Kushen, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the dried root of Sophora flavescens Ait., a plant belonging to the genus Sophora in the Fabaceae family.This product has the effects of clearing heat, drying dampness, killing parasites, and promoting urination. It is primarily used to treat febrile dysentery, bloody stools, jaundice with anuria, red and white vaginal discharge, genital swelling and itching, eczema, damp sores, skin itching, scabies, tinea, and leprosy; it is also used externally to treat trichomoniasis vaginitis.
Kushen
Kushen, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the dried root of Sophora flavescens Ait., a plant belonging to the genus Sophora in the Fabaceae family.This product has the effects of clearing heat, drying dampness, killing parasites, and promoting urination. It is primarily used to treat febrile dysentery, bloody stools, jaundice with anuria, red and white vaginal discharge, genital swelling and itching, eczema, damp sores, skin itching, scabies, tinea, and leprosy; it is also used externally to treat trichomoniasis vaginitis.
Chinese Name : 苦参
Latin Name : Sophorae Flavescentis Radix
Aliases : Ground Locust, Hero’s Branch, Mountain Locust Seed, Wild Locust
Authentic Producing Area : Found in most regions of the country
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Cold in nature, bitter in taste; enters the Heart, Liver, Stomach, Large Intestine, and Bladder meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Clears heat and dries dampness; kills parasites; promotes urination.
Indications
Used for febrile dysentery, bloody stools, jaundice with anuria, red and white vaginal discharge, genital swelling and itching, eczema, damp sores, skin itching, scabies, tinea, and leprosy; externally used to treat trichomoniasis vaginitis.
Usage and Dosage
1. Internal use: Decoct and take 4.5–9 g. 2. External use: Use an appropriate amount; decoct and use the solution to wash the affected area.
Precautions
1. Should not be used in combination with Lepidium. 2. Contraindicated for patients with spleen and stomach deficiency-cold.
Chemical Constituents
This product contains alkaloids such as matrine, matrine oxide, isomatrine, sophocarpine, isosophocarpine, sophamine, and sophocarpine oxide; it also contains flavonoid compounds such as matrine C, matrine G, isomatrinone, matrine alcohol, and neomatrine alcohol.
Pharmacological Actions
This product has a marked inhibitory effect on the heart, slowing the heart rate, weakening myocardial contractility, and reducing cardiac output; Sophora flavescens, matrine, and Sophora flavonoids all possess antiarrhythmic effects; Sophora flavescens injection exerts a rapid and sustained effect against arrhythmias induced by aconitine and also has a hypotensive effect;its decoction inhibits Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, and also inhibits various skin fungi. It also has diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, sedative, bronchodilatory, expectorant, and leukocyte-enhancing effects.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Shennong Bencao Jing*: “Treats qi stagnation in the heart and abdomen, masses and accumulations, jaundice, and residual urine; expels water; eliminates abscesses and swellings; tonifies the middle jiao; improves vision and stops tearing.”
2. *Mingyi Bielu*: “It nourishes the qi of the liver and gallbladder, stabilizes the five viscera, calms the mind, enhances essence, clears the nine orifices, eliminates latent heat, treats intestinal dysentery, quenches thirst, alleviates hangovers, treats yellowish-red urine, and cures malignant sores.”
3. *Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Substances*: “It treats heat-toxin wind, restlessness of the skin and muscles accompanied by sores, red leprosy, and eyebrow loss; it is primarily used to eliminate severe fever and excessive salivation.”
4. *Ben Cao Zheng Yi*: “It reduces fever, promotes drainage and descent, and purges damp-heat. Its effects are similar to those of Scutellaria baicalensis, Coptis chinensis, and Gentiana scabra; however, the bitterness of Sophora flavescens is even more intense, and its drying properties are particularly potent. Therefore, it can kill parasites caused by damp-heat, and its potency is even greater than that of Scutellaria baicalensis and Coptis chinensis.”
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. To treat diarrhea and dysentery caused by damp-heat in the stomach and intestines, it may be used alone—for example, in *Ren Cun Tang’s Empirical Formulas*, where it is made into pills to treat persistent bloody dysentery; or combined with Wood Fragrance (Mu Xiang), as in the Fragrant Kusan Pills (*Compilation of Extraordinary Formulas*);To treat bloody stools and hemorrhoidal bleeding caused by damp-heat, it can be combined with Sheng Di Huang (Rehmannia glutinosa), as in the Kushen-Di Huang Pills (from *The Great Compendium of Surgery*); to treat jaundice resulting from the accumulation and steaming of damp-heat, it can be combined with Longdan (Gentiana) and ox bile, among others.
2. To treat damp-heat leukorrhea, vaginal swelling, and itching, it can be combined with Shechuangzi (Cnidium monnieri) and Heshu (Ctenolepis), as in the Ta Yang Decoction (from *The Authentic Treatise on Surgery*);For treating eczema and damp sores, it is effective when used alone in a decoction for external washing, or combined with Phellodendron and Cnidium monnieri in a decoction for external washing; for treating skin itching, it can be combined with Sapindus, Schizonepeta, and other herbs, such as in the Ginseng-Sapindus Pills (from *Jifeng Puji Fang*); when combined with Fangfeng, Chantu, Jingjie, and other herbs, it can treat itching associated with wind rashes, as in the Xiao Feng San (from *Authentic Treatise on Surgery*); for treating scabies, it can be decocted with Sichuan pepper for external application, as in the Shen Jiao Tang (from *Comprehensive Book of Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment*), or combined with sulfur and calcined alum to make an ointment for topical application.
Related Compatibility
1. Sophora flavescens Combined with Wood Fragrance: Sophora flavescens clears heat, dries dampness, and stops dysentery; Wood Fragrance regulates qi, relieves pain, strengthens the spleen, and aids digestion. When used together, these two herbs enhance the effects of clearing heat, drying dampness, stopping dysentery, regulating qi, and relieving pain. Suitable for damp-heat dysentery and abdominal pain with diarrhea caused by food stagnation.
2. Sophora flavescens combined with Angelica sinensis: Sophora flavescens is bitter and cold, excelling at clearing heat and drying dampness; Angelica sinensis is pungent and warm, excelling at invigorating and nourishing the blood. When used together—one warm, one cold; one dispersing, one draining—they synergistically promote blood circulation, resolve stasis, dry dampness, and clear heat. This combination is suitable for acne and bumps on the face, chest, and back caused by damp-heat and blood stasis, as well as red, hot skin and rosacea.
3. Sophora Root Combined with Cnidium: Sophora Root can clear heat, dry dampness, dispel wind-toxin, kill parasites, and relieve itching; Cnidium excels at killing parasites, relieving itching, drying dampness, and dispelling wind. When used together, the effects of clearing heat, drying dampness, dispelling wind, killing parasites, and relieving itching are enhanced. This combination is suitable for treating hives, skin itching, leukorrhea in women, and genital itching.
4. Kusan combined with Poria: Kusan has a descending and draining nature and excels at clearing damp-heat in the lower jiao to facilitate bladder qi transformation; it promotes urination, allowing damp-heat to be expelled through the urine. Poria has a mild, diuretic effect to drain dampness; its nature is mild and balanced, capable of expelling pathogenic factors without harming the body’s vital energy. When used together, the efficacy of clearing heat and promoting urination is enhanced. This combination is suitable for difficulty urinating caused by the accumulation of damp-heat in the lower jiao.
Medicinal Identification
1. Gentiana and Sophora flavescens: Both are bitter and cold in nature and action, excelling at clearing damp-heat in the lower jiao. They treat liver and gallbladder damp-heat, jaundice, and dark urine; as well as damp-heat descending to the lower jiao, resulting in red or white vaginal discharge, genital swelling, and itching.However, Kushen also has diuretic and anthelmintic properties, promoting the elimination of damp-heat through urination. It can treat damp-heat accumulation in the bladder, resulting in dysuria, burning, and painful urination; it can also kill parasites and relieve itching, making it useful for eczema, damp sores, skin itching, scabies, tinea, and leprosy.Gentiana, which is bitter and cold, possesses an even stronger descending and purging action. It excels at clearing and purging excess fire in the liver and gallbladder; it can be used to treat liver-fire headaches, red eyes, deafness, flank pain, and a bitter taste in the mouth, as well as high fever, convulsions, and spasms of the hands and feet caused by excessive heat in the liver meridian that generates wind.
2. Kushen and Qinpi: Both are bitter and cold in nature, used to clear heat and dry dampness. They are primarily indicated for damp-heat-induced diarrhea and dysentery, intestinal wind with bloody stools, and yellow vaginal discharge.However, Kusan is particularly effective at clearing damp-heat in the lower jiao; it also promotes urination, allowing damp-heat to be expelled through the urine, and can kill parasites and relieve itching. It is used for genital swelling and itching caused by damp-heat descending to the lower jiao, as well as eczema, damp sores, and urinary dysfunction—such as difficulty urinating, burning sensation, and painful urination—resulting from damp-heat stagnation in the bladder.Qinpi has an astringent and constricting taste; it can clear heat, dry dampness, and detoxify, as well as astringe to stop dysentery and vaginal discharge. It can also clear liver fire and improve vision, and is used for liver fire stagnation, red, swollen, and painful eyes, and corneal opacities.
Related Medicines
Shi Du Qing Capsules, Fu Yan Ping Capsules, You Du Qing Granules, Li Bi Ling Tablets, Hua Zhi Suppositories.
Related Prescriptions
Xiaofeng Powder (from *Authentic Treatise on Surgery*).
Medicinal Diet Therapy
Kushen and Eggs:
1. Effects: Clears heat and detoxifies; dries dampness and relieves itching.
2. Ingredients: 6 grams of Sophora flavescens, 2 eggs, 60 grams of brown sugar.
3. Preparation: First, add Sophora flavescens to 400 milliliters of water and simmer for about 30 minutes; strain out the residue and retain the liquid. Then, add the eggs and brown sugar to the decoction and cook until the eggs are done.
4. Usage: While still hot, peel the eggs and consume them along with the broth in one sitting. Take once daily; a course of treatment consists of 4 days.
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with Chinese herbal medicine should first consult a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital to receive a prescription following a professional TCM differential diagnosis.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest in spring or autumn; remove the root crown and small lateral roots, wash thoroughly, and dry. Alternatively, slice while fresh and dry.
Processing Methods
1. Sophora Root: Take the raw herb, remove any remaining root crowns and impurities, sort by size, wash thoroughly, soak briefly until thoroughly moistened, cut into thick slices, and dry.
2. Charred Sophora Root: Place Sophora root slices in a hot pan and stir-fry over high heat until the surface is charred black and the interior is charred yellow. Sprinkle with a small amount of clean water to extinguish all embers, remove from heat, and allow to cool completely.Charred Sophora root stops bleeding and treats dysentery; it is commonly used for febrile dysentery and bloody stools.
3. Wheat Bran-Fried Sophora Root: Sprinkle wheat bran into a hot pan and heat until smoke rises; add Sophora root slices, stir rapidly, and fry until the surface turns yellow. Remove, sift out the wheat bran, and allow to cool. Use 18 kg of wheat bran for every 100 kg of Sophora root slices.
Storage Methods
Store in a well-ventilated, dry place.
Crude Drug Identification
Identification
1. The powder of this product is pale yellow. The cork cells are pale brown; when viewed in cross-section, they appear flattened and rectangular with slightly curved walls; when viewed from the surface, they appear polygonal, with irregular fine cracks on the transverse walls and discontinuous pits on the vertical walls.Fibers and crystalline fibers are mostly arranged in bundles; the fibers are slender and elongated, with a diameter of 11–27 μm, thick walls, and are non-lignified; cells surrounding the fiber bundles contain calcium oxalate prisms, forming crystalline fibers, and the walls of these crystal-containing cells are unevenly thickened. The calcium oxalate prisms are bipyramidal, rhombohedral, or polyhedral in shape, with a diameter of up to approximately 237 μm.Starch grains: single grains are subcircular or oblong, 2–20 μm in diameter, with a fissured hilum; the layer rings of large grains are faintly visible; compound grains are numerous, consisting of 2–12 subgrains.
2. Prepare a transverse section of this specimen and add a few drops of sodium hydroxide solution; the cork tissue immediately turns orange-red, gradually changing to blood-red, and the color persists even after prolonged exposure; the xylem shows no color reaction.
3. Take 0.5 g of the powdered sample, add 0.3 mL of concentrated ammonia solution and 25 mL of chloroform, let stand overnight, filter, evaporate the filtrate to dryness, and dissolve the residue in 0.5 mL of chloroform to prepare the test solution.Separately, take reference standards of matrine and sophocarpine, add ethanol to prepare a mixed solution containing 0.2 mg of each per 1 mL, and use this as the reference solution.Perform the test according to the thin-layer chromatography method (General Chapter 0502). Pipette 4 μL of each of the two solutions mentioned above and apply them separately to the same silica gel G thin-layer plate prepared with a 2% sodium hydroxide solution. Develop the plate using a mobile phase of toluene-acetone-methanol (8:3:0.5) over a distance of 8 cm. Remove the plate, allow it to air-dry, and then develop it again using the upper layer of a mobile phase consisting of toluene-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (2:4:2:1)—the upper layer of which has been kept at a temperature below 10°C—as the developing solvent; develop the plate, remove it, and allow it to air-dry; then spray successively with potassium bismuth iodide solution and sodium nitrite in ethanol. In the test sample chromatogram, orange spots corresponding to those in the reference standard chromatogram shall appear at the same positions.
4. Take a reference standard of oxymatrine, dissolve it in ethanol to prepare a solution containing 0.2 mg per mL, and use this as the reference standard solution.Test by thin-layer chromatography (General Chapter 0502): Pipette 4 μL each of the test solution from item 3 [Identification] and the above reference solution, and apply them separately to the same silica gel G plate prepared with 2% sodium hydroxide solution, using a mobile phase of chloroform–methanol–concentrated ammonia solution (5:0.6:0.3)with the lower layer of the mixture—which has been kept at a temperature below 10°C—as the developing agent. Develop the plates, remove them, allow them to air-dry, and spray them successively with potassium bismuth iodide solution and sodium nitrite-ethanol solution. In the test sample chromatogram, orange spots corresponding to those in the reference standard chromatogram appear at the same positions.
Properties of Crude Drugs
This product is oblong and cylindrical, often branched at the base, 10–30 cm long, and 1–6.5 cm in diameter. The surface is grayish-brown or brownish-yellow, with longitudinal wrinkles and transverse, lenticular protrusions. The outer bark is thin, often cracked and curled back, and easily peels off; the exposed surface is yellow and smooth.It is hard and difficult to break; the fracture surface is fibrous. Slices are 3–6 mm thick; the cross-section is yellowish-white, with radial striations and fissures; some slices contain atypical vascular bundles arranged in concentric rings or scattered irregularly. It has a faint odor and an extremely bitter taste.
Properties of Processed Slices
1. Kushen: This product consists of thick, roundish or irregularly shaped slices. The outer bark is grayish-brown or brownish-yellow; sometimes, elongated, horizontal lenticel-like protrusions are visible. The outer bark is thin, often cracked, curled back, or shed; the exposed surface is yellow or brownish-yellow and smooth. The cross-section is yellowish-white, fibrous, with radial striations and fissures; some specimens exhibit concentric rings. It has a faint odor and an extremely bitter taste.
2. Charred Sophora Root: Resembles Sophora Root in shape; the surface is charred black, and the interior is charred yellow; it has a faint odor and a slightly bitter taste.
3. Wheat Bran-Fried Sophora Root: Resembles Sophora Root in shape; the surface is yellow; it has a faint odor and a bitter taste.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Sophora flavescens, a plant of the genus Sophora in the Fabaceae family.
Morphological Characteristics
A deciduous subshrub, 1.5–3 m tall. The root is cylindrical with a yellowish-white outer bark. The leaves are odd-pinnate, 20–25 cm long, and alternate; there are 15–29 leaflets, which are lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 3–4 cm long and 1.2–2 cm wide, with an acuminate apex, rounded base, short petioles, entire margins, and the underside densely covered with appressed soft hairs;Stipules are linear. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 15–20 cm long, covered with short hairs, with linear bracts; the calyx is campanulate, flattened, 6–7 mm long, and shallowly 5-lobed; the corolla is papilionaceous, pale yellowish-white; the standard is spatulate, the wings lack auricles and are equal in length to the keel;10 stamens, filaments free; ovary stalk pubescent, stigma rounded. Pod linear, with a long beak at the apex, indehiscent when mature, 5–8 cm long. Slight constrictions between seeds, forming an indistinct bead-like arrangement, sparsely covered with short soft hairs. 3–7 seeds, nearly spherical, black. Flowering period: May–July; fruiting period: July–September.
Distribution Area
Distributed throughout China.