Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of Angelica decursiva Fr. et