Hai Feng Teng (Caulis Piperis Kadsurae or Kadsura Pepper Stem)

Hai Feng Teng (Caulis Piperis Kadsurae or Kadsura Pepper Stem)

What Is Hai Feng Teng

Hai Feng Teng commonly known as Caulis Piperis Kadsurae or Kadsura Pepper Stem is the vine of Piper kadsura, which is an evergreen woody liana belonging to the family Piperaceae. It is a practical Chinese herbal medicine, which first appeared in <Ben Cao Zai Xin> (Renewed Materia Medica) in the 21st year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1,841 AD).

Piper kadsura likes a high temperature, humidity, and calm wind environment. They grow well in well-structured, easily drained, deep, relatively fertile, slightly acidic, or neutral sandy loam soils. They are often found in low-altitude forests or climbing trees or rocks. They are distributed in Korea, Japan, and the southern coastal areas of China.

In summer and autumn, people gather the vines of Piper kadsura, remove their leaves and roots, dry them in the sun, cut them into thick slices, and make them into herbal medicines.

Piper kadsura

Hai Feng Teng contains futornone, futoquinol, pipernone, galgravin, veraguensin, kadsurenone, -denudatin B, kadsurenin A-M, acuminatin, licarin A, burchellin, α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, sabinene, camphene, isoasarone, β-phellandrene, humulene, β-guaiene, γ-elemene, elemol, β-bisabolene, futoamide, piperlactam S, pellitorine, futoxide, pipataline, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, isoflavone, valine, and daueosteml.

Generally, gray-brown or brown and fragile Hai Feng Teng with a strong fragrance is preferred.

According to <Ben Cao Zai Xin>, the medicinal nature of Hai Feng Teng is slightly warm, with a pungent and bitter taste. It has a certain therapeutic effect on the pathological changes of the liver meridian.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is often used to expel wind and dampness, activate meridians and relieve pain, and treat rheumatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bronchitis, acute cerebral infarction, transient ischemic attack, cerebral arteriosclerosis, vascular dementia, multiple cerebral infarction dementia, cerebral hemorrhage sequelae, joint pain, waist and knee pain, muscular spasms, numbness of limbs, disadvantageous flexion and extension of joints, stroke, facial distortion, hemiplegia, traumatic injury, and angina pectoris.

There are about 50 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions containing it, such as Tian He Zhui Feng Gao, San Feng Huo Luo Wan, and Bao Gu Huo Luo Wan.

Benefits

  • Anti-inflammation, inhibiting xylene-induced mouse ear swelling and sterile cotton ball-induced mouse granulation tissue growth.
  • Increasing the pain threshold and inhibiting the pain caused by the hot plate experiment in mice.
  • Anti-oxidation, enhancing superoxide dismutase activity and reducing malondialdehyde content.
  • Inhibiting platelet-activating factor-induced aggregation of rabbit platelets.
  • Resisting the DNA damage of nerve cells after ischemia, reducing delayed neuron death and nerve cell necrosis, and protecting ischemic brain tissue.
  • Inhibiting the expression of amyloid pre-protein gene, improving the learning and memory ability of AD model mice, and preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Expelling wind and dampness, treating wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, arthralgia of limbs, muscular spasms, and disadvantageous flexion and extension of joints.
  • Activating meridians, alleviating swelling and relieving pain, and treating traumatic injuries and pain caused by ecchymoma.
  • Kadsurenone has an antagonistic effect on platelet-activating factors promoting sperm viability and sperm motility. It has a blocking effect on the development of embryos in vitro.
  • Studies have found that its extract can antagonize the decrease in arterial blood pressure caused by intravenous injection of endotoxin in rats, and can reduce the pulmonary edema caused by the increased permeability of the pulmonary vascular wall during endotoxemia.

Combinations

Side Effects

  • At present, there are no reports in the literature that Hai Feng Teng has toxic effects, and there are no reports of serious adverse reactions when it is taken according to the prescribed dose.

Precautions and Warnings

  • The dosage of Hai Feng Teng should be controlled at 6-12g.
  • It can be made into decoctions, medicinal liquors, and ointments.
  • People who are allergic to Hai Feng Teng should not take it.
  • Pregnant and breastfeeding women should take it under the guidance of a doctor.