Coptis chinensis.   黄 连  Huáng lián  Coptis    
PART USED: Rhizome- harvested late Autumn
.     FLAVOR: Very Bitter  CHANNEL: Heart, Liver, Stomach, Large Intestine, Gall Bladder
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Clearing Internal Heat- Drying Dampness
1. Clear Heat and drains Damp.[5]
2. Drains Fire and relieves toxicity.[5]
3. Clears Heart Fire.[5]
4. Clears Heat and stops bleeding.[5]
5. Drains Stomach Fire.[5]
6. Topically clears Heat.[5]
ACTIONS
INDICATIONS
1. Damp Heat affecting:
- Large intestine manifestested as diarrhea, dysentery, and tenesmus. Enteritis. Fire caused diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Bacterial dysentery- Use only one herb- Huang Lian tablets. Damp Heat in the Stomach or intestines: diarrhea or dysenteric disorder.[5]
- Middle Jiao, manifested as feeling of fullness in the Stomach or abdomen, nausea and vomiting.[4] Bitter taste in mouth.[4] Vomiting due to Damp Heat.[4] T- red body- acute gastritis.[4] Vomiting and/or acid regurgitation due to Stomach Heat.[5] Digestiv dysfunction with bad breath and belching with a putrid odor.[5]
2. Acute febrile diseases with excessive pathogenic Fire and Heat manifested as high fever, dysphoria, unconsciousness and delirium. It is often used in Coptis & Scute- Huang lian jie du tang.
- In cases with exuberant fire due to hyperactivity of the Heart shown as restlessness and insomnia due to lack of communication between Heart and Kidneys.[5]
- Or bleeding due to invasion of the Blood by exuberant Fire and heat, such as hematemesis, and epistaxis, otitis media.
3. Supporative infections of skin, such as sores, carbuncles, furuncles and boils, septicemia induced by furunculosis, swellings and pain in the ears and eyes, exudative skin infections and pruritus. Mouth Canker. Scabies. Skin eruption, impetigo. It is used internally or externally in combination with other drugs with regard to the actual conditions. Red and painful eyes and ulcerations of the tongue and mouth.[5]
4. Bleeding symptoms; nosebleed, or blood in the urine, stool, or vomit due to reckless movement of the Blood.[5]
5. Hot disease- giddiness, dilirium, dry mouth P- full, bad taste in mouth.[4]
6. Topically- Often used as a powder or ointment for external disorders, including eye problems.[5]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: This drug is very bitter and cold and therefore, it should not be given in large amount or over a long period ot time so as to avoid damage of the Stomach.[3,4] Damages the Spleen/Stomach.[4]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
         
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

Significant differences in alkaloid content of Coptis chinensis (Huang lian), from its related American species
Shreya Kamath, Matthew Skeels, and Aswini Pai
Abstract
Background
The growing popularity of Chinese herbal medicine in the United States has prompted large-scale import of raw herbs from Asia. Many of the Asian herbs have phylogenetically related North American species. We compared three phylogenetically related species, namely Coptis chinensis (Huanglian), Hydrastis canadensis and Coptis trifolia to show whether they can be substituted by one another in terms of alkaloid content.
Methods
We used microwave assisted extraction to obtain alkaloids berberine, coptisine, palmatine and hydrastine. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify each alkaloid.
Results
Hydrastis canadensis has the most berberine, whereas Coptis trifolia has the most coptisine. Hydrastine and palmatine were unique to Hydrastis canadensis and Coptis chinensis respectively.
Conclusion
Neither Hydrastis canadensis nor Coptis trifolia contains all the alkaloids found in Coptis chinensis used in Chinese medicine. Substitutes of this Chinese species by its American relatives are not recommended.
Chin Med. 2009; 4: 17. Published online 2009 Aug 24.  doi: 10.1186/1749-8546-4-17  PMCID: PMC2744916  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Inhibitory effects of golden thread (Coptis chinensis) and berberine on Microcystis aeruginosa.
Zhang S, Zhang B, Xing K, Zhang X, Tian X, Dai W.
