Ethnopharmacology, chemodiversity, and bioactivity of Cephalotaxus medicinal plants / 中国天然药物

Cephalotaxus is the only genus of Cephalotaxaceae family, and its natural resources are declining due to habitat fragmentation, excessive exploitation and destruction. In many areas of China, folk herbal doctors traditionally use Cephalotaxus plants to treat innominate swollen poison, many of which are cancer. Not only among Han people, but also among minority ethnic groups, Cephalotaxus is used to treat various diseases, e.g., cough, internal bleeding and cancer in Miao medicine, bruises, rheumatism and pain in Yao medicine, and ascariasis, hookworm disease, scrofula in She medicine, etc. Medicinal values of some Cephalotaxus species and compounds are acknowledged officially. However, there is a lack of comprehensive review summarizing the ethnomedicinal knowledge of Cephalotaxus, relevant medicinal phytometabolites and their bioactivities. The research progresses in ethnopharmacology, chemodiversity, and bioactivities of Cephalotaxus medicinal plants are reviewed and commented here. Knowledge gaps are pinpointed and future research directions are suggested. Classic medicinal books, folk medicine books, herbal manuals and ethnomedicinal publications were reviewed for the genus Cephalotaxus (Sanjianshan in Chinese). The relevant data about ethnobotany, phytochemistry, and pharmacology were collected as comprehensively as possible from online databases including Scopus, NCBI PubMed, Bing Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). "Cephalotaxus", and the respective species name were used as keywords in database search. The obtained articles of the past six decades were collated and analyzed. Four Cephalotaxus species are listed in the official medicinal book in China. They are used as ethnomedicines by many ethnic groups such as Miao, Yao, Dong, She and Han. Inspirations are obtained from traditional applications, and Cephalotaxus phytometabolites are developed into anticancer reagents. Cephalotaxine-type alkaloids, homoerythrina-type alkaloids and homoharringtonine (HHT) are abundant in Cephalotaxus, e.g., C. lanceolata, C. fortunei var. alpina, C. griffithii, and C. hainanensis, etc. New methods of alkaloid analysis and purification are continuously developed and applied. Diterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, flavonoids, lignans, phenolics, and other components are also identified and isolated in various Cephalotaxus species. Alkaloids such as HHT, terpenoids and other compounds have anticancer activities against multiple types of human cancer. Cephalotaxus extracts and compounds showed anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, immunomodulatory activity, antimicrobial activity and nematotoxicity, antihyperglycemic effect, and bone effect, etc. Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies of Cephalotaxus are increasing. We should continue to collect and sort out folk medicinal knowledge of Cephalotaxus and associated organisms, so as to obtain new enlightenment to translate traditional tips into great therapeutic drugs. Transcriptomics, genomics, metabolomics and proteomics studies can contribute massive information for bioactivity and phytochemistry of Cephalotaxus medicinal plants. We should continue to strengthen the application of state-of-the-art technologies in more Cephalotaxus species and for more useful compounds and pharmacological activities.

Chemical constituents from endophytic fungus Plectosphaerella cucumerina YCTA2Z1 of Cynanchum auriculatum / 中草药·英文版

Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the EtOAc extract of endophytic fungal Plectosphaerella cucumerina YCTA2Z1. Methods: The chemical constituents were isolated and purified by silica gel column, Sephadex LH-20, and reverse-phase C-18 column chromatography as well as crystallization. Results: Thirteen compounds were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the fungal strain YCTA2Z1. Their chemical structures were elucidated according to the spectral evidence. They were identified as caudatin (1), baishouwubenzophenone (2), cynandione B (3), asterbatanoside A (4), p-hydroxyphenethyl-O-β-D-glycoside (5), caffeic acid (6), ferulic acid (7), 2,5-dihydroxyacetophenone (8), protocatechuic acid (9), vanillic acid (10), stearic acid (11), azelaic acid (12), and succinic acid (13). Conclusions: It is the first chemical study on endophytic fungi from Cynanchum auriculatum and all the compounds are obtained from the species, the genus, as well as the family Plectosphaerellaceae for the first time.

Recent advances in phytochemistry and pharmacology of C21 steroid constituents from Cynanchum plants / 中国天然药物

Cynanchum is one of the most important genera in Asclepiadaceae family, which has long been known for its therapeutic effects. In this genus, 16 species are of high medicinal value. The extracts of the root and/or rhizome parts have been applied in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) for the prevention and treatment of various illnesses for centuries. C21 steroids, as the typical constituents of Cynanchum species, possess a variety of structures and pharmacological activities. This review summarizes the comprehensive information on phytochemistry and pharmacology of C21 steroid constituents from Cynanchum plants, based on reports published between 2007 and 2015. Our aim is to provide a rationale for their therapeutic application, and to discuss the future trends in research and development of these compounds. A total of 172 newly identified compounds are reviewed according to their structural classifications. Their in vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies are also reviewed and discussed, focusing on antitumor, antidepressant, antifungal, antitaging, Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase inhibitory, appetite suppressing and antiviral activities. Future research efforts should concentrate on in vitro and in vivo biological studies and structure activity relationship of various C21 steroid constituents.

Phytochemical and biological research of Fritillaria medicine resources / 中国天然药物

The genus Fritillaria is a botanical source for various pharmaceutically active components, which have been commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Increasing interest in Fritillaria medicinal resources has led to additional discoveries of steroidal alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, glycosides and many other compounds in various Fritillaria species, and to investigations on their chemotaxonomy, molecular phylogeny and pharmacology. In continuation of studies on Fritillaria pharmacophylogeny, the phytochemistry, chemotaxonomy, molecular biology and phylogeny of Fritillaria and their relevance to drug efficacy is reviewed. Literature searching is used to characterize the global scientific effort in the flexible technologies being applied. The interrelationship within Chinese Bei Mu species and between Chinese species, and species distributed outside of China, is clarified by the molecular phylogenetic inferences based on nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences. The incongruence between chemotaxonomy and molecular phylogeny is revealed and discussed. It is essential to study more species for both the sustainable utilization of Fritillaria medicinal resources and for finding novel compounds with potential clinical utility. Systems biology and omics technologies will play an increasingly important role in future pharmaceutical research involving the bioactive compounds of Fritillaria.

A new phenolic glycoside from prunella vulgaris / 药学学报

A new phenolic glycoside was isolated from the spikes of Prunella vulgaris. Its structure was elucidated as gentisic acid 5-O-beta-D-(6'-salicylyl)-glucopyranoside by spectroscopic evidence and chemical analysis.

Studies on chemical constituents of Prunella vulgaris / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the chemical constituents of Prunella vulgaris.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>To separate the constituents of P. vulgaris by using various kinds of chromatography and identify their structures on the basis of spectral analysis.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Seven compounds were isolated from the spikes of P. vulgaris. Their structures were established as autantiamide acetate (1), rhein (2), tanshinone I (3), danshensu (4), stigmast-7, 22-dien-3-one (5), 3, 4, alpha-trihydroxy-methyl phenylpropionate (6), butyl rosmarinate (7).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compounds 1-4 were isolated from this genus for the first time.</p>