Ipomoea nil. Ipomoea hederaceae, Pharbitis nil  牽 牛 子  Qiān niú zǐ  Morning glory flower Family: Convolvulaceae    
PART USED: Seeds: 白 丑 Bai chou White and 黑 丑 Hei chou Black- collected in late Autumn when ripe and indehiscent.
Nature: Cold     FLAVOR: Bitter, acrid     CHANNELS: Kidney, Large Intestine, Lung, Small Intestine TOXICITY: Slightly toxic.
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Cathartic hydrogogue- Small doses induce bowel movement, large dosages cause diarrhea.[5]
1. Drives out water.[3] Sedate water.[2] Purgative- Two to three hours, diuretic.[5]
2. Unblocks the bowels and removes accumulation.[3]
3. Drives out phlegm and congested fluids.[3] Diuretic, expectorant,
4. Expels intestinal parasites and reduces accumulation.[3] Vermicidal.[1,2] Anthelmintic-especially useful for killing round and thread worms.[5]
INDICATIONS- Emperor herb used for expelling full type edema when the body structure is strong - eg swollen abdomen with constipation.[5]
1. Heat accumulation in the Stomach or Intestines; severe constipation, abdominal distention, and urinary difficulty- water is expelled through both the urine and stool [3]
2. Constipation due to accumulation and stagnation of Damp Heat in the Stomach and Intestines;[3] ascites, abdominal swelling and constipation.[2] Acites caused diarrhea.[1] Raspy throat and beriberi.[1]
3. Congested fluids affecting the Lungs; cough wheezing and a sensation of fullness in the chest and abdomen.[3]
4. Constipation and intestinal worms.[1] Roundworm.[2,3] Tapeworm.[3] Food stagnation.[3]
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Do not use during pregnancy.[4,5] This herb has been shown to cause teratogenic (birth defects) effects.[4] Weakness, when patients are elderly.[5] Use with caution in cases of Qi deficiency or weak stomach.[3]
COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Dry ripe seed 3-6g.[2] Decoction: 3-9 g.[1,3] Powder: 1.5-3 g when used alone.[3] Hei (Black) qian niu acts faster than white.[5] Best quality are ripe full and round seeds without impurities such as peel. Unprocessed or stir-baked, ground when use. Dry-fry attenuates its effects.[3]
NOTE: Because this herb is a strong diuretic, it should always be combined with tonic herbs or tonics such as Da zao tang, which should be administered after recovery from the initial complaint.[5]
    
DESCRIPTION: Annual herb. Found growing wild along village outskirts, cultivated in gardens. Stem entwining, as long as 5 m, downy. Leaves alternate, 3-cleft to center, central lobe ovate rounded, lateral lobes inclined-ovate, apexes sharply acute, bases cordate or tuncate, with long petioles. Between summer-fall, purple or blue axillary flowers appearing, funnel shaped. Seeds yellowish-white or black.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research
Qian niu zi can be toxic, however is only so in large doses. In mice the LD50 is 37.5 g/kg. In humans, in addition to nausea and vomiting due to direct stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract, a large dose can affect the kidneys, leading to hematuria as well as neurological symptoms.[1]
References
[1] Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica- Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble- Eastland Press 1986 Seattle Washington ISBN 0-939616-15-7

Identification of antitumor lignans from the seeds of morning glory (Pharbitis nil).
Kim KH, Woo KW, Moon E, Choi SU, Kim SY, Choi SZ, Son MW, Lee KR.
Abstract
In the search for antitumor compounds from Korean natural resources, activity-guided fractionation and purification processes were used on seeds of morning glory (Pharbitis nil). Air-dried P. nil seeds were extracted with ethanol and separated into n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. Four new lignans, pharbilignans A-D (1-4) were isolated from the most active ethyl acetate fraction of the ethanol extract. Their structures were characterized on the basis of spectroscopic methods, including one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The cytotoxic activities of the isolates (1-4) were evaluated by determining their inhibitory effects on four human tumor cell lines (A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, and HCT15) using a sulforhodamine B (SRB) bioassay. Pharbilignan C (3) showed potent cytotoxicity against A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, and HCT-15 cell lines with IC50 values of 1.42, 0.16, 0.20, and 0.14 μM, respectively. On the basis of the expanded understanding that inflammation is a crucial cause in tumor progress, we also evaluated anti-inflammatory activity of the isolates (1-4). Pharbilignan C (3) strongly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated BV-2 microglia cell line with an IC50 value of 12.8 μM.
PMID: 25020073 DOI: 10.1021/jf501470k J Agric Food Chem. 2014 Aug 6;62(31):7746-52. doi: 10.1021/jf501470k. Epub 2014 Jul 25. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Two hevein homologs isolated from the seed of Pharbitis nil L. exhibit potent antifungal activity.
Koo JC, Lee SY, Chun HJ, Cheong YH, Choi JS, Kawabata S, Miyagi M, Tsunasawa S, Ha KS, Bae DW, Han CD, Lee BL, Cho MJ.
Abstract
Two antifungal peptides (Pn-AMP1 and Pn-AMP2) have been purified to homogeneity from seeds of Pharbitis nil. The amino acid sequences of Pn-AMP1 (41 amino acid0 residues) and Pn-AMP2 (40 amino acid residues) were identical except that Pn-AMP1 has an additional serine residue at the carboxyl-terminus. The molecular masses of Pn-AMP1 and Pn-AMP2 were confirmed as 4299.7 and 4213.2 Da, respectively. Both the Pn-AMPs were highly basic (pI 12.02) and had characteristics of cysteine/glycine rich chitin-binding domain. Pn-AMPs exhibited potent antifungal activity against both chitin-containing and non-chitin-containing fungi in the cell wall. Concentrations required for 50% inhibition of fungal growth were ranged from 3 to 26 micrograms/ml for Pn-AMP1 and from 0.6 to 75 micrograms/ml for Pn-AMP2. The Pn-AMPs penetrated very rapidly into fungal hyphae and localized at septum and hyphal tips of fungi, which caused burst of hyphal tips. Burst of hyphae resulted in disruption of the fungal membrane and leakage of the cytoplasmic materials. To our knowledge, Pn-AMPs are the first hevein-like proteins that show similar fungicidal effects as thionins do.
PMID: 9507071 Biochim Biophys Acta. 1998 Jan 15;1382(1):80-90. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov