent) and undergoes substantial hepatic first-pass metabolism in which cytochrome P450 enzymes generate multiple metabolites, some of which are themselves active. Reviewers of gentiopicroside note explicitly that agents modulating cytochrome P450 activity can alter its metabolism and that drug-drug interaction potential should be anticipated on that basis. No human interaction study has been performed, so this remains mechanistic rather than demonstrated.
Clinical note: Treat as a reason for vigilance rather than avoidance. Where a patient starts a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor such as clarithromycin, itraconazole or ritonavir while taking this herb, expect the herb's effect and any gastrointestinal side effects to become more pronounced; on a strong inducer such as rifampicin or carbamazepine, expect loss of effect rather than toxicity.
Methotrexate, leflunomide and other hepatotoxic antirheumatic drugs
The picture is genuinely two-sided and should not be simplified in either direction. Gentiopicroside, sweroside and swertiamarin are hepatoprotective in models of alcoholic and metabolic steatotic liver injury, and the traditional indication of Qin Jiao includes damp-heat jaundice. But chronic dosing of gentiopicroside at excessive concentrations produced modest rises in serum ALT and AST and histological change in the kidney in animals, and no human safety study of prolonged use exists. Since this herb is most used in rheumatic disease, the co-prescribed drug is very often one that itself needs liver monitoring.
Clinical note: Do not present this herb to a patient as liver protection that licenses relaxed methotrexate monitoring. Keep the standard schedule of liver enzymes and full blood count, and if transaminases rise, stop the herb as well as reviewing the drug rather than assuming the herb cannot be responsible.
NSAIDs and glucocorticoids
The seco-iridoids of this root act through the iNOS, COX-2 and NF-kappaB cascade, the same axis that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids act on. Additive suppression of inflammation is therefore expected pharmacodynamically. There is no clinical evidence for either benefit or harm from the combination, and no evidence that the herb adds to NSAID gastrointestinal or renal toxicity.
Clinical note: Combination is routine in Chinese integrative rheumatology practice and is not a reason for concern. If a patient's inflammatory symptoms improve markedly after the herb is added, review whether the NSAID dose can be reduced rather than leaving both at full dose indefinitely.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 3–10 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】3～10g。 【性味与归经】辛、苦，平。归胃、肝、胆经。 — 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.
The pair clears deficiency heat, enriches yin and vents heat from the bones, treating steaming-bone fever and night sweats.
Core pair of a classical formula — Qin Jiao Bie Jia San, Wei Sheng Bao Jian (Luo Tianyi)
Evidence Tier
Strong 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
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
4
1 verified · 3 unverified
Show 4 studies
- A comparative chemical composition and main component content of various parts of Gentiana macrophylla Pall. by UPLC-Q-orbitrap MS and HPLC
- Loganic Acid Ameliorates Rheumatoid Arthritis via the Lactobacillus murinus-Inodole-3-Acetic Acid-AhR-IL-10 Axis
- Transdermal anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of hydrogel patches containing seco-iridoids from Gentiana macrophylla Pall
- Gentiopicroside ameliorates synovial inflammation and fibrosis in KOA rats by modulating the HMGB1-mediated PI3K/AKT signaling axis
Other / unclassified
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix (Qin-Jiao): A systematic review of ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, clinical application and quality control
Systematic review of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix and its closely related source species covering ethnopharmacology, chemistry, pharmacology, clinical application and quality control. Two hundred and forty-eight compounds have been reported from the drug and its related plants: iridoid and seco-iridoid glycosides make up 29.4 percent, flavonoids 17.3 percent, triterpenoids 11.3 percent, phenolic and benzoic acids 8.5 percent, alkaloids 5.2 percent and lignans 2.8 percent. Documented pharmacology is antiviral, hepatoprotective, choleretic and immunoregulatory, and the authors identify the drug's principal modern role as part of integrated treatment of rheumatic and immune disease. They note that multi-omic and chemometric analysis has been required to establish authenticity and consistent biological activity across the multiple permitted botanical sources.
A comparative chemical composition and main component content of various parts of Gentiana macrophylla Pall. by UPLC-Q-orbitrap MS and HPLC
Part-by-part chemical comparison of root, stem, leaf and flower. Fifty compounds were identified and seven characteristic markers screened: the iridoids loganic acid, swertiamarin, gentiopicroside and sweroside, the flavones isoorientin and vitexin, and the triterpene roburic acid. Iridoids and triterpenoids concentrated in the root (gentiopicroside 128.1 mg/g, loganic acid 13.9 mg/g, swertiamarin 6.2 mg/g, sweroside 2.05 mg/g, roburic acid 3.6 mg/g of powder), while the C-glycosyl flavones concentrated in the aerial parts and were undetectable in root. The paper also states plainly that the 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia lists only the root, and permits four source species: Gentiana macrophylla, Gentiana straminea, Gentiana crassicaulis and Gentiana dahurica.
