Coptis japonica is distributed in East Asia and cultivated as a medicinal herb. The root of C. japonica, has been used in Traditional Oriental Medicine because of its multiple pharmacological effects including anti infectious, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. The root has long been used to treat gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, and severe skin diseases. It was reported that coptis root exhibited high scavenging activity of reactive oxygen species. Coptis root contains lignans and diverse alkaloids including berberine, palmatine, magnoflorine, and coptisine. Among these compounds, berberine has the most notable anti inflammatory activity. There is also a report that coptis glycan has photoprotective effect against UV induced oxidative damage in skin.