【Prescription Name】
Zhizi Gancao Chi Tang
【Prescription Composition】
9g Zhizi (split), 6g Gancao (processed), 4g Xianggu (wrapped in cotton)
【Functions and Indications】
Used for treating Zhizi Chi Tang syndrome, also effective for those with deficiency of qi.
【Dosage and Administration】
Boil Zhizi and Gancao with 400ml of water, take 200ml of the decoction, add Chi, boil and take 150ml, remove the dregs, divide into two doses, warm and take one dose. If vomiting occurs, take the second dose after vomiting stops.
【Functions and Indications of Zhizi】
Zhizi has the functions of clearing heat, relieving restlessness, clearing heat and promoting diuresis, cooling blood and resolving toxins; it is also used externally to reduce swelling and relieve pain. It is used for heat diseases with restlessness, damp-heat jaundice, painful urination due to damp-heat, bloody dysentery due to hot blood, red and swollen painful eyes, and carbuncles and ulcers due to toxic heat. It can also be used externally for sprains and traumatic pain. (Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, 2010)
Zhizi has the functions of clearing heat, promoting diuresis, cooling blood, and resolving toxins.
Zhizi is effective in clearing heat and promoting diuresis, cooling blood and resolving toxins. It is commonly used for high fever in warm diseases, damp-heat jaundice, damp-heat urinary disorders, carbuncles and ulcers with toxicity; it can also be used externally for sprains and bruises. For example, Zhizi Ren Tang is used to treat high fever with restlessness and delirium (from Bujuji), Yinchen Hao Tang is used to treat damp-heat jaundice (from Zhujie Shanghan Lun), and powdered Zhizi can be mixed with flour and yellow wine for external application to treat bruises and pain.
Chao Zhizi (fried Zhizi) has similar functions as Jiao Zhizi (charred Zhizi), but Chao Zhizi is slightly more bitter and cold in nature compared to Jiao Zhizi. Chao Zhizi is usually used for severe heat conditions, while Jiao Zhizi is suitable for those with weak spleen and stomach. Both have the function of clearing heat and relieving restlessness. They are commonly used for restlessness due to heat-accumulation and red eyes from liver heat.
Zhizi Tan is good at cooling blood and stopping bleeding, and is often used for vomiting blood, coughing up blood, nosebleeds, bleeding in urine, bleeding during menstruation, and excessive bleeding. For example, Shihui San (from Shiyao Shenshu).
【Identification of Zhizi】
(1) The powder of Zhizi is reddish-brown. The stone cells in the inner pericarp are elongated, circular, or triangular in shape, often arranged in alternating layers or connected to fibers. The diameter is 14-34μm, and the length can reach up to 75μm. The wall thickness is 4-13μm. The cavity often contains calcium oxalate prism crystals. The fiber in the inner pericarp is long and spindle-shaped, with a diameter of about 10μm and a length of up to 110μm. They are often arranged in a staggered or oblique embedded manner. The stone cells in the seed coat are yellow or light brown, mostly polygonal, rectangular, or irregular in shape, with a diameter of 60-112μm and a length of up to 230μm. The walls are thick and have large pits. The cavity is brownish-red. The calcium oxalate cluster crystals have a diameter of 19-34μm.
(2) Take 1g of the powder of Zhizi, add 10ml of 50% methanol, ultrasound for 40 minutes, filter, and take the filtrate as the test solution. Take 1g of the reference herb Zhizi, and prepare the reference herb solution using the same method. Take the reference standard of Zhizi glycoside, add ethanol to make a solution containing 4mg per 1ml, as the reference solution. Perform thin layer chromatography (Appendix VIB) test, take 2μl of each of the above three solutions, spot them on the same silica gel G thin layer plate, use ethyl acetate-acetone-formic acid-water (5:5:1:1) as the developing agent, develop, take out, and air dry.
In the test solution chromatogram, yellow spots appear in the corresponding positions as the reference herb chromatogram; when sprayed with 10% sulfuric acid ethanol solution and heated to 110°C, the spots become clear. In the test solution chromatogram, spots with the same color appear in the corresponding positions as the reference herb chromatogram and the reference standard chromatogram.
