ABSTRACT
The rhizomes of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis and P. polyphylla var. chinensis are used as traditional herbal medicines in many parts of China. The Paridis Rhizome saponin (PRS), as the active ingredient, has played an important role in hemostasis, antibacterial action, and inflammation counteraction, bearing some analogy to Gongxuening and Yunnanbaiyao in efficacy. Modern pharmacological experiments have proved that PRS possesses two main sapogenins: diosgenin and pennogenin, which could provide a lot of clinical treatment effects (anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, anti-metastasis, and immunostimulant, etc.). In the past, several main steroid saponins have been studied in a number of randomized controlled trials for their effects and mechanisms mainly on antitumor performance. The extensive results have demonstrated that PRS was an effective group of active components to antitumor clinical trials. In this article, we reviewed the reported phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological properties of PRS and compared the structure-cytotoxicity relationship of PRS in antitumor effects. © 2013 Tianjin Press of Chinese Herbal Medicines.