Hong Teng (Sargentodoxa Vine)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Hong Teng?

  10–15 g in decoction with a stated maximum of 30 g, or 9–15 g depending on the source — both figures are carried in our record, the first from Chen & Chen and the second from Bensky. The two are effectively the same recommendation expressed slightly differently; the operative range is roughly 9–15 g, with headroom to 30 g for the abscess indications.

  • 10–15 g in decoction, maximum 30 g (Chen & Chen).
  • 9–15 g in decoction (Bensky).
  • Part used: the woody stem (vine) of Sargentodoxa cuneata, sliced.
  • Preparation: as a hard, woody stem it is simmered longer than leaf or flower material to extract properly, in the same way as other teng (vine) medicinals.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (both recorded dosage ranges and their attributions); preparation conventions per materia medica consensus, cross-referenced against multiple online sources. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Hong Teng?

  Two cautions are recorded here, and both follow from the same property: this herb moves blood. It is contraindicated in pregnancy, and it inhibits blood clotting, so herb–drug interaction with anticoagulant and antiplatelet medication needs attention.

  • Pregnancy — contraindicated. Blood-moving herbs are avoided in pregnancy as a class, and our record states this plainly.
  • Bleeding risk and anticoagulants — the record flags inhibition of blood clotting explicitly. This matters for patients on warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants, aspirin or other antiplatelet drugs, for anyone with a bleeding disorder, and around surgery or dental procedures. See the interactions section.
  • Heavy menstrual bleeding — a blood-moving herb warrants caution where bleeding is already excessive. Precautionary note.
  • Intestinal abscess is a medical emergency. The traditional indication for this herb overlaps with acute appendicitis, which is a surgical condition. Severe or worsening abdominal pain requires urgent medical assessment. Nothing here describes a treatment for it.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (recorded contraindication in pregnancy and recorded clotting-inhibition note); cross-referenced against multiple online sources and materia medica consensus. Emergency framing added editorially. Neutral reference facts, not usage instructions.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• No significant toxicity is documented for Hong Teng, and our own record states “none noted”. A 2021 review of Sargentodoxa cuneata covering distribution, traditional uses, chemistry and pharmacology reports antitumour, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-sepsis, anti-arthritis and cerebrovascular-protective activities without identifying a toxicity concern — while concluding that research on both the bioactive constituents and the detailed pharmacological mechanisms is insufficient and calling for further study (PMID 33460761). The honest reading is that no toxicity has been established and the safety literature is thin, which is not the same as a demonstration of safety. The clinically relevant safety property of this herb is not toxicity but its effect on clotting — see the cautions and interactions sections.

  Sources: Sacred Lotus sources & references (recorded toxicity entry); PMID 33460761, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2021.113840. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• Does Hong Teng interact with blood thinners?

  This is the one interaction question that genuinely matters for this herb. Our own record states that Hong Teng inhibits blood clotting and flags herb–drug interaction as a concern — so combination with anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication should be discussed with the prescriber, not assumed to be harmless.

  • Anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs — warfarin, direct oral anticoagulants, heparin, aspirin, clopidogrel and similar. The concern is additive: two things reducing clotting at once. This is the interaction our record specifically raises.
  • Surgery and dental procedures — blood-moving herbs are conventionally stopped in advance of planned procedures. Precautionary.
  • What is not established — no pharmacokinetic or clinical interaction study of Hong Teng was located. The species review identifies mechanistic research as insufficient (PMID 33460761), so the interaction potential is under-studied rather than characterised. The traditional and recorded caution stands on its own; the absence of trial data is not reassurance.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (recorded clotting-inhibition and herb–drug interaction caution); PMID 33460761. Precautionary reference — discuss with a prescriber; not documented clinical interaction data.

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Hong Teng (Sargentodoxa cuneata)?

  Yes, and it clusters tightly around inflammation of the gut — which is a striking match for an herb whose classical indication is intestinal abscess. A 2021 review in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology is the anchor: it summarises the distribution, traditional uses, chemistry and pharmacology of Sargentodoxa cuneata, records constituent classes of phenolic acids, phenolic glycosides, lignans, flavones and triterpenoids isolated from the stem, and reports antitumour, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-sepsis and anti-arthritis activities, plus protection against cerebrovascular injury (PMID 33460761).

  • Ulcerative colitis is the most studied area. An aqueous extract of the herb alleviated ulcerative colitis and associated liver injury in mice through changes in intestinal flora and related metabolites (PMID 38328432). A separate study reported that the herb attenuated epithelial barrier damage in DSS-induced colitis by blocking necroptotic signalling (PMID 37923253). The active constituents of an ethyl acetate extract from a decoction of the herb have been characterised specifically for anti-colitis activity (PMID 38005385).
  • The Hong Teng and Bai Jiang Cao pair, studied as a pair. The classical herb combination has itself become a research object. Extracts of the two together inhibited inflammation in macrophages by shifting polarisation from the inflammatory M1 phenotype toward the repair-associated M2 phenotype (PMID 37390878); a follow-up characterised the optimised active ingredients of the combination (PMID 37244114); a 2025 study applied the same pair to pelvic inflammation models (PMID 41061288); and a network-pharmacology study examined the pair in colorectal cancer cells (PMID 37879505).
  • Constituents — two new compounds named sargentodoxosides were isolated from the herb and reported as agonists of the farnesoid X receptor (PMID 33538200). Total phenolic acids from the herb were studied in a rat model of cerebral ischaemia–reperfusion injury (PMID 30899173).
  • Evidence status — all of the above is cell and animal work. No controlled human trial of Hong Teng for any traditional indication was located, and the species review itself concludes that constituent and mechanistic research remains insufficient (PMID 33460761). The traditional use rests on materia medica consensus and long clinical practice.

