Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Urinary & fluids
- Menstrual & women's health
- Pain & joints
- Liver & jaundice
Cautions & contraindications
- Kidney conditions
☯ TCM Properties
Expels Phlegm, stops coughing and settles wheezing; Invigorates the Blood, transforms Stasis and alleviates pain; Clears Damp-Heat and reduces jaundice
Traditional Chinese Uses
Zi Jin Niu (Herba Ardisiae Japonicae), the whole herb of Ardisia japonica, is a phlegm-transforming medicinal that is bitter, pungent and neutral, entering the Lung and Liver channels. Its principal action is to expel Phlegm, stop coughing and settle wheezing, making it useful for chronic cough with copious sputum and for Phlegm-dampness obstructing the Lungs with panting fullness. Because it also invigorates the Blood and dispels Stasis, it is applied to Blood-Stasis menstrual pain, rheumatic joint pain (Bi syndrome) and traumatic injury.
Entering the Liver channel, it additionally clears Damp-Heat and reduces jaundice, and is used for damp-heat jaundice and for hot, painful urinary dribbling. Typically decocted, it may be combined with other cough-and-phlegm or blood-moving herbs according to the pattern; documented since the Song-dynasty Ben Cao Tu Jing.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Zi Jin Niu is the whole herb of Ardisia japonica (Primulaceae, formerly Myrsinaceae), a low evergreen subshrub 10–30 cm tall widespread in mountain forest understorey across central, southern and eastern China, Korea and Japan. It spreads by slender creeping rhizomes that give rise to erect, sparsely branched leafy shoots. Leaves are subopposite or whorled in pseudoverticils of three to seven at the stem apex, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 4–7 cm long, leathery, with finely serrate margins and prominent gland dots. Pendulous axillary umbels bear two to six small, broadly campanulate flowers with five pink to white reflexed lobes 4–5 mm long. Globose drupes ripen bright coral-red, 5–6 mm across, and persist through winter.
Active Constituents
Bergenin
C-glycoside of 4-O-methylgallic acid (isocoumarin C-glycoside)Concentration: The most abundant constituent of the herb along with quercitrin, and the marker used for quality control of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba.
Bergenin is the reason this herb is in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as an antitussive. It is isolated at industrial scale from Ardisia japonica and Bergenia purpurascens and formulated as a prescription antitussive and expectorant used in China for chronic tracheitis, working by central cough inhibition. It also activates nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2, which is the basis of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant preclinical profile.
Quercitrin (quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside)
Flavonol glycosideConcentration: The other most abundant constituent of the herb, quantified with bergenin as a dual quality-control marker.
Co-marker with bergenin for the drug's identity and strength. It inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and is one of the compounds recovered from rat plasma after oral dosing of the whole extract, so it is both a marker and a plausible contributor to activity.
Norbergenin, demethoxybergenin and methylbergenin
Bergenin derivativesConcentration: Five bergenin derivatives were resolved by high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry alongside the parent compound.
A family of structural relatives of the main antitussive compound. Methylbergenin was described as a new compound from the whole plant and, with several co-isolates, inhibited nitric oxide production in stimulated macrophages. Their individual antitussive contribution has not been separated from that of bergenin.
Gallic acid, epicatechin and epicatechin gallate
Phenolic acid and catechinsConcentration: Quantified in the herb and measurable in rat plasma after oral dosing of the extract, with a lower limit of quantification of 2 to 4 nanograms per millilitre.
The phenolic background of the drug. Gallic acid is the biosynthetic precursor of bergenin within the plant and is itself absorbed after oral dosing, along with the catechins. These contribute antioxidant capacity but are not specific to this species.
Triterpenoid saponins and triterpenes (cyclamiretin A glycosides, bauerenol, bauerenone, oleanolic acid)
Triterpenoid and triterpenoid saponinConcentration: Twenty triterpenoid saponins were identified among 42 compounds resolved from the herb by Orbitrap mass spectrometry.
The largest compound class in the herb by count. Bauerenone and chondrillasterone from this fraction were cytotoxic to A549 and HepG-2 cells in vitro, and oleanolic acid inhibited protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B with an IC50 of 23.9 microM. None of this has been carried into any clinical setting.
Embelin
BenzoquinoneConcentration: A minor constituent, determined alongside gallic acid, bergenin and quercitrin in quality-control assays of the herb.
A benzoquinone characteristic of the Myrsinaceae, present in Ardisia japonica in small amounts. It is included in validated quality-control methods for this herb, but the pharmacology attributed to embelin generally comes from other species where it is far more abundant.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Ardisia crenata Sims (Zhu Sha Gen or Bai Liang Jin)
Ardisia crenata is a different species in the same genus, also used medicinally and easily confused with Ardisia japonica as a low evergreen shrub with red berries. It contains FR900359, a cyclic depsipeptide that is one of the most selective and potent inhibitors of Gq family G proteins known, and which is used as a laboratory tool for exactly that reason. Gq blockade would be expected to blunt vasoconstriction, bronchoconstriction and platelet activation broadly. Notably FR900359 is not made by the plant either: it is produced by the leaf-nodule endophyte Candidatus Burkholderia crenata. None of this chemistry belongs to Ardisia japonica, whose profile is bergenin and flavonol glycosides.