Abstract
The effects of 40 Chinese herbs on Microcystis aeruginosa growth were monitored spectrophotometrically. Golden thread (Coptis chinensis) exhibited the best inhibitory effects. Cell density of M. aeruginosa decreased with the increasing concentrations of golden thread and the prolongation of exposure time. Decreases in protein content, carbohydrate content, and chlorophyll a content were observed in a golden thread concentration-dependent manner after 96 h exposure. Changes in cell density, protein content, carbohydrate content, and chlorophyll a content of M. aeruginosa exposed to berberine, the main component of golden thread, were also investigated. It was observed that berberine exhibited the same inhibitory effects on M. aeruginosa. The results suggested that golden thread could inhibit M. aeruginosas growth effectively, and berberine might be the main allelochemical implementing the inhibitory effects of golden thread.
PMID: 20150713 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2010.857 Water Sci Technol. 2010;61(3):763-9. doi: 10.2166/wst.2010.857. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The effect of Rhizoma coptidis and Coptis chinensis aqueous extract on radiation-induced skin injury in a rat model
Xi-Jing Wang, Shuai Lin, Hua-Feng Kang, Zhi-Jun Dai, Ming-Hua Bai, Xiu-Long Ma, Xiao-Bin Ma, Meng-jie Liu, Xiao-Xu Liu, and Bao-Feng Wang corresponding author
Abstract
Background
Radiation-induced skin injury is a common complication of radiotherapy. The RHIZOMA COPTIDIS and COPTIS CHINENSIS aqueous extract (RCE) can ameliorate radiation-induced skin injury in our clinical observation. But, the protective mechanism of RHIZOMA COPTIDIS and COPTIS CHINENSIS in radiation-induced skin injury remains unclear.
Methods
In this experiment, we developed a radiation-induced skin injury rat model to study the mechanism. The animals were randomly divided into control group, treatment group, radiation group, and treatment and radiation group. 5 rats in each group were separately executed on 2 d and 49 d post-radiation. The semi-quantitative skin injury score was used to measure skin reactions by unblinded observers, and hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to evaluate the damage areas by irradiation. The MDA content, SOD activity of skin and serum were measured to detect the oxidative stress.
Results
Acute skin reactions were caused by a single dose of 45 Gy of β-ray irradiation, and the skin injury could be found in all rats receiving irradiation based on the observation of HE staining of skin at different time-points, while RCE could significantly ameliorate those changes. The MDA content in serum and skin of control rats was 4.13 ± 0.12 mmol/ml and 4.95 ± 0.35 mmol/mgprot on 2 d post-radiation. The rats receiving radiation showed an increased content of MDA (5.54 ± 0.21 mmol/ml and 7.10 ± 0.32 mmol/mgprot), while it was 4.57 ± 0.21 mmol/ml and 5.95 ± 0.24 mmol/mgprot after treated with RCE (p < 0.05). Similar changes of the MDA content could be seen on 49 d post-radiation. However, the SOD activity of rats receiving radiation decreased compared with control group on both time-points, which was inhibited by RCE (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, no valuable changes could be found between control group and treatment group on 2 d and 49 d.
Conclusions
Our study provides evidences for the radioprotective role of RCE against radiation-induced skin damage in rats by modulating oxidative stress in skin, which may be a useful therapy for radiation-induced skin injury.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013; 13: 105.
Published online 2013 May 15. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-105 PMCID: PMC3694038 PMID: 23675786 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Berberine and Coptidis Rhizoma as novel antineoplastic agents: A review of traditional use and biomedical investigations
JunTang, YibinFeng, SaiwahTsao, NingWang, Robert Curtain, YouweiWang
Abstract
Coptidis Rhizoma (Huanglian) and its major component, berberine, have drawn extensive attention toward their antineoplastic effects in the recent years. The antineoplastic effects are related to the Chinese Medicine (CM) properties of Huangliang in treating diseases by removing damp-heat and purging fire and counteracting toxicity.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.009 sciencedirect.com