Yellowhorn leaf tea matches gout drug at lowering uric acid
Liu Y, Hua C, Wu Y, Lv X, Hei D
Medicinal Plants
The ornamental yellowhorn tree grown for its showy spring flowers is turning out to have leaves with real pharmacological punch, showing how everyday landscape plants can double as medicine cabinets.
Researchers tested tea brewed from the leaves of yellowhorn, a tree also known as Xanthoceras sorbifolium, against a standard prescription drug in 120 people with high uric acid levels. The tea worked just as well at bringing uric acid down and, unlike some drugs, didn't stress the liver or kidneys. Lab work traced the effect to natural compounds in the leaves that block uric acid production and help the kidneys flush it out.
Key Findings
In a 120-patient trial, X. sorbifolium leaf tea lowered serum uric acid as effectively as febuxostat over 4 weeks, with no significant difference between groups.
Patients drinking the leaf tea showed no signs of liver or kidney damage, indicating a favorable safety profile compared to standard drugs.
Active compounds (quercitrin, rutin, myricitrin) reduced uric acid production by inhibiting liver xanthine oxidase and boosted excretion by regulating kidney transporters (ABCG2, OAT1, GLUT9, URAT1) via the PI3K/AKT pathway.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A tea made from the leaves of a Chinese tree called yellowhorn lowered uric acid levels in patients just as effectively as a common gout medication, without harming the liver or kidneys.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Evaluation of the clinical efficacy of Xanthoceras sorbifolium leaves in intervening in hyperuricemia and research on its uric acid-lowering mechanism.
Hyperuricemia is a metabolic disorder caused by the malfunction of uric acid metabolism. It is a common risk factor for gout and kidney disease. Currently, first-line pharmacotherapies for hyperuri...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Ancient Amazonian forests were planted and tended by Indigenous farmers
Forests and fruits we romanticize as wild — including many plants now in our kitchens and gardens — may exist in their current abundance precisely because an...
Xanthoceras sorbifolium, the yellowhorn, shiny leaf yellowhorn, goldenhorn, or Chinese flowering chestnut, is a woody oil tree species in the family Sapindaceae, and the only species in the genus Xanthoceras. It is native to northern China in the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Liaoning, Nei Mo...