  Sources: PMID 33460761, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2021.113840 (J Ethnopharmacol, 2021, chemistry and bioactivity review); PMID 38328432, PMC 10847537, DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1295822 (ulcerative colitis and liver injury, intestinal flora); PMID 37923253, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2023.117373 (DSS colitis, epithelial barrier); PMID 38005385, PMC 10675221, DOI 10.3390/molecules28227663 (anti-ulcerative-colitis active ingredients); PMID 37390878, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116855 (Sargentodoxa and Patrinia, macrophage polarisation); PMID 37244114, DOI 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110337 (optimised active ingredients of the pair); PMID 41061288, DOI 10.1016/j.phymed.2025.157345 (pelvic inflammation, the pair); PMID 37879505, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2023.117342 (herb pair, colorectal cancer cells, network pharmacology); PMID 33538200, DOI 10.1080/14786419.2021.1880405 (sargentodoxosides, FXR agonism); PMID 30899173, PMC 6408703, DOI 10.1016/j.sjbs.2018.11.019 (total phenolic acids, cerebral ischaemia model). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• Why are Hong Teng and Bai Jiang Cao always paired?

  Because they do the same two jobs from two different angles: both clear heat and resolve toxin, and both — unusually for their category — also move blood and expel pus. Together they are the standard combination for intestinal abscess, and the pairing is durable enough that modern pharmacology research studies them as a single unit.

  • Hong Teng (Sargentodoxa cuneata; bitter, neutral; Large Intestine and Liver) — a woody vine. Reduces the abscess and disperses stagnation without adding much cold.
  • Bai Jiang Cao (Patrinia; spicy, bitter, slightly cold; Large Intestine, Liver and Stomach) — a whole herb with root, held separately on this site. Expels pus and adds a cooling, spicy dispersing quality.
  • Together — the vine supplies the stagnation-breaking and abscess-reducing action, the Patrinia supplies pus expulsion and a little more cold. Modern studies of the two-herb extract report shifts in macrophage polarisation from an inflammatory to a tissue-repair phenotype (PMID 37390878, PMID 37244114), and the pair has been studied together in pelvic inflammatory models (PMID 41061288) and in colorectal cancer cell work (PMID 37879505). Those are laboratory findings, offered as context rather than as validation of the traditional use.

  Formulas: no formula record on this site lists Hong Teng among its ingredients, and the same is true of Bai Jiang Cao. The classical intestinal-abscess formula most associated with Bai Jiang Cao — Yi Yi Ren Fu Zi Bai Jiang San, from the Jin Gui Yao Lue — is not currently held in the Sacred Lotus formula records either, so no cross-link is offered. Sacred Lotus does hold Da Huang Mu Dan Tang, the other classical intestinal-abscess formula, which does not contain Hong Teng. (Traditional context, not treatment advice.)

  Is Hong Teng the same as Ji Xue Teng? What about Da Xue Teng?

  Da Xue Teng is another name for Hong Teng. Ji Xue Teng is a completely different herb. The names look alike and the two are confused constantly — they are not interchangeable.

  • Da Xue Teng (大血藤, “big blood vine”) — carried in our own record as an alternative name for Hong Teng, and confirmed in the research literature: a review of Sargentodoxa cuneata lists “Da Xue Teng”, “Hong Teng” and “Xue Teng” among the search terms used to find literature on this single species (PMID 33460761). Same plant, same herb.
  • Ji Xue Teng (鸡血藤, “chicken blood vine”) — a different plant and a different herb, held separately on this site as Spatholobus/Millettia (Caulis Milletiae Seu Spatholobi). It is bitter, sweet and warm, enters the Heart, Liver and Spleen, and sits in the category of herbs that invigorate blood and remove stagnation — it nourishes and moves blood, and is used for blood deficiency with stasis, menstrual irregularity and numbness. It is not a heat-clearing, toxin-resolving herb and it has nothing to do with intestinal abscess.
  • How to keep them apart. Both are vines and both have “blood” (xue) in the name because both have a red sap or red interior. But: Hong Teng / Da Xue Teng = bitter, neutral, heat and toxin, abscess. Ji Xue Teng = warm, sweet-bitter, nourishes and moves blood. Opposite temperatures, opposite categories.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (Hong Teng identity including the recorded alternative name Da Xue Teng; the separate Ji Xue Teng record with its own Latin, nature/flavour, channels and category; Bai Jiang Cao record; formula-ingredient records checked and none found containing Hong Teng or Bai Jiang Cao); alternative-name confirmation per PMID 33460761; herb-pair research per PMID 37390878, PMID 37244114, PMID 41061288, PMID 37879505. Cross-referenced against multiple online sources and materia medica consensus.