Chinese skullcap

Clinical Notes. TCM=clears heat, dries damp, sedates fire, eliminates toxins, cools blood, indications include damp heat disorders (fever, abdominal fullness, poor appetite, nausea, sensation of heaviness, thirst w/ no desire to drink, tongue-red w/ greasy/yellow coat, pulse-rapid/slippery), jaundice and hepatitis, heat in the middle jiao (sore throat, toothache, oral ulcers, tonsillitis, epigastric burning and discomfort and constipation), damp heat in stomach and intestine (dysentery, burning diarrhea, fever, heat sensations in chest and abdomen, irritability, thirst w/ dry mough, yellow tongue coat and rapid pulse), damp heat in urinary bladder (burning, scanty, painful, dark yellow urine and/or blood in urine), lung heat...

anti-inflammatory. The root has confirmed anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activity, in part through COX-2 inhibition, with a potency likened to phenylbutazone and indomethacin but without their toxicity.

constituents. The yellow root is rich in over 35 flavonoids, chiefly baicalin (6-9%), wogonin, and baicalein, the flavone glycoside baicalin being hydrolyzed by gut bacteria to the well-absorbed aglycone baicalein.

antimicrobial. The root has broad antimicrobial action and is applied for gastrointestinal infections including diarrhea and dysentery, urinary tract infections, and upper respiratory infections with fever.