Tu Bie Chong
StarEupolyphaga sinensis Walker; Steleophaga plancyi (Boleny)
Traditionally used for
- Digestion
- Menstrual & women's health
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
- Allergy risk
- Toxic — professional use only
☯ TCM Properties
Breaks Blood and Dispels Stasis; Strengthens the Sinews and Bones; Unblocks the Channels and Collaterals; Disperses Fixed Masses
Traditional Chinese Uses
Tu Bie Chong (wingless cockroach, eupolyphaga) is a Blood-stasis-breaking insect substance used for conditions involving firm, fixed Blood stasis accumulations — including abdominal masses, menstrual irregularities with clotting and pain, and traumatic injuries with significant internal bruising. Its dispersing action also extends to fractures, where it promotes healing of poorly-setting broken bones. It is toxic in excess and requires professional prescription.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Tu Bie Chong is the dried body of the female ground beetle Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker or Steleophaga plancyi (Bolivar) (Corydiidae/Polyphagidae), wingless cockroach-like insects native to China that live in dark, damp soil under stones and around old walls. The females are collected in summer, killed in boiling water, and dried whole. The body contains a complex of proteins, amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, and fibrinolytic peptides; modern research has confirmed anticoagulant and thrombolytic activity. In traditional Chinese medicine, Tu Bie Chong is salty, cold, and slightly toxic, entering the liver channel; it breaks up blood stasis, knits broken bones and reduces swelling, and dissipates abdominal masses, used for traumatic injury with fractures, post-traumatic stasis, amenorrhea from blood stasis, and palpable abdominal masses. Contraindicated in pregnancy.
Active Constituents
Protein and peptide fraction
Protein / peptideConcentration: protein is the single largest component of the dried insect; 18 amino acids have been documented
Almost everything pharmacologically interesting about this drug is protein or peptide, which matters practically because these constituents are heat-labile and poorly extracted into a long decoction compared with a powder or an enzymatic hydrolysate. It also means the drug behaves as an animal-protein allergen.
Eupolytin1
Serine-protease-like fibrinolytic proteinA bifunctional antithrombotic protein from Eupolyphaga sinensis with both fibrinolytic and plasminogen-activating activity and plasmin- and trypsin-like behaviour. It is the clearest molecular basis for the drug's classical function of breaking blood and dispelling stasis, and for the bleeding-risk caution when it is combined with anticoagulants.
Fibrinolytic protein (EFP)
Fibrinolytic proteinConcentration: relative molecular weight about 41,300 Da
A separate fibrinolytic protein isolated from the insect body, reported to degrade fibrin directly and to inhibit angiogenesis in preclinical models.
EPS72
Protein (antitumour)Concentration: 72 kDa
A purified 72 kDa protein reported to have antitumour activity in cell models. As with the other purified proteins of this drug, the activity has not been shown to survive the preparation methods used clinically.
DP17
Peptide (hypolipidaemic)Concentration: 1.43 kDa
A small hypolipidaemic peptide isolated from the drug. Related active peptides such as AR-9 lowered blood and hepatic lipid in high-fat-diet rats by shifting gut flora and their metabolites.
Unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids)
Fatty acidConcentration: about 75% of total fatty acids are unsaturated; oleic acid 40.78%, linoleic acid 21.86% and palmitic acid 21.70% of the fatty acid fraction
The lipid fraction is the part of the drug most likely to go rancid on storage and is a reasonable proxy for how well the material has been dried and kept. It contributes to the drug's lipid-regulating activity in animal models.
Allantoin, uracil, hypoxanthine and thymine
Nucleoside and purine/pyrimidine analoguesSmall nitrogenous metabolites used as chromatographic markers for the drug. Allantoin in particular is a common insect-drug marker and is used in quality control.
ESPS polysaccharide
PolysaccharideConcentration: molecular weight about 21.4 kDa
An immunomodulatory polysaccharide fraction from the insect, reported for immune-regulating and antioxidant activity in preclinical work.
