Stephania tetrandra Research Analysis

Frank, Kurtis; Patel, Kamal; Lopez, Gregory; Willis, Bill

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Stephania tetrandra

Stephania tetrandra (Fang Ji) is a medicinal herb from Traditional Chinese Medicine that is sometimes used alongside Astragalus membranaceus for kidney protection and diabetes prevention; it is moderately antiinflammatory.

Research analysis led by Kamal Patel .
Reviewed by
Examine.com Team
Last Updated: Jun 14, 2018

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Human Effect Matrix

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The Human Effect Matrix summarizes human studies to tell you what effects Stephania tetrandra has on your body, how much evidence there is, and how strong these effects are.
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Grade	Level of Evidence [show legend]
	Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
	Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
	Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
	Uncontrolled or observational studies only

Outcome	Magnitude of effect ? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.	Consistency of research results ? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.	Notes
Lipid Peroxidation	Minor	- See study	A minor decrease in levels of lipid peroxidation in serum were noted, to the tune of 17%.
Serum Elastase	Minor	- See study	A decrease in serum neutrophil elastase has been noted, and this is thought to be related to symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
Lymphocyte Count	-	- See study	Lymphocytes (both B and T cells) are unchanged in their overall quantity with 12 weeks of supplementation.
White Blood Cell Count	-	- See study	No significant alterations in white blood cell count are noted with oral supplementation of this plant.

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Things to Note

Is a Form Of

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Primary Function:

Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory

Also Known As

hangfangji, Fangchi, Hang Fang Chi

Do Not Confuse With

Sinomenium acutum, Cocculus trilobus, and Aristolochia fangchi (also referred to as Fangchi)

Goes Well With

Astragalus Membranaceus (enhances the glucose lowering properties of fangchinoline)
Berberine (increases absorption of berberine from the intestines)

Caution Notice

Known to interact with drug metabolizing enzymes

Tetrandrine (a main bioactive) can inhibit CYP3A4 with moderate potency
Tetrandrine is able to inhibit P-glycoprotein, which underlies its synergism with berberine but may cause undesirable increases in some pharmaceuticals
The herb Aristolochia fangchi is also known as Fang Chi, but is a kidney toxin; if buying stephania ternatea it should be ensured that the former plant is not in the supplement by mistake

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