Wu Ling Zhi
StarTrogopterus xanthipes Milne-Edwards
Traditionally used for
- Digestion
- Menstrual & women's health
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
☯ TCM Properties
Invigorates Blood and Alleviates Pain; Dispels Stasis and Stops Bleeding; Resolves Accumulation; Resolves Toxicity
Traditional Chinese Uses
Wu Ling Zhi (squirrel or flying squirrel droppings) is a warm, Blood-activating herb used in Chinese medicine to invigorate Blood, disperse stasis, and stop pain. It is used for menstrual pain and irregularities from Blood stagnation, postpartum abdominal pain from retained Blood, and the pain of traumatic injuries. When charred, its hemostatic properties are enhanced for stopping bleeding while still dispersing stasis. It is frequently combined with Pu Huang (cattail pollen) in the classical pain-relieving formula Shi Xiao San.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Wu Ling Zhi is the dried excrement of Trogopterus xanthipes (Milne-Edwards), the complex-toothed flying squirrel, a nocturnal arboreal rodent endemic to the mountainous forests of northern and western China. The squirrel deposits its droppings in characteristic latrines in rocky crevices or beneath roosting trees, where they harden into dark brown to blackish irregular masses or pellets. These are collected year-round, picked free of debris, and either left raw or processed by dry-frying or with vinegar before use. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wu Ling Zhi is bitter, sweet, and warm in nature, entering the Liver channel; it invigorates blood, dispels stasis, alleviates pain (especially abdominal and menstrual pain from blood stasis), and is the classical pairing with Pu Huang in Shi Xiao San.
Active Constituents
Trogopterins A, B and C
NeolignansConcentration: minor constituents; isolated as new compounds from the crude faeces, no content figure published
Three neolignans described for the first time from this drug. They showed only moderate cytotoxicity against HL-60 leukaemia cells (IC50 about 35-46 micromolar), far weaker than the adriamycin control, and one was weakly active against a breast cancer line. Their origin is the plant material the squirrel eats, chiefly conifer and arborvitae foliage.
Kaempferol coumaroyl rhamnosides
Flavonol glycosides (acylated)Concentration: three of seven flavonoids isolated from the faeces; no content figure published
These three acylated kaempferol glycosides carried significant antithrombin activity in an anticoagulative assay and are the best current chemical explanation for the classical use of Wu Ling Zhi to break Blood stasis. This was the first report of flavonoid glycosides in Trogopterus faeces.
Wulingzhic acids A and B
Isopimarane diterpenesConcentration: minor new constituents; no content figure published
Two new isopimarane diterpenoid acids named after the drug itself. Both were weakly antithrombin and moderately antiplatelet in vitro, adding to the antithrombotic profile of the crude drug.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Ren Shen (Panax ginseng, including red ginseng)
This is the classical Nineteen Antagonisms (shi jiu wei) rule, ren shen wei wu ling zhi, and it now has direct chemical support. A UPLC-QTOF-MS study of the red ginseng plus Trogopterus faeces pair found that co-decoction produced a significant fall in the content of bioactive ginsenosides derived from the ginseng, and that the antiplatelet activity of the combination was correspondingly reduced. The interaction is a loss of the ginseng's activity rather than a toxic synergy.
Clinical note: Do not put Wu Ling Zhi and any Panax ginseng preparation in the same decoction or the same granule blend. If a patient needs both actions, separate them in time or substitute Dang Shen for Ren Shen, which is not covered by the classical rule.
Warfarin, heparins, direct oral anticoagulants, aspirin and clopidogrel
Antithrombin activity has been demonstrated in vitro for three kaempferol coumaroyl rhamnosides from the faeces, and antiplatelet plus weak antithrombin activity for the isopimarane diterpenes wulingzhic acids A and B. There is no human pharmacokinetic or bleeding-outcome study, so the risk is inferred from in vitro pharmacology of isolated constituents plus the drug's classical Blood-moving indication.
Clinical note: Monitor for bruising and mucosal bleeding, and check INR more often if warfarin is co-prescribed. Wu Ling Zhi is traditionally contraindicated in pregnancy on the same Blood-moving grounds; observe that.
Faeces of other rodents substituted for Trogopterus xanthipes
Wu Ling Zhi is wild-collected animal excrement gathered from cliff caves, and the source species cannot be judged with confidence from the appearance of a dried pellet. The complex-toothed flying squirrel is assessed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, with collection for medicine named among the pressures on it, so supply pressure on an already scarce animal is exactly the condition under which substitution occurs. The drug's chemistry is also diet-derived (conifer and arborvitae lignans and diterpenes), so an animal on a different diet yields different material even within the correct species.
