Tufuling (Smilax Glabra): Treating Skin and Venereal Diseases, Anticancer and Detoxifying
Tufuling is the rhizome of Smilax glabra and Smilax china of the Liliaceae family, produced mainly in Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Anhui, and also in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Jiangsu. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that tufuling is sweet and bland in flavor and neutral in nature, entering the liver, kidney, spleen, and stomach meridians. It clears heat and drains dampness, discharges turbidity and resolves toxins, and unblocks the joints; it treats syphilis, stranguria with turbid discharge, diarrhea, spasmodic pain of the sinews and bones, beriberi, carbuncles, sores and tinea, scrofula, goiter, and mercury poisoning.
Tufuling is one of the few Chinese herbs with a specific effect on syphilis; a large dose of tufuling decocted and drunk frequently by itself is effective against syphilis. The Soufeng Jiedu Tang recorded in Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) uses tufuling, raw coix seed (Yiyiren), honeysuckle (Jinyinhua), siler (Fangfeng), and akebia (Mutong)—wind-expelling, dampness-draining, and toxin-resolving herbs—to treat syphilis. Modern practice often pairs tufuling with honeysuckle, licorice, honeysuckle vine (Rendongteng), and dandelion (Pugongying) to treat syphilis at all stages. In ancient times there was also a method of treating syphilis with mercury preparations, but that method had major side effects and often caused mercury poisoning; tufuling has some therapeutic effect on mercury poisoning. Diannan Bencao records that tufuling, siler (Fangfeng), honeysuckle (Jinyinhua), and raw licorice (Sheng Gancao) together can treat the sinew-and-bone pain and limb spasms caused by mercury poisoning. Besides syphilis, tufuling also has some efficacy against various venereal diseases, such as condyloma acuminatum and trichomonal vaginitis.
Tufuling is also a commonly used Chinese herb for skin diseases. It can be used to treat eczema and psoriasis (niupi xuan), either alone or combined with dictamnus bark (Baixianpi), kochia fruit (Difuzi), sophora root (Kushen), and atractylodes (Cangzhu), with some efficacy, taken internally or applied externally. Tufuling combined with sophora flower (Huaihua) can also treat lupus erythematosus and Behcet's syndrome.
In recent years, modern pharmacological research has also confirmed that tufuling has good anticancer effects. Tufuling has a marked inhibitory effect on aflatoxin B1-induced primary liver cancer and liver metastatic tumors in rats, and has good efficacy against bone tumors or tumor bone metastases from damp-toxin. Tufuling combined with Dioscorea bulbifera (Huangyaozi) can also be used to treat thyroid cancer; combined with oldenlandia (Baihuasheshecao), paris (Qiyeyizhihua), coptis (Huanglian), and coix seed (Yiyiren), it can treat various gastrointestinal tumors. But many Chinese-medicine practitioners hold that the claim of tufuling's efficacy against bladder cancer cannot be verified by modern pharmacological research. On the contrary, animal experiments show that tufuling not only fails to significantly inhibit rat bladder tumors but actually causes more squamous-cell tumors in the experimental rats. So using tufuling to treat bladder cancer must be done cautiously.
The ancients believed tufuling could treat ulcerated scrofula—scrofula being what today is called lymphatic tuberculosis or lymphoma. Jide Tang Jingyan Fang records an empirical formula for ulcerated scrofula using tufuling "sliced or ground into powder, decocted in water and taken, or put into porridge and eaten; it is best to take a lot." Tufuling has a mild diuretic effect, so it is especially suitable for lymphoma patients with difficult urination.
Tufuling also has some detoxifying effect against gossypol poisoning. It can also treat paint allergy and dermatitis; generally, for such diseases tufuling must be used at 30-90 g, decocted for internal use. In addition, some Chinese-medicine classics record tufuling's efficacy against chloasma, verruca vulgaris, and psoriasis.
Tufuling is not very toxic; its LD50 is basically immeasurable, meaning it is a very safe Chinese herb. Ancient Chinese-medicine records list some contraindications: it should not be processed or decocted in iron vessels; those with liver-kidney yin deficiency should take it cautiously; and it should not be used together with tea, which is said to cause hair loss.