Smilax china (Baqia): Anti-Cancer, Anti-Diabetic and Dermatological Uses

Introduction to Baqia

The Chinese medicinal herb Baqia (Smilax china L., Chinaroot Greenbrier) is also known as Jinganggu, Jingangteng, Tie Lingjiao, Jingangtou, Jingangci, and by other names. It belongs to the genus Smilax of the family Liliaceae. Clinically the rhizome is most often used, though the leaves also have good therapeutic effects. Baqia's main actions concentrate on three points: first, anti-cancer and swelling-dispersing; second, treating diabetes; third, treating skin diseases such as psoriasis and chronic lichen. Baqia is not a commonly used herb and is therefore absent from most traditional pharmacies.

Its root is hard and thorny like a water chestnut, hence the aliases iron water chestnut and diamond thorn. Baqia grows mainly in the Yangtze River basin and the Shandong Peninsula, and is one of the common folk herbs used over an extremely wide range of applications. Contemporary Chinese medicine researchers have studied its anti-tumor effects in depth and use it widely in treating malignant tumors of the digestive tract, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, cervical cancer, and more. Baqia is also quite effective for atrophic gastritis, the precancerous lesion of gastric cancer.

Actions and Indications

The modern pharmacological actions of Baqia include antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, blood-activating and stasis-resolving, and hypoglycemic effects. According to traditional TCM theory, Baqia is sweet and sour in flavor and neutral in nature, entering the Liver and Kidney meridians. Its main actions are to expel wind and drain dampness, and to detoxify and disperse abscesses. It is indicated for rheumatic impediment pain, stranguria with turbid discharge, leukorrhea, diarrhea, dysentery, abscesses and sores with toxin, stubborn tinea, and burns and scalds. Materia medica records also state that Baqia resolves phlegm and stops cough; treats metrorrhagia in women; and treats wind-heat common cold, tonsillitis, indigestion, urinary tract infection, nephritis, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, rectal cancer, and cervical cancer—with the best effects against esophageal and gastric cancer. Baqia also works well for the thirst, excessive drinking, and polyuria of diabetic patients, clearly improving symptoms and lowering blood glucose while raising hepatic glycogen content.

Common Formulations of Baqia

1. For feet disabled for years so one cannot walk, with contracture and impediment of the lumbar spine and tightness in the abdomen: take an appropriate amount of fresh Baqia, wash, chop, and boil in 5 sheng of water down to 1 sheng; strain. Ferment the decoction with rice as for wine and take as desired. This formula comes from Zhouhou Fang (A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies) and is one of the equivalent formulas for rheumatic arthritis.
2. For severe stone stranguria: take 2 liang of Baqia, pulverize into powder; take about 1 qian each time, mixed with rice soup. Afterward, decoct Dijiao (Thymus) and bathe the lower body up to the waist; urination will pass through shortly. This formula comes from Shengji Zonglu (General Collection for Holy Relief) and treats what today would be urinary calculus causing dysuria.
3. For chyluria: 30 g each of Baqia root and Laomu (Aralia chinensis) root, decocted in water; one dose daily. (Quanguo Zhongcaoyao Huibian, Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicines)

4. For hematuria: 30 g each of Baqia root and Suanpanzi (Glochidion puberum) root, decocted in water. (Anhui Zhongcaoyao, Anhui Herbal Medicines)

5. For frequent, uncontrolled urination: Baqia root powdered; take 3 qian mixed with good wine. (Rumen Shinqin, Confucians' Duties to Their Parents—author's note: this resembles urinary frequency and urgency due to urinary tract inflammation.)
6. For wasting-thirst (xiaoke) with endless drinking: Baqia (chopped and stir-fried) and alkaline residue from a water-boiling vessel, each 1 liang; Wumei (smoked plum) 2 liang. Crush the three coarsely and sift; take 1-2 qian each time in one cup of water, boiled in an earthen vessel to seven-tenths of a cup, warmed and sipped slowly. From Shengji Zonglu; this is a formula for what is today diabetes.
7. For metrorrhagia and metrostaxis: 30 g each of Baqia root and Zonglü charcoal (carbonized Trachycarpus fortunei), decocted in water. (Anhui Zhongcaoyao—author's note: metrorrhagia refers to uncontrolled vaginal bleeding in women; it may be caused by non-neoplastic or neoplastic disease. For tumor patients with metrorrhagia, Baqia should be used in large doses, up to 1 jin daily, and Zonglü charcoal up to 1-2 liang.)
8. For amenorrhea: 15-30 g Baqia root, decocted in water and taken mixed with sweet rice wine. (Hunan Yaowu Zhi, Records of Hunan Medicinal Substances)
9. For lung abscess: 60 g Baqia root, decocted in water. Depending on symptoms, add 15-30 g Yuxingcao (Houttuynia) and 30 g Yangru (Lance Asiabell) root. (Zhejiang Minjian Changyong Caoyao, Zhejiang Commonly Used Folk Herbs)
10. For red and white dysentery: equal parts Baqia root and fine cured tea; make into powder. Mix with pickled plum meat into pills the size of chicken-heads; take five to seven pills each time.
11. For jaundice hepatitis: 60 g each of Baqia root and Jinyingzi (Rosa laevigata) root, 15 g Banbianlian (Lobelia chinensis), decocted in water. (Zhejiang Yaoyong Zhiwu Zhi, Zhejiang Medicinal Flora)
12. For psoriasis: 60 g fresh Baqia rhizome, decocted and taken internally for 20-30 consecutive days. Alternatively, 60-120 g of this herb, 30 g Wumei, and 15 g Gancao (licorice); soak 24 hours then decoct, one dose daily for 40-60 days.
13. For liuhuo (author's note: liuhuo is erysipelas of the lower limb): 30-60 g Baqia root, 6-9 g Niuxi (Achyranthes) root, decocted in water. (Zhejiang Minjian Changyong Caoyao)

14. For psoriasis vulgaris: 30 g each of Baqia root and Tufuling (Glabrous Greenbrier), decocted in water.

15. For rectal prolapse: 90-120 g Baqia, 60-90 g Jinyingzi (Rosa laevigata fruit), decocted in water, three times daily.
16. For diabetes: 30-60 g fresh Baqia leaves, decocted in water as a daily tea. (Guangxi Bencao Xuanbian, Selected Materia Medica of Guangxi)
17. For uterine prolapse: 30 g Baqia root, decocted in water, twice daily; also use Baqia leaves decocted in water to wash the external genitalia.
18. For burns and scalds: roast fresh Baqia leaves dry, grind to powder, mix into a paste with sesame oil, and apply to the affected area once or twice daily.
19. For esophageal, gastric, intestinal, nasopharyngeal, and cervical cancer: 1 jin fresh Baqia root boiled in 5 sheng of water down to 1 sheng; strain, add 2 liang fatty pork, and boil until the meat is tender; one dose daily.
20. For centipede and other poisonous insect bites: pound Baqia leaves and apply as a poultice.