REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Tibetan Medicine Baxiaga: A Systematic Review of Its Historical Herbalogical Investigation, Phytochemical Constituents, and Pharmacological Activities
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Qinghai Minzu University, Qinghai, China
- 3Ganzi Agricultural Sciences Institute, Ganzi, China
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Background: Baxiaga (བ་ཤ་ཀ) is a typical Tibetan medicinal species of multiple origin. These plants have been used in traditional Tibetan medicine for centuries and are currently used to treat various types of fever, such as Chiba fever, liver fever, reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and heal other diseases. Objective: This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the traditional uses of the baxiaga series of plants (Justicia adhatoda L., Veronica ciliata Fisch., Veronica eriogyne H.J.P. WinkI., Corydalis impatiens (Pall.) Fisch. ex DC., and Corydalis crispa Prain) as well as their phytochemical and pharmacological studies; it also provides a scientific basis for the clinical application of Baxiaga and promotes the development of its pharmaceutical preparations. Materials and methods: This review performed an extensive database search to collect detailed information about baxiaga and the literature was systematically interpreted, analyzed, and documented. Results: This review summarizes the traditional usage of five plants in Tibetan medicine baxiaga, which includes 195 chemical constituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and iridoid glycosides. This research elaborates on the pharmacological activities and mechanisms of these medicinal plants, along with discussions on multi-origin and quality control issues, while also proposing future research directions. Conclusions: This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the five medicinal plants commonly used in baxiaga. Our analysis highlights the significant value of baxiaga as an ethnomedicinal resource and reveals that its pharmacological activity is mainly attributed to its alkaloid. These alkaloids demonstrate anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hepatoprotective, activities. However, current studies on the medicinal effects, active ingredient content, quality control, and clinical applications of baxiaga have limitations.
Keywords: Baxiaga, Pharmacological activities, phytochemistry, Tibetan medicine, Traditional medicinal uses
Received: 14 Jan 2026; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Fang, Lu, Huimin, Ma, Wangjia, Chen, Su and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hang Chen
Jinsong Su
Yi Zhang
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