Alkaloids
AlkaloidConcentration: 21 alkaloids characterised, reported mostly from Polyphaga (Steleophaga) plancyi rather than from Eupolyphaga sinensis
This is the one place where the two official source insects clearly diverge chemically. Both are permitted sources of Tu Bie Chong, but the alkaloid work has largely been done on Steleophaga plancyi, so a monograph statement about alkaloids is not automatically a statement about Eupolyphaga sinensis.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Pregnancy: contraindicated (abortifacient risk)
Tu Bie Chong is a stasis-breaking animal drug and is listed among the Chinese medicines contraindicated in pregnancy; the Chinese Pharmacopoeia carries the pregnancy contraindication for this drug. Its classical indications are amenorrhoea and fixed abdominal masses, and the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing entry for Zhe Chong already couples its blood-breaking action with an effect on childbirth. Its documented fibrinolytic and plasminogen-activating proteins give an additional, independent reason to avoid it where placental bleeding would be catastrophic.
Clinical note: Do not prescribe at any dose in pregnancy or to a patient who may be pregnant, and check before dispensing any patent formula containing it, notably Da Huang Zhe Chong Wan.
Warfarin, heparins and direct oral anticoagulants
The drug yields characterised anticoagulant and fibrinolytic proteins and peptides, including eupolytin1, which has both fibrinolytic and plasminogen-activating activity, a roughly 41 kDa fibrinolytic protein, and an anticoagulant peptide purified from protein hydrolysate (Li 2024). These act on fibrin and plasminogen rather than on vitamin K or on the clotting factors warfarin targets, so the effect would be additive rather than pharmacokinetic. Human data are absent.
Clinical note: Avoid combining with therapeutic anticoagulation. If a patient is already on both, watch for bruising, epistaxis and prolonged bleeding, and stop the herb at least a week before surgery or dental extraction.
Thrombolytics (e.g. alteplase, urokinase)
Eupolytin1 is a plasminogen activator, the same mechanism class as urokinase and alteplase. Giving a plasminogen-activating preparation alongside a thrombolytic is mechanistically additive on the same target. No clinical report exists, because the combination is not a situation in which the herb would normally be given.
Clinical note: Withhold in the acute stroke or acute myocardial infarction setting and for as long as thrombolysis remains a possibility.
Antiplatelet drugs (e.g. aspirin, clopidogrel)
The drug's anticoagulant and antithrombotic activity has been demonstrated at the level of fibrin and plasminogen rather than platelets, but its clinical use is precisely in patients with stasis who are often also on antiplatelet therapy. The combination has not been studied.
Clinical note: Usable with monitoring in most patients, but avoid where there is peptic ulceration, recent haemorrhage or a low platelet count.
Opisthoplatia orientalis (gold-edge ground beetle) as a substituted drug
The commonest documented substitute for Tu Bie Chong is Opisthoplatia orientalis, a different insect that is neither of the two official pharmacopoeial sources. Other recognised adulterations are the inclusion of winged males instead of the wingless females the drug specifies, excess soil packed into the abdomen, and insects that died naturally rather than being properly killed and dried. Older English-language sources compound this by rendering the drug name as Eupolyphaga seu Opisthoplatia, which entrenches the substitution in the literature.
Clinical note: Specify Eupolyphaga sinensis or Steleophaga plancyi by binomial and require wingless female bodies. Reject material that is heavy with mud or that contains winged specimens.
Animal-protein allergy (previous reaction to insect or leech drugs)
The drug is essentially an insect protein preparation, and animal-derived herbs are considered the principal allergens in Chinese patent medicines. Patent formulas containing Tu Bie Chong together with leech, such as Da Huang Zhe Chong Wan, account for a high proportion of skin-symptom adverse drug events reported for those products.
