Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl.: A systematic review of botany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and clinical potentials.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl. (L. nervosa), a species belonging to the genus Liparis within the Orchidaceae family, is known as "Jian-Xueqing" or "Jian-Xueqin" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This plant has a long history of medicinal use in TCM, valued for its diverse therapeutic properties for treating hemoptysis, hematemesis, cough due to lung heat, rheumatic arthralgia, infantile convulsions, and abscesses. Externally, it is applied for traumatic bleeding, boils, contusions, dermatitis, and snakebites. However, no systematic review of L. nervosa has been reported so far.

AIM OF THE REVIEW: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the research progress on L. nervosa regarding its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, toxicology, and clinical applications. By bridging traditional knowledge with modern scientific evidence, this review seeks to offer new perspectives for future research of L. nervosa.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This paper uses "Liparis nervosa", "Jian-Xueqing" and "Jian-Xueqin" as the keywords to conduct all the relevant information from PubMed, Web of Science, SciFinder, CNKI, China Master's Doctoral Thesis, Wanfang, Google Scholar, and ancient books. We retrieved all literature (in Chinese and English) from the establishment date of the database up to February 2026, including articles, reviews, master's thesis, doctoral thesis, and technical reports, while excluding literature unrelated to L. nervosa.

RESULTS: In total, 150 compounds have been isolated and identified from L. nervosa, including 36 benzoic acid derivatives, 27 alkaloids and their derivatives, 24 phenanthrenes, 21 phenylpropanoids, 7 flavonoids, 7 steroids and triterpenoids, 11 fatty acid derivatives, and 17 other compounds so far. Pharmacological studies have demonstrated that extracts and compounds derived from L. nervosa exhibit a broad range of bioactivities, such as hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, antitumor, antioxidant, antibacterial, hypolipidemic, and immunosuppressive effects. In safety evaluations, no adverse effects or toxic activities were observed in acute toxicity studies.

CONCLUSIONS: This review summarizes the recent advances in the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and clinical potentials of L. nervosa, and systematically categorizes its structure-activity-mechanism relationship. As a valuable traditional herb, L. nervosa contains diverse chemical constituents and exhibits various bioactivities. Several of its traditional uses have been supported by modern pharmacological research. However, most studies have been conducted only at the cellular and animal model levels, lacking more robust evidence from clinical studies. Furthermore, systematic safety data on L. nervosa are severely lacking. Further research is needed to elucidate the pharmacological mechanisms and ensure safe clinical applications. Moreover, as a valuable and endangered species, future investigations should focus on the cultivation techniques, product development, and sustainable utilization.