Thunder god vine (Tripterygium wilfordii) is a plant from southeast China used in traditional Chinese medicine for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, mainly rheumatoid arthritis. NCCIH says it might help some arthritis symptoms, but serious side effects and rare deaths have been reported.
Also known as: Tripterygium wilfordii, lei gong teng, TwHF, triptolide.
A US trial used 60 mg of extract 3 times a day for 24 weeks (Goldbach-Mansky 2009). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
What studies show: NCCIH says many low-to-moderate quality studies suggest oral thunder god vine might help some rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, and early reports suggest it might help some kidney disorders. In a 24-week US trial of 121 people with active rheumatoid arthritis, 65% on the extract met a standard 20% improvement target versus 33% on sulfasalazine, but only 62 people had outcome data at 24 weeks (Goldbach-Mansky 2009). It is unclear whether it helps on the skin.
Safety: NCCIH lists digestive problems, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, low white cell counts, menstrual changes and skin redness. Serious side effects include kidney damage and liver problems, and rare deaths have been reported; triptolide, a compound in the plant, may be toxic in people. It is considered unsafe in pregnancy because it may raise the risk of birth defects. A 2019 analysis of 46 studies (2,437 people) of its most common preparation found side effects in about 31% of people and severe ones in about 5%, affecting the gut, reproductive system, liver, kidneys, blood and skin (Ru 2019).
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for thunder god vine that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. Plant extracts are mixtures of many compounds, so no single figure would describe them.
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