Clinical note: Take an allergy history for insect and other animal drugs before prescribing, start low, and warn the patient to stop at the first rash or urticaria.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 3–10 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 monograph 【土鳖虫（䗪虫）】【用法与用量】3～10g。 【注意】孕妇禁用。 【性味与归经】咸，寒；有小毒。归肝经。 — Matched by hand: Identical; ChP prints the 䗪虫 alias in the title. Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim. |
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Together they purge and break up long-standing blood stasis, dissolving dry blood and masses.
Consumptive disorder with dry blood: emaciation, abdominal fullness, rough scaly skin, dark eyes. Contraindicated in pregnancy.
Core pair of a classical formula — Da Huang Zhe Chong Wan, Jin Gui Yao Lue (Zhang Zhongjing)
Evidence Tier
Strong 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
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
2
0 verified · 2 unverified
Show 2 studies
- Purification and Characterization of a Novel Anticoagulant Peptide from Protein Hydrolysate of Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker
- Active Peptide AR-9 From Eupolyphaga sinensis Reduces Blood Lipid and Hepatic Lipid Accumulation by Restoring Gut Flora and Its Metabolites in a High Fat Diet–Induced Hyperlipidemia Rat
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
Effect of Dahuang zhechong formula on liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B: A meta-analysis
Seventeen randomised trials with 1212 patients of Dahuang zhechong formula as adjunctive therapy for liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B. The formula reduced serum hyaluronic acid (SMD -1.27, 95% CI -1.72 to -0.83), type-III procollagen (SMD -1.71, 95% CI -2.34 to -1.09), type-IV collagen (SMD -1.06, 95% CI -1.41 to -0.70) and laminin (SMD -0.75, 95% CI -0.89 to -0.62). The authors state robust conclusions cannot be drawn because of methodological flaws in the included trials. Tu Bie Chong is one of twelve ingredients in this formula, so the result is not attributable to the single herb.
Efficacy and Safety of Dahuang Zhechong Pill in Silicosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Fifty-six silicosis patients randomised to conventional treatment with or without Dahuang Zhechong pill for 9 weeks. The pill group showed improvements in FVC% predicted, DLCO% predicted, SpO2 and King's Brief Interstitial Lung Disease Questionnaire score. Safety outcomes did not differ between groups; eight patients on the pill had mild self-limiting diarrhoea in the first week, consistent with the rhubarb in the formula rather than the insect. Again a multi-herb formula and a small single-centre trial.
Purification and Characterization of a Novel Anticoagulant Peptide from Protein Hydrolysate of Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker
Purification and characterisation of an anticoagulant peptide from an enzymatic protein hydrolysate of Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker. This work is species-specific to the primary official source insect and provides direct molecular support for the bleeding-risk caution when the drug is combined with anticoagulants. It used a hydrolysate rather than a decoction.
Active Peptide AR-9 From Eupolyphaga sinensis Reduces Blood Lipid and Hepatic Lipid Accumulation by Restoring Gut Flora and Its Metabolites in a High Fat Diet–Induced Hyperlipidemia Rat
The peptide AR-9 from Eupolyphaga sinensis lowered blood and hepatic lipid accumulation in high-fat-diet rats, with the effect associated with restoration of gut flora and their metabolites. An isolated-peptide animal study, not a study of the crude drug.
⚠ Safety & Contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
- Allergy risk
- Toxic — professional use only
Contraindications
Contraindicated in pregnancy and in bleeding disorders.
Safety Warnings
- Blood-moving with fibrinolytic activity — additive bleeding risk with anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs.
- Allergy is possible in patients sensitive to insect proteins.
⚠ Toxicity Information
Allergic reactions are the main risk; gastrointestinal upset occurs at higher doses.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynastyJin Gui Yao Lue
Han dynastyMing Yi Bie Lu
Han to Southern and Northern dynastiesReferences
- Xie J, Zhang D, Liu C, Wang L. A periodic review of chemical and pharmacological profiles of Tubiechong as insect Chinese medicine . RSC Advances (2021) [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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