(Fabaceae) Desmodium styracifolium (Osbeck) Merr.

Local name(s):  (Nha ngoa lia)

Medicinal use(s): to treat migraine.

Part used: whole plant.

Field Characters: Herbaceous plant.

Locality: Saravanch Province, Saravanh District, Ban Ka Xa.

Habitat: 

Altitude: 497 m asl. 

Collector(s): K. Sydara

Collection Date: September 27, 1999

Additional information:  

Synonyms, images, taxonomic description: 

Medicinal properties:

Balkrishna A, Semwal A , Sharma N, et al. Phytochemical and Pharmacological Profile of Desmodium styracifolium (Osbeck) Merr: Updated Review. Current Traditional Medicine 2023, volume 9, issue 5, p. 90 – 108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/2215083809666221209085439

Hou J, Chen W, Lu H, et al. Exploring the Therapeutic Mechanism of Desmodium styracifolium on Oxalate Crystal-Induced Kidney Injuries Using Comprehensive Approaches Based on Proteomics and Network Pharmacology. Front Pharmacol 2018, 9:620. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00620 

Li X, Chen C, Ding N, et al.Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling and simulation to predict the plasma concentration profile of schaftoside after oral administration of total flavonoids of Desmodium styracifolium. Front Pharmacol 2022, 13:1073535. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.1073535/full 

Opryshko V, Prokhach A, Akimov O, et al. Desmodium styracifolium: Botanical and ethnopharmacological insights, phytochemical investigations, and prospects in pharmacology and pharmacotherapy. Heliyon 2024, 10(3):e25058. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25058 

Tran TD, Bui TQ, Le TA, et al. Styracifoline from the Vietnamese Plant Desmodium styracifolium: A Potential Inhibitor of Diabetes-Related and Thrombosis-Based Proteins. ACS Omega 2021, 6 (36): 23211–23221. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c02840  

Wang D, Zhang S, Zhao W, et al. Desmodium styracifolium - Total Flavone Capsules for Urolithiasis. A Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open 2026, 9(9):e2632874. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2853853

Yu BX, Long J, Liang YP, et al. Therapeutic potential of Desmodium styracifolium polysaccharide in attenuating nano-calcium oxalate induced renal injury and fibrosis. Commun Biol 2025, 8, 1330. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08757-7   

Zhang Z, Guan G, Tang Z, et al. Desmodium styracifolium (Osb.) Merr. Extracts alleviate cholestatic liver disease by FXR pathway. J Ethnopharmacol 2025, 337(Pt 3):118972.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2024.118972