ABSTRACT
Stephania Tetrandrae Radix is one of the common traditional Chinese medicines, which has bitter and pungent taste as well as cold properties. It can subside edema, get rid of rheumatism and relieve pain. Therefore, it is mainly used for the treatment of rheumatism arthralgia, edema, dysuria, athlete's foot, swollen wet sores and other diseases in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). Stephania Tetrandrae Radix is mainly composed of dual-benzyl isoquinoline alkaloids, including tetrandrine, fangchinoline and so on. Modern pharmacology research shows that Stephania Tetrandrae Radix and its main components have a wide range of pharmacological activities in the anti-inflammatory, anti-pathogenic microorganisms, anti-tumor, anti-hypertensive, anti-arrhythmic, anti-myocardial ischemia, anti-fibrosis, anti-silicosis, inhibiting scar and other aspects, with broad application prospect. Stephania Tetrandrae Radix is often applied with compatibility of other Chinese medicines in clinically, and has achieved obvious effects in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, liver ascites and other diseases. There are some representative prescriptions, such as Fangji Fuling decoction, Fangji huangqi decoction, Jijiao Lizhuang pill, Xuanbi decoction, and compound Hanfangji granule. In this paper, the pharmacological effects and clinical applications of Stephania Tetrandrae Radix in the past ten years were reviewed, providing reference for its further development and application.