Tussilago farfara.  Kuǎn dōnɡ huā   Coltsfoot  Family: Asteraceae 
PART USED: Flower- the bud harvested in Summer
Nature: Warm     FLAVOR: Pungent   CHANNELS: Lung
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Antitussive and Expectorant Clearing- Breathing
1. Redirects Qi downwards and stops coughing.[2] Relieve cough, transform Sputum.[1]
INDICATIONS
1. Cough and wheezing from many differenct etiologies.[2] Since it has a Warm nature it is often used for coughs due to different types of Cold.[2] Chronic or acute cough, asthma, sputum containing blood.[1]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Cough due to Heat. According to some traditonal sources, this herb antagonizes Scrophularia ningpoensis- Xuan shen and counteracts Fritillaria thunbergii- Bei mu, Ephedra sinica- Ma huang, Magnolia liliflora- Xin yi hua, Scutellaria baicalensis- Huang qin, Coptis chinensis- Huang lian, Astragalus~propinquus- Huang qi.
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Dry flower in the bud 4-9 g.[1] 1.5-9 g.[2] Frying in honey enhances its ability to moisten the Lungs.[2] Good quality is large, firm, and has a fresh, purplish red color.


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.Tussilago farfara- Coltsfoot

Constituents.

Safety and herb-drug interactions.

Research.
Carcinogenic activity of coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara
Hirono I, Mori H, Culvenor CC.
Abstract
The carcinogenicity of young, pre-blooming flowers of coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara L., which is a herb of the tribe Senecioneae, family Compositae, and widely used as a herbal remedy, was studied in inbred strain ACI rats. Rats were divided into 4 groups: Group I received 32% coltsfoot diet for 4 days, and subsequently 16% diet until the termination of experiment. Groups II and III respectively received 8% and 4% coltsfoot diet for 600 days. Group IV was fed a normal diet as a control group. The experiments were terminated 600 days after the start of administration of coltsfoot diet. All the rats in Group I survived beyond 380 days after the start of feeding and 8 out of 12 rats developed hemangioendothelial sarcoma in the liver, whereas only one out of 10 rats developed the tumor in Group II, and no tumors were observed in Group III. Chemical studies on the dried, young flowers used in this experiment suggested that the carcinogenicity of coltsfoot is most probably due to senkirkine, a hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid.
PMID: 1269853 Gan. 1976 Feb;67(1):125-9. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  

Tussilago farfara L. augments TRAIL-induced apoptosis through MKK7/JNK activation by inhibition of MKK7-TIPRL in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
Lee HJ, Cho HS, Jun SY, Lee JJ, Yoon JY, Lee JH, Song HH, Choi SH, Kim SY, Saloura V, Park CG, Kim NS.
Abstract
Induction of apoptosis through activation of the TRAIL pathway is considered to be a promising anticancer strategy due to its ability to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells. However, the ability of cancer cells to acquire TRAIL resistance has limited the clinical translation of this approach. We previously reported that the TOR signaling pathway regulator-like (TIPRL) protein contributes to the resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by inhibiting the MKK7-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway via MKK7-TIPRL interaction. In the present study, we identified Tussilago farfara L. (TF) as a novel TRAIL sensitizer among 500 natural products using an ELISA system that specifically detects the MKK7-TIPRL interaction, and we validated candidates by GST-pull down assay. Co-treatment of Huh7 cells with TF and TRAIL induced apoptosis via inhibition of the MKK7-TIPRL interaction and an increase in MKK7/JNK phosphorylation. This is the first report to describe TF as a novel TRAIL sensitizer, unveiling a potentially novel therapeutic strategy in cancer therapy.
PMID: 24969837 DOI: 10.3892/or.2014.3279
Oncol Rep. 2014 Sep;32(3):1117-23. doi: 10.3892/or.2014.3279. Epub 2014 Jun 23. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov