Weeping Forsythia Capsule
Official name: Fructus Forsythiae
English name: Weeping forsythia capsule
Scientific nameForsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl
Chinese name: 連翹
Chinese phonetic name: lian qiao
Weeping forsythia capsule
Source
The dried fruit of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl of the Oleaceae family. [1]
Place of origin
Weeping forsythia capsule is mainly produced in Northern East and Northern China, Yangtze River Basin and Yunnan province. [2][3]
Properties
Weeping forsythia capsule is bitter in flavor, slightly cold in nature, and mainly manifests its therapeutic actions in the heart, lung and small intestine meridians. [1]
Major Chemical Constituents
Major active components in Weeping forsythia capsule include lignans, flavonoid and benzene ethane derivatives, salidroside, forsythoside E, quinolacetic acid, rengyolone etc. [4]
Drug actions in TCM
Weeping forsythia capsule removes heat toxin to disperse swelling, eliminate nodular mass, and disperse wind-heat.[1]
Traditional Uses in TCM
Traditionally, Weeping forsythia capsule is used to treat various infections such as carbuncles, boils, lymphadenitis, mastitis, erysipelas and upper respiratory infection; feverish conditions that lead to thirst, delirium and skin rash; and acute urinary infection with painful and scanty urination. [1][2]
Weeping forsythia capsule clears heart fire, resolves skin sores and eliminates nodular mass
Due to its bitter flavor and cold nature, weeping forsythia capsule is regarded as the supreme herb for skin sores. The herb is often combined with honeysuckle flower, dandelion and wild chrysanthemum to resolve different skin infections. For conditions that formed nodular mass, weeping forsythia capsule is often combined with selfheal fruit spike, thunberg fritillary bulb, figwort root and processed oyster shell, which are aimed to regulate the liver and resolves the masses.
Weeping forsythia capsule is specialized in clearing heart fire and expelling wind-heat in the upper body
For feverish conditions that caused by external contractions, weeping forsythia capsule is often used in combination with honeysuckle flower, peppermint and great burdock fruit. A representative formula is the Honeysuckle and Forsythia Powder (Yin Qiao San), which aims to relieve early symptoms of upper respiration infection, such as headache, fever, thirst and throat soreness. For feverish conditions that lead to unconsciousness, the herb is used with dwarf lily-turf tuber and lotus plumule to clear heat in the pericardium and resume mental state. Excess heat irritating the blood can lead to irritability, bleeding under the skin, and unconsciousness, which can be relieved by weeping forsythia capsule along with buffalo horn, rehmannia root and honeysuckle flower, the Clear the Nutritive Level Decoction (Qing Ying Tang) is a representative formula for the condition.
Pharmacological effects
Studies showed that weeping forsythia capsule has effects like anti-bacterial, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, liver protection, antioxidant and anti-ageing.[3][5][6]
Administration and dosage
Decoction, 6-15g. [1]
Cautions
Not suitable for individuals with a deficient cold of spleen and stomach, and also qi deficiency with a thin pus. [2]
