TCM Properties

Traditional Use

Clears heat and resolves toxin; treats acute enteritis, bacillary dysentery, amoebic dysentery, tonsillitis, and stomatitis
Cools blood and stops bleeding; used for menorrhagia, functional uterine bleeding, and traumatic haemorrhage
Clears heat-damp from the intestines; arrests diarrhea and dysenteric patterns with blood in stool

Clears heat from the Lung; treats acute bronchitis, pneumonia, lung abscess, and acute laryngitis
Reduces swelling and dissipates masses; applied topically and internally for acute mastitis and skin carbuncles
Modern adjunct for type 2 diabetes — blood-sugar-lowering effect validated in clinical observation

Jiuhuang Bencao (救荒本草 — Materia Medica for Relief of Famines, Zhu Su, 1406 AD) — earliest recorded entry; noted as edible and medicinal herb for clearing heat and toxin
Ben Cao Gang Mu (本草纲目 — Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen, 1578) — documented for cooling blood, stopping bleeding, and treating dysentery

Antidiabetic — polysaccharides and flavonoids reduce fasting blood glucose and improve insulin resistance in T2DM animal models; network pharmacology identifies PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways (PMC10577192)
Hepatoprotective — improves lipid metabolism, reduces hepatic steatosis (NAFLD), and reverses insulin resistance via multi-target mechanisms (PMID 36176915)
Anti-inflammatory — NF-κB pathway inhibition; reduces IL-6, TNF-α in inflammatory models
Antioxidant — scavenges hydroxyl and DPPH free radicals; activates Nrf2/HO-1 pathway
Antimicrobial — active against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and intestinal pathogens
Antitumor — cytotoxic activity against HepG-2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (ScienceDirect 2011)

Yang deficiency or cold-deficiency patterns — cold thermal nature may aggravate deficiency-cold conditions
Pregnancy — blood-cooling and haemostatic actions contraindicated; may affect uterine circulation
Active menstruation in patients with cold-type dysmenorrhea — cold nature may worsen cramping

May potentiate hypoglycaemic medications — monitor blood glucose when used alongside antidiabetic drugs
Use cautiously in patients on anticoagulant therapy — combined haemostatic and blood-moving properties may produce unpredictable coagulation effects
Standard decoction dose 9–15 g dried herb; fresh herb 30–60 g; do not exceed without practitioner supervision

Antidiabetic drugs (metformin, insulin, sulfonylureas, GLP-1 agonists) — Additive blood-glucose-lowering effect via polysaccharide and flavonoid fractions; concurrent use may cause hypoglycaemia (Moderate) Source: PMC10577192 — Effects of Potentilla discolor bunge extracts on oxidative stress and glycolipid metabolism (systematic review and meta-analysis)