zanthoxylum nitidum

Zanthoxylum nitidum is a woody climbing plant in the Rutaceae family, widely used in traditional Chinese medicine and folk medicine across Asia. It is known as Liang-Mian-Zhen in China and shiny-leaf prickly-ash elsewhere. Traditionally, it has been used to treat stomach ache, toothache, rheumatic arthralgia, traumatic injury, venomous snake bites, gingivitis, fever, colic vomiting, diarrhea and cholera. Modern pharmacological studies have identified over 150 chemical constituents from Zanthoxylum nitidum—primarily alkaloids—with demonstrated anti-inflammatory (including NF-κB pathway inhibition), analgesic (pain relief), haemostatic (stopping bleeding), anticancer (notably cytotoxicity against several human cancer cell lines), antibacterial and antiviral activities. The plant’s extracts are also being investigated for use in treating paronychia caused by afatinib. Its main active compounds include various alkaloids such as nitidine chloride which exhibits anti-tumor effects via STAT3 pathway inhibition among others[1][2][3][4][5]. Despite its long history of medicinal use and promising biological activities shown in vitro and animal models—including modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α—comprehensive clinical data are limited[1][2]. Toxicity studies suggest some risk to liver/kidney/heart at high doses or with certain constituents[5].

Other names

zanthoxylum nitidumLiang-Mian-Zhenshiny-leaf prickly-ashFagara nitida