Ji Nei Jin (Chicken Gizzard's Internal Lining)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Ji Nei Jin?

  Roughly 3–10 g in decoction, or 1.5–3 g as powder — this site records 3–10 g in decoction and 1.5–3 g in powder from one reference, and 3–9 g in decoction from another. The powdered form is traditionally regarded as the stronger route for the same weight of material.

  • Part used — the dried inner membrane lining the gizzard of the domestic chicken, peeled from the gizzard, washed and dried.
  • Preparation forms — used raw, or dry-fried; sand-fried and vinegar-processed forms are also described in the Chinese literature, each traditionally directed at a slightly different emphasis.

  Source: the site’s own dosage record (two published references); material description per PMID 40771715, PMC 12325334, DOI 10.3389/fchem.2025.1644192. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Ji Nei Jin?

  Use with caution in Spleen deficiency without signs of food stagnation — this is the caution recorded on this site. Its dispersing, accumulation-breaking action is not what a purely deficient, empty digestion needs, and it can be depleting if used where there is nothing to break up.

  • Dietary and ethical (reference note) — Ji Nei Jin is derived from chicken and is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans; readers avoiding animal products or observing religious dietary rules should be aware it may appear in prepared digestive formulas. The animal source should be disclosed on any product containing it.
  • Allergy — as a poultry-derived protein-rich material, it would be reasonable for anyone with a known poultry allergy to avoid it. Noted as a general precaution; we found no case literature specific to this material.
  • Stones — the traditional stone indication is a reason for professional supervision rather than self-selection, since stone disease requires diagnosis and monitoring.

  Source: the site’s own cautions record; animal-source disclosure is a neutral reference note. Not a safety guarantee.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• No significant toxicity is documented for Ji Nei Jin at customary reference doses. It is a food-derived animal tissue with a long dietary and medicinal history, is not classed as a toxic herb in the standard materia medica, and is not flagged as toxic or endangered in this site’s own record. The realistic considerations are dietary suitability (it is an animal product) and hygienic sourcing and processing of the raw material, rather than intrinsic toxicity.

  Source: materia medica consensus, cross-referenced against multiple online sources; no toxicity signal reported in the constituent and pharmacology review at PMID 40771715, PMC 12325334. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Ji Nei Jin. Because it is traditionally used to promote digestion and has been reported preclinically to affect gastrointestinal motility and digestive enzyme activity, practitioner awareness is reasonable for patients on medication whose absorption is timing-sensitive — this is precautionary reasoning, not a demonstrated clinical interaction. Patients taking prescription medication should tell their prescriber about any herbal use.

  Source: precautionary inference from PMID 40771715, PMC 12325334. Flagged for practitioner confirmation.

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 Ji Nei Jin (Endothelium Corneum Gigeriae Galli)?

  Yes — a modest but real body of research, including one prospective controlled human study on stones, plus preclinical work on digestion and the gut lining. Chemically the material is characterised as protein-, amino-acid-, peptide-, enzyme- and trace-element-bearing, with polysaccharides and, in one profiling study, bile acids and isoflavones also identified.

  • Human study on pancreatic duct stones — a prospective study randomly assigned 68 patients with pancreatic duct stones to oral Ji Nei Jin or placebo, with imaging follow-up. The treated group had a significantly higher stone dissolution rate, greater relief of abdominal pain, and greater improvement in pancreatic exocrine and endocrine function and nutritional status. This is a single, small, single-centre study; it is the closest thing to clinical evidence for the traditional stone indication and should be read as preliminary.
  • Anti-urolithic activity (preclinical) — an extract inhibited calcium oxalate crystal formation and showed anti-urolithic effects in laboratory models, offering a plausible mechanism alongside the traditional stone indication.
  • Intestinal barrier and inflammation (preclinical) — an ethyl acetate extract, in which 33 compounds were tentatively identified, strengthened intestinal barrier function in an intestinal epithelial cell line by increasing the tight-junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin, reduced inflammatory gene expression, and accelerated wound closure in a scratch assay.
  • Polysaccharides (preclinical) — a purified polysaccharide has been characterised, and polysaccharide fractions have shown antioxidant activity in laboratory assays.
  • Review-level summary — a 2025 review of the material’s chemistry reports effects on gastrointestinal motility and digestive enzyme activity, glucose metabolism, stone dissolution, and anti-inflammatory and liver-protective activity, while explicitly noting the limitations: unclear mechanisms, no standardised preparations, and insufficient clinical trials.

  Apart from the single stone study, the evidence is preclinical; none of it constitutes proof of clinical effect for the traditional indications.

  Sources: PMID 36098361, PMC 9797788, DOI 10.5152/tjg.2022.22086 (prospective controlled study, pancreatic duct stones); PMID 30194056, DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2018.09.003 (calcium oxalate inhibition, anti-urolithic); PMID 33593395, PMC 7885590, DOI 10.1186/s13020-021-00432-3 (intestinal barrier, chemical profile); PMID 25891913 (purified polysaccharide characterisation); PMID 24751271 (polysaccharide extraction and antioxidant activity); PMID 40771715, PMC 12325334, DOI 10.3389/fchem.2025.1644192 (chemistry and pharmacology review, with stated limitations). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• What exactly is Ji Nei Jin made from?

  Ji Nei Jin is an animal product: the dried yellow membrane that lines the inside of a chicken’s gizzard (the muscular grinding stomach). The Chinese name translates literally as “chicken inner gold,” after the colour of the membrane. This is stated plainly because it matters practically: Ji Nei Jin is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans, and it may be relevant to readers with religious dietary observances or poultry allergy. Anyone avoiding animal-derived ingredients should check for it by name in any prepared formula.

  How is Ji Nei Jin different from the other food-stagnation herbs?

  Among the herbs that relieve food stagnation recorded on this site, Ji Nei Jin is the broadest-acting and the only one also used for stones and for enuresis. The category divides by what kind of food each herb addresses:

  • Ji Nei Jin — general food accumulation of any type; the strongest of the group, plus the stone-dissolving and essence-securing actions that are unique to it here.
  • Shan Zha — specifically meat and greasy food accumulation; also invigorates blood.
  • Mai Ya and Gu Ya — starch and grain accumulation; Mai Ya additionally enters the Liver channel.
  • Shen Qu — warm and acrid, for food stagnation with cold; a fermented preparation.
  • Lai Fu Zi — food stagnation with marked qi stagnation, belching and distension; also descends Lung qi.

  Which formulas contain Ji Nei Jin?

  Among the formulas recorded on this site, Ji Nei Jin appears in Tu Si Zi Wan (Cuscuta Seed Pill) and Yu Ye Tang (Jade Fluid Decoction). (Traditional formula context, not treatment advice.)

  Source: the site’s own records for Ji Nei Jin and its category peers, and its formula records; material description per PMID 40771715, PMC 12325334. Cross-referenced against multiple online sources.