Clinical note: Buy from a supplier who can state the source species and origin. Note also that Wu Ling Zhi is not in the current Chinese Pharmacopoeia: it was moved to the appendix in the 1995-2010 editions and dropped from the 2015 edition onward, surviving only in provincial materia medica standards such as those of Shaanxi and Hunan, so there is no national monograph to test a sample against.
Immunosuppressants, and use in immunocompromised or pregnant patients (unprocessed animal faeces)
The drug is dried wild faeces, and unlike most plant drugs it is not routinely subjected to a decontaminating process step before sale in raw form. No outbreak or case series linking Wu Ling Zhi to infection has been published, so this remains a hygiene inference rather than a documented hazard; it is raised because the base material is what it is.
Clinical note: Prefer the vinegar-processed (cu chao) form and always decoct rather than using a raw powder. Avoid in neutropenic, transplant and other severely immunocompromised patients.
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
The combination both invigorates blood and stops bleeding, dispelling stasis to relieve pain without leaving bleeding unchecked.
Blood-stasis pain of the chest and abdomen, dysmenorrhea and retained lochia. Wu Ling Zhi is traditionally listed as antagonising Ren Shen (Shi Jiu Wei). Avoid in pregnancy.
Core pair of a classical formula — Shi Xiao San, Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang
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
2 verified · 2 unverified
Show 4 studies
- UPLC‐QTOF‐MS‐Based Quantification and Antiplatelet Activity Evaluation of Herb Pair Interactions Between Red Ginseng and Trogopterus Feces
- Antithrombotic flavonoids from the faeces of Trogopterus xanthipes
- Two new isopimarane diterpenes from the feces of Trogopterus xanthipes
- Trogopterins A–C: Three new neolignans from feces of Trogopterus xanthipes
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
UPLC‐QTOF‐MS‐Based Quantification and Antiplatelet Activity Evaluation of Herb Pair Interactions Between Red Ginseng and Trogopterus Feces
Red ginseng and Trogopterus faeces, one of the classical Nineteen Antagonisms pairs, were combined and analysed by UPLC-QTOF-MS alongside in vitro antiplatelet models. Compatibility produced a significant reduction in the content of bioactive ginsenosides contributed by the red ginseng, together with reduced antiplatelet effectiveness, which the authors present as chemical evidence for the traditional incompatibility rule.
Antithrombotic flavonoids from the faeces of Trogopterus xanthipes
Seven flavonoids were isolated from Trogopterus faeces, the first report of flavonoid glycosides in this drug. Three kaempferol coumaroyl rhamnosides showed significant antithrombin activity in an anticoagulative assay, giving a chemical basis for the drug's traditional Blood-stasis indication and for the bleeding-risk caution when it is combined with anticoagulants.
Two new isopimarane diterpenes from the feces of Trogopterus xanthipes
Two new isopimarane diterpenes, named wulingzhic acid A and wulingzhic acid B, were isolated from the drug. Both showed weak antithrombin and moderate antiplatelet aggregation activity in vitro.
Trogopterins A–C: Three new neolignans from feces of Trogopterus xanthipes
Seven compounds were obtained from the faeces, three of them new neolignans named trogopterins A to C, plus a norlignan and three diterpenoids. The neolignans were only moderately cytotoxic to HL-60 cells (IC50 about 35-46 micromolar), one was weakly active against a breast cancer line and none affected cervical cancer cells, all far below the adriamycin control. The paper is useful for identity and chemistry rather than as support for any anticancer claim.
⚠ Rule-Based Cautions
These entries come from the deterministic rule tables that gate Verscienta's formula tools — classical pair prohibitions, pregnancy and lactation contraindications, and dose ceilings.
Incompatibilities (十八反 / 十九畏)
- 十九畏: Ren Shen × Wu Ling Zhi — avoid combining with Ren Shen / Ginseng / Panax ginseng
Historical Texts
Kai Bao Ben Cao
Song dynastyTai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang
Song dynastyBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynastyReferences
- Huan Du, Ting-ting Kuang, Shuang Qiu, Tong Xu, Chen-Lei Gang Huan, Gang Fan, Yi Zhang. Fecal medicines used in traditional medical system of China: a systematic review of their names, original species, traditional uses, and modern investigations . Chinese Medicine (2019) [DOI]
- Ruijun Wu, Shiyu Wu, Huawu Zeng, Qing Ye, Fei Qian, Chi Ma, Weidong Zhang, Ji Ye. UPLC‐QTOF‐MS‐Based Quantification and Antiplatelet Activity Evaluation of Herb Pair Interactions Between Red Ginseng and Trogopterus Feces . Chemistry & Biodiversity (2025) [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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