Updated
Poria
An underground sclerotium harvested from pine roots. One of the most-prescribed single items in Chinese herbal medicine, almost always inside a formula rather than alone.
Repeated trials
Where it stands: 2 registered trials in people, none of which has reported a result; 8 randomised trials published since 2000.
What it is taken for
One tile per use. The line under each is how far the evidence for that use actually got, counted rather than argued.
What it has been tried for, and how far that has got
One row per use. The label is counted rather than argued — it is set by how many randomised trials and posted results exist for that use, and nothing else. How that is worked out.
| Use | How far it has got | Trials | With a result | Randomised, published | Reviews | Commonly taken for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidney | Repeated trials | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | yes |
| Viral infection | A first trial | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Nutrition | A first trial | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Liver | Being tested now | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Fatigue and energy | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Immune function | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| Mood and anxiety | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| Sleep | Being tested now | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | yes |
| Blood sugar | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| Cancer, supportive and adjuvant | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
| Memory and focus | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
| Gut and microbiome | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
| Fluid retention | Laboratory work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | yes |
Commonly taken for gut and microbiome, fluid retention. The work there is still laboratory and animal work — often a great deal of it — and the step into a trial in people has not been taken yet.
The doses the protocols actually specify
Taken verbatim from the intervention description each trial filed. These are not recommendations and they are not comparable to each other: some are a whole-mushroom powder, some a purified fraction.
Every registered study that names it
From ClinicalTrials.gov, filtered to studies that name Wolfiporia extensa or a synonym in the title, summary or intervention. Studies that have posted results come first.
| Register | Study | Condition | People | Status | Result posted | Dose in the protocol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT05229029 | RSYR for Fatigue Reduction in Cancer Fatigue Caused by Chemotherapy one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Cancer-related Problem/Condition | 196 | Unknown | — | 10g, 20g |
| NCT04601792 | A Series of N-of-1 Trials of Traditional Chinese Medicine Based on Bayesian Method one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Bronchiectasis, Quality of Life | 71 | Unknown | — | 30g, 15g |
| NCT06266559 | Efficacy Evaluation of Chang Geng Healthy Drink on Patients With Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease | Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease | 60 | Unknown | — | — |
| NCT02332486 | Based on Metabonomics Dryness Pathogen Type of OLP: a Dynamic Study one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Oral Lichen Planus | 25 | Unknown | — | — |
| NCT07141615 | Clinical Observation of Qingwei Huazhuo Decoction (Product: Jinsaiyu) in Improving Children With Precocious Pu one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Precocious Puberty | 94 | Terminated | — | 150ml |
| NCT06813274 | Multicenter RCT of Eye-Brain Imaging in Diabetes Neurovascular Coupling one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetic Retinopathy | 160 | Not yet recruiting | — | 9g, 0.5mg |
| NCT00676975 | The Efficacy of Tradition Chinese Medicine in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Irritable Bowel Syndrome | 104 | Completed | — | 17g, 34g |
| NCT07657351 | Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Renal Function in Diabetic Kidney Disease one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Diabetic Kidney Disease | 66 | Not yet recruiting | — | 14.5 g, 3.0 g |
| NCT07417371 | Study on the Mechanism of Pei Tu Ning Feng Tang in Alleviating Tourette Syndrome Via Functional Near-Infrared one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Tourette Syndrome in Children | 60 | Completed | — | 10g, 5g |
| NCT07493603 | A Study on Yiyang Huoluo Decoction in the Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Coronary Heart Disease, Coronary Artery Disease | 30 | Recruiting | — | — |
| NCT03147443 | Evaluating the Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine by N-of-1 Trials one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Bronchiectasis, Quality of Life | 36 | Unknown | — | 15 g, 30 g |
| NCT04846010 | Recovering Damaged Cells for Sequelae Caused by COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 | Sequelae of; Infection, Post Infection Glomerulonephritis | 2000 | Unknown | — | — |
| NCT03002090 | Defining the Functional Role of Iron in Aerobic Training and Physical Performance one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Iron Deficiency Without Anemia | 109 | Completed | — | 100 mg/day, 2 capsule |
| NCT07061171 | CPAP and Physiotherapy for Heart Failure and Sleep Apnea in the Elderly one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Chronic Heart Failure, Obstructive Sleep Apnea | 170 | Completed | — | — |
| NCT03623451 | Serum Metabolomics Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula （Shen Qi Tiao Ti Formula） Intervention to Pol one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Polycystic Ovary Syndrome | 105 | Unknown | — | 10g, 15g |
| NCT06796660 | Exploring the Impact of Nephropathy Formula No. 1 on Chronic Kidney Disease Patients one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Renal Insufficiency, Chronic | 70 | Not yet recruiting | — | 300ml, 2.6 g |
| NCT05622877 | The Proteomic Study and Early Intervention Study of Carotid Unstable Plaque one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Protein; Disease, Carotid Artery Plaque | 300 | Unknown | — | — |
| NCT07657338 | Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Kidney Function in Non-Diabetic CKD one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Non-diabetic Chronic Kidney Disease | 66 | Not yet recruiting | — | 13.5 g, 3.0 g |
| NCT05847959 | The Relationship Between XinKang-I and Chronic Heart Failure one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Traditional Chinese Medicine | 110 | Unknown | — | 20 g, 10 g |
| NCT06381960 | Clinical Study on the Prevention and Treatment of Postoperative Metastasis of Lung Cancer by Fuzheng Quxie Rec one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Lung Cancer | 356 | Unknown | — | 15g |
| NCT04935073 | Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbs in the Freeze-all IVF Cycle one ingredient in a multi-herb preparation | Infertility, Female | 90 | Unknown | — | 15 g, 12 g |
The compounds the research names
Formula and mass from PubChem. Naming a compound is not a claim that it does anything in a person.
C33H52O5
C31H46O5
In the kitchen
Bland and starchy, close to tasteless.
Not a culinary mushroom. Ground into a powder for cakes and congee in China, or simmered inside a herbal formula rather than eaten on its own.
Where it has been recorded, and when it fruits
20 verified occurrence records with coordinates, from GBIF. This is where people have recorded it, which follows where recorders live as much as where the fungus grows — read the shape, not the ranking.
| United States | 13 | |
| Canada | 3 | |
| Japan | 2 | |
| Brazil | 1 | |
| Switzerland | 1 |
Most records fall in Jun. Northern-hemisphere recorders dominate the dataset, so a southern population would not show here.
iNaturalist separately holds 11 research-grade observations of it.
What has been reported going wrong
No voluntary adverse-event report to the US Food and Drug Administration names a product by this name. That is an absence of reports, not a demonstration of safety: these are the products least likely to be reported on, because nobody is required to.
The newest randomised trials and reviews
Indexed in Europe PMC. Titles and journals only — follow the link to read the paper where the publisher allows it.