Clinical note: Confirm the species on the label, not just the genus or the pinyin. Do not transfer any Gq or FR900359 pharmacology to a Zi Jin Niu prescription, and do not accept Ardisia crenata material as a substitute for it.
Ardisia gigantifolia Stapf (Zou Ma Tai)
Ardisia gigantifolia is another medicinal congener whose drug is the rhizome, used for wind-damp painful obstruction and trauma, with its own separately published constituent chemistry. Zi Jin Niu is the whole plant of Ardisia japonica used for cough, wheezing, damp-heat jaundice and blood stasis. Sharing a genus is not sharing a profile, and the two are not interchangeable in either direction.
Clinical note: Check the binomial and the plant part on the certificate of analysis. Rhizome material is not Zi Jin Niu.
Bergenin tablets and other bergenin-containing prescription antitussives
Bergenin is marketed in China as an isolated prescription antitussive and expectorant, and Ardisia japonica is one of the two plants it is industrially extracted from. A patient taking both a bergenin tablet and this herb is taking the same compound twice, from a herb in which bergenin is the most abundant constituent. This is unrecognised double-dosing rather than a pharmacokinetic interaction, and it is easy to miss because the tablet is not usually thought of as a herbal product.
Clinical note: Ask specifically whether the patient is taking a bergenin preparation before prescribing this herb for cough, and do not stack the two. If both are wanted, choose one.
Antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs
The herb's traditional blood-invigorating action has a matching preclinical signal: in a rat blood stasis model an aqueous extract reduced the area of stasis, lowered plasma viscosity, raised erythrocyte deformability and lowered erythrocyte aggregation. Those are rheological rather than coagulation endpoints, and no effect on platelet function, prothrombin time or international normalised ratio has been measured. An additive effect with warfarin or an antiplatelet is therefore conceivable but entirely unproven.
Clinical note: No dose change is indicated on this evidence. If a patient on warfarin starts the herb, check the international normalised ratio at the next scheduled visit rather than adding one.
Cisplatin and other nephrotoxic chemotherapy
Bergenin protected against cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury in mice by binding and phosphorylating GSK3beta, promoting nuclear translocation of nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 and activating PPAR gamma, thereby blocking ferritinophagy-mediated ferroptosis; the effect was abolished in Nrf2 knockout mice. Nrf2 activation is a double-edged intervention during cytotoxic chemotherapy, because the same antioxidant response can shield tumour cells from oxidative killing. There is no human data in either direction.
Clinical note: Do not offer this herb as renal protection during platinum chemotherapy. Coordinate with the treating oncologist before any herbal antioxidant is used alongside a cytotoxic regimen.
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 7 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
7
2 verified · 5 unverified
Show 7 studies
- Qualitative and quantitative analysis of chemical constituents in Ardisiae Japonicae Herba
- Rapid identification of chemical constituents from Ardisia japonica (Thunb.) Blume by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry
- Simultaneous Quantification of Gallic Acid, Bergenin, Epicatechin, Epicatechin Gallate, Isoquercitrin, and Quercetin-3-Rhamnoside in Rat Plasma by LC-MS/MS Method and Its Application to Pharmacokinetics after Oral Administration of Ardisia japonica Extract
- Discovery of the Active Compounds of the Ethyl Acetate Extract Site of Ardisia japonica (Thunb.) Blume for the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury
- Investigating the Underlying Mechanisms of Ardisia japonica Extract’s Anti-Blood-Stasis Effect via Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology
- A new compound, methylbergenin along with eight known compounds with cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity from Ardisia japonica
- Bergenin inhibits ferritinophagy and ferroptosis in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury by activating the p-GSK3β/Nrf2/PPARγ pathway
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
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of chemical constituents in Ardisiae Japonicae Herba
Liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry identified or tentatively characterised fifteen compounds in the herb, including coumarins, flavonoid glycosides and catechins, and a validated diode array method quantified five of them. Bergenin and quercitrin were the most abundant constituents and were proposed as the chemical markers for quality control of the drug.
Rapid identification of chemical constituents from Ardisia japonica (Thunb.) Blume by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry
The first systematic high-resolution mass spectrometric characterisation of the species, resolving 42 compounds: 9 phenols, 5 bergenin derivatives, 8 flavonoids and 20 triterpenoid saponins. It confirms that the herb is chemically a bergenin plus flavonol plus triterpenoid saponin drug and gives the reference profile against which a suspect batch can be checked.
Simultaneous Quantification of Gallic Acid, Bergenin, Epicatechin, Epicatechin Gallate, Isoquercitrin, and Quercetin-3-Rhamnoside in Rat Plasma by LC-MS/MS Method and Its Application to Pharmacokinetics after Oral Administration of Ardisia japonica Extract
A validated LC-MS/MS method measured six constituents in rat plasma after oral dosing of the whole Ardisia japonica extract, with lower limits of quantification between 0.4 and 4 nanograms per millilitre, and was applied to the pharmacokinetics of gallic acid, bergenin and quercetin-3-rhamnoside. It establishes that the herb's marker compounds are actually absorbed after oral administration, which is the missing link in most constituent studies.
Discovery of the Active Compounds of the Ethyl Acetate Extract Site of Ardisia japonica (Thunb.) Blume for the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury
Four solvent fractions of Ardisiae Japonicae Herba were profiled by Orbitrap mass spectrometry and screened for anti-inflammatory activity in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated MH-S alveolar macrophages, then the active fractions were tested in rats with lipopolysaccharide-instilled acute lung injury. The work links specific measured constituents of the herb to its anti-inflammatory lung effect, which is the closest preclinical analogue of the traditional cough and wheeze indication.
Investigating the Underlying Mechanisms of Ardisia japonica Extract’s Anti-Blood-Stasis Effect via Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology
Ninety-four compounds were identified in the aqueous extract by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, and in a rat blood stasis model the extract reduced the area of stasis, lowered liver and lung inflammation, lowered plasma viscosity, raised the erythrocyte deformability index and lowered the erythrocyte aggregation index. Plasma untargeted metabolomics implicated cysteine and methionine, linolenic acid and sphingolipid metabolism. This is the preclinical support for the herb's blood-invigorating function.
A new compound, methylbergenin along with eight known compounds with cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity from Ardisia japonica
Methylbergenin was isolated as a new compound from the whole plant along with demethoxybergenin, bergenin, afzelin, quercitrin, bauerenol, bauerenone, alpha-spinasterol and chondrillasterone. Methylbergenin, afzelin, quercitrin, bauerenone and chondrillasterone inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages, and bauerenone and chondrillasterone were cytotoxic to A549 and HepG-2 cells.
Bergenin inhibits ferritinophagy and ferroptosis in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury by activating the p-GSK3β/Nrf2/PPARγ pathway
Bergenin, described by the authors as extracted from Ardisiae Japonicae Herba, protected HK-2 cells and mice against cisplatin nephrotoxicity by binding and phosphorylating GSK3beta, driving Nrf2 nuclear translocation and PPAR gamma activation, and thereby suppressing ferritinophagy-mediated ferroptosis. The protection was lost in Nrf2 knockout mice. Relevant here as the clearest mechanistic account of the herb's main compound, and as the reason to be careful about Nrf2 activation during chemotherapy.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Tu Jing (Illustrated Classic of the Materia Medica), Su Song
Northern Song dynasty, 1061Ben Cao Gang Mu, Li Shizhen
Ming dynasty, 1596Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, monograph for Ai Di Cha (Ardisiae Japonicae Herba)
Modern, editions from 1977 to 2020References
- Yan Ruiqi; Xie Binghan; Xie Kebo; Liu Qi. Unravelling and reconstructing the biosynthetic pathway of bergenin . Nature Communications (2024) [DOI]
- Li Yan-Fang; Hu Li-Hong; Lou Feng-Chang; Li Jia; Shen Qiang. PTP1B inhibitors from Ardisia japonica . Journal of Asian Natural Products Research (2005) [DOI]
- Piacente Sonia; Pizza Cosimo; De Tommasi Nunziatina; Mahmood Naheed. Constituents of Ardisia japonica and Their in Vitro Anti-HIV Activity . Journal of Natural Products (1996) [DOI]
- Reher R; Schamari I; Kehraus S; Annala S; Kuschak M; Schaberle T; Crusemann M; Carlier A; Eberl L; Muller CE; Kostenis E; Konig GM. The endophyte Candidatus Burkholderia crenata of the TCM plant Ardisia crenata produces the selective Gq-inhibitor FR900359 . Planta Medica (2016) [DOI]
- Fujioka Mamoru; Koda Shigetaka; Morimoto Yukiyoshi; Biemann Klaus. Structure of FR900359, a cyclic depsipeptide from Ardisia crenata sims . The Journal of Organic Chemistry (1988) [DOI]
- Newell Amanda M.B.; Yousef Gad G.; Lila Mary Ann; Ramirez-Mares Marco Vinicio; Gonzalez de Mejia Elvira. Comparative in vitro bioactivities of tea extracts from six species of Ardisia and their effect on growth inhibition of HepG2 cells . Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2010) [DOI]
- Chen Yao; Du Kunze; Li Jin; Bai Yun; An Miao; Tan Zhijing; Chang Yan-Xu. A Green and Efficient Method for the Preconcentration and Determination of Gallic Acid, Bergenin, Quercitrin, and Embelin from Ardisia japonica Using Nononic Surfactant Genapol X-080 as the Extraction Solvent . International Journal of Analytical Chemistry (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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