Loganic Acid Ameliorates Rheumatoid Arthritis via the Lactobacillus murinus-Inodole-3-Acetic Acid-AhR-IL-10 Axis
Loganic acid, one of the two pharmacopoeial assay markers of this root, dose-dependently reduced arthritis scores, systemic inflammatory cytokines and synovial damage in collagen-induced arthritis mice. Faecal microbiota transplant from treated donors partially reproduced the protection, showing the gut microbiota is causally involved; loganic acid enriched Lactobacillus murinus and raised indole-3-acetic acid, and both loganic acid and that metabolite activated aryl hydrocarbon receptor signalling and suppressed TNF-alpha-driven inflammation in human synoviocytes. Blocking the receptor with CH223191 largely abolished the benefit. This is the clearest current mechanistic account of the traditional antirheumatic use, but it is an animal and cell study with no human data.
Transdermal anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of hydrogel patches containing seco-iridoids from Gentiana macrophylla Pall
Hydrogel transdermal patches loaded with crude and refined iridoid extracts of the root were tested in carrageenan-induced paw oedema in mice. Content and skin-permeation analysis identified gentiopicroside and swertiamarin as the constituents actually crossing the skin, and the patch gave better permeation and more sustained release than oral dosing, addressing the poor oral bioavailability and rapid metabolism of these glycosides. The anti-inflammatory effect ran through the iNOS, COX-2 and NF-kappaB cascade. Preclinical only, but it identifies which two of the four root iridoids matter for a topical preparation.
Gentiopicroside ameliorates synovial inflammation and fibrosis in KOA rats by modulating the HMGB1-mediated PI3K/AKT signaling axis
Rat knee osteoarthritis model showing that gentiopicroside reduces synovial inflammation and fibrosis by acting on HMGB1-driven PI3K/AKT signalling. It supports the joint-directed use of the herb and, together with the loganic acid arthritis work, gives two independent constituent-level mechanisms for the same traditional indication. No human trial of gentiopicroside for osteoarthritis exists.
Therapeutic efficacy and mechanisms of gentiopicroside in various diseases
Review of the dominant constituent of this root. It sets out the anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, insulin-sensitising and wound-healing evidence, and is unusually candid about the limits: oral bioavailability is only about 12 to 18 percent, hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes are the main metabolic route so drug-drug interaction is anticipated, acute toxicity is low, chronic dosing at excessive concentrations produced modest ALT and AST rises and renal histological change in animals, the Ames and micronucleus tests were negative, and there are no large-scale randomised controlled trials in humans. Human evidence exists only indirectly through formulations containing gentiopicroside-rich plants.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Liver conditions
Contraindications
Its use is cautious in the thin and weak, and patients with profuse urine, thin, and unformed stool.
Source: Xi S, Gong Y. Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica and Medical Formulas. Academic Press/Elsevier, 2017, pp. 117–121.
Side Effects
- Gentianine 100 mg orally three times daily for 4-13 days caused severe nausea and vomiting
Source: Zhu YP. Chinese Materia Medica: Chemistry, Pharmacology and Applications. Harwood Academic, 1998, p. 262.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Divine Husbandman's Classic of Materia Medica)
Eastern Han dynasty, compiled by about the 2nd centuryQin Jiao Bie Jia San, in Wei Sheng Bao Jian (Precious Mirror of Health), Luo Tianyi
Yuan dynasty, 1343Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, 1596Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Yaodian (Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China), 2020 edition
Modern, 2020References
- Liu H, Liu X, Liu S, Zhao F. The chemical structure, pharmacological activity, and clinical progress of Gentianae Radix et Rhizoma . Frontiers in Pharmacology (2025) [DOI]
- Boateng AO, Patel VB, Bligh SWA. The Hepatoprotective Properties of Gentiopicroside, Sweroside, and Swertiamarin Against Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) . Biomolecules (2025) [DOI]
- Wang G, Mo L, Wang C, Zhang Y, Li Y, Yuan J, Jin H, Chen P, Chen D, Zhou J, He W, Xu J. Roburic acid inhibits glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head associated osteoclast activity via targeting PTP1B . Phytomedicine (2026) [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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