Bupleurum chinense.  柴 胡 Chái hú   Bupleurum, Thorowax   Family: Umbelliferae   
PART USED: Root- harvested in Spring and Autumn
B. Scorzoneraefolium is known as: Southern Bupleurum. B. chinensis is: Northern Bupleurum.
    FLAVOR: Bitter, pungent  CHANNEL: Liver, Gall Bladder
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Exterior clearing- Cooling
1. Expelling pathogenic factors from the exterior to reduce fever.[4] Promotes perspiration.[1] Clears fevers.[1] Resolves lesser Yang disorders.[6]
2. Disperse Liver Qi congestion.[6] Reduce Liver Fire. Cools Gall bladder Heat. Disperse Energy.[4] Disperse Fire.[4] Liver Fire can lead to high blood pressure- Chai hu can only be used in small amounts for Liver fire, as it has an ascending nature which could make the rising Fire worse.[4] Neutralizes the Liver.[1]
3. Invigorating Spleen Yang.[6]
4. Harmonize.
5. Elevate middle energy.
6. Regulates menstruation.[1] Analgesic- pain in menstruation due to Liver.[4]
ACTIONS INDICATIONS
1. Fever of common Cold with alternating chills and fever- half external half internal.[4] Flu, acute bronchitis.[4] Lesser Yang disorders and reduces fever: alternating chills and fever with a bitter taste in the mouth, flank pain, irritability, vomiting, and a stifling sensation in the chest associated with the lesser yang stage of externally contacted disorders.[6]
2. Feeling of fullness and discomfort in the chest and hypochondrium:[4] Bitter taste in the mouth and dryness in the throat due to pathogenic changes in the Shao yang channel in exogenous febrile disease.[1] Headache, vomiting, backache.[1]
3. Stagnation of Liver Energy:[1,6] feeling of fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm region, dizziness, vertigo, emotional instability, or menstrual problems.[6] Irregular menstruation,[1] due to stagnation of the Liver Qi and Blood deficiency. Rib pain dysmenorrhea caused by Liver Energy Stasis.[4]
4. Liver not communicating with Spleen/Stomach- overcontrolling the Stomach in the Ke cycle: Distention, nausea, abdominal pain, flank pain, stiffling sensation in chest, abodminal bloating, nausea and indigestion.[4,6]
5. Spleen or Stomach deficiency: diarrhea due to collapse of the Spleen Qi, raises the Spleen Yang Qi.[6] Proctoptosis, hysteroptosis, gastroptosis, and short breath, fatigue and lassitude due to deficiency and sinking of Qi.
6. Cooling Heat- antipyretic- Add other more cooling herbs for very high temperature.[4]
7. Malaria.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Because Bupleurum has lifting and floating actions, it is contraindicated for tinnitus, deafness, dizziness and headache caused by exuberance of Fire due to Yin deficiency and hyperactivity of Liver Yang.[4,6] Care should be taken with Lung deficiency with external symptoms, Liver Qi stagnation or Kidney Yin deficiency. Cough due to Yin deficiency.[4]
May occasionally cause nausea or vomiting: should this occur, use a reduced dose.[6]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
NOTE- Chai hu is always combined with Bai shao to decrease its stimulating effects.[4]
PREPARATIONS: Decoction   Root    3-10 g. 3-12 g.[6] Good quality has a long and coarse root with a thin cortex and a few rootlets.
Fluid extract: 1:2 in 45% alcohol[5] 4 ml 2X/day.
Whole plant or leaves 9-15 g.[1,4]
    
HABITAT: Found growing wild on sunny sides of sedge thickets.
DESCRIPTION: Bupleurem is a perennial herb 60 cm in height. Stems; clustered erect. Leaves; alternate, broad linear-lanceolate, apexes acuminate, bases gradually narrowing, margins intact, parallel veins 7-9. In autumn, terminal or axillary small yellow flowers appear to form compound umbellate inflorescences. Fruit; flat, ellipsoid.
References Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research

Antioxidant, anticancer and apoptotic effects of the Bupleurum chinense root extract in HO-8910 ovarian cancer cells.
Gu LY, Chen Z, Zhao J, Ruan XJ, Zhao SY, Gao H.
Abstract
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anticancer, apoptotic and antioxidant properties of Bupleurum chinense (B.C) root extract against human epithelial ovarian cancer cells (HO-8910) in vitro. METHODS:
MTT assay was used to evaluate the cell viability of HO-8910 cells after treatment with different B.C extract doses. Apoptotic and morphological effects induced by the extract were demonstrated by inverted phase contrast microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. The percentage of apoptotic cells was quantified by Annexin V/PI double staining assay. Flow cytometry using rhodamine-123 dye was used to measure disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm). Gel electrophoresis was used to study the effects of the extract on DNA fragmentation. The antioxidant activity of the extract using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazolin-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assays was also evaluated.
RESULTS:
The results showed that B.C extract could induce potent and dose-dependent cytotoxic effects on the HO-8910 cells as demonstrated by MTT assay. The extract also induced cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation and membrane blebbing which are the hallmark of apoptosis. The average proportion of Annexin V-staining positive cells (total apoptotic cells) significantly increased from 9.4% in control cells to 18.5, 28.2 and 50.5% in 20, 80 and 120 μg/ml B.C extract-treated cells respectively. Different doses of the extract (20, 80 and 120 μg/ml) after 48 hrs exposure led to a substantial increase in DNA fragmentation.The number of cells with disrupted Δψm increased from 6.6% in untreated (control cells) to 14.2, 42.1 and 73.4% in 20, 80 and 120 μg/ml in extract-treated cells, respectively
CONCLUSION:
The anticancer effects of Bupleurum chinense extract were mediated through the induction of apoptosis, DNA fragmentation and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential.
PMID: 26537084 J BUON. 2015 Sep-Oct;20(5):1341-9. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Autophagic effects of Chaihu (dried roots of Bupleurum Chinense DC or Bupleurum scorzoneraefolium WILD)
Betty Yuen-Kwan Law,1 Jing-Fang Mo,2 and Vincent Kam-Wai Wongcorresponding author
Abstract
Chaihu, prepared from the dried roots of Bupleurum Chinense DC (also known as bei Chaihu in Chinese) or Bupleurum scorzoneraefolium WILD (also known as nan Chaihu in Chinese), is a herbal medicine for harmonizing and soothing gan (liver) qi stagnation. Substantial pharmacological studies have been conducted on Chaihu and its active components (saikosaponins). One of the active components of Chaihu, saikosaponin-d, exhibited anticancer effects via autophagy induction. This article reviews the pharmacological findings for the roles of autophagy in the pharmacological actions of Chaihu and saikosaponins. Chin Med. 2014; 9: 21.
Published online 2014 Sep 11. doi: 10.1186/1749-8546-9-21
PMCID: PMC4165614 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Neuroprotective oleanane triterpenes from the roots of Bupleurum chinense.
Li DQ, et al. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2016.
Abstract
The discovery of new natural compounds with pharmacological properties is an increasingly important field, and a continuous phytochemical investigation of the roots of Bupleurum chinense D.C. has led to the isolation of 17 triterpenoids, including three new oleanane triterpenes (1-3) together with 14 known ones. Their structures were determined on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectra as well as HR-ESI-MS data. The cytotoxicities of all compounds against five selected human cancer cell lines were assayed. Only compounds 9 and 14 exhibited moderate activities. Recently, a number of investigations have focused on the neuroprotective properties of triterpenoids in B. chinense. In order to expand our knowledge about this herb, the neuroprotective effects of compounds 1-17 against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced neuronal cell damage in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were evaluated. Compounds 1-3, 6-7 showed significant neuroprotective effects against H2O2-induced SH-SY5Y cell death. Preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) between neuroprotective effects and the isolates were also discussed.
PMID 26883148 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Bupleurum chinense DC polysaccharides attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice.
Xie JY1, Di HY, Li H, Cheng XQ, Zhang YY, Chen DF.
Abstract
Bupleurum chinense DC had hepato-protective, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, and immunomodulatory effect in traditional Chinese medicine. This study was to determine whether the crude polysaccharides isolated from the roots of Bupleurum chinense DC (BCPs) attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury in mice. Mice were challenged with LPS intratracheally 2h before BCPs (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg) administration. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected 24h after LPS challenge. Treatment with BCPs reduced lung wet-to-dry weight ratio. The elevated number of total cells and protein concentration in BALF was reduced. The increased level of myeloperoxidase (MPO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in BALF, and serum nitric oxide (NO) were also inhibited. BCPs significantly attenuated lung injury with improved lung morphology and reduced complement deposition. These results suggested that the effect of BCPs against ALI might be related with its inhibitory effect on excessive activation of complement and on the production of proinflammatory mediators.
PMID: 22112722 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.08.057 Phytomedicine. 2012 Jan 15;19(2):130-7. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.08.057. Epub 2011 Nov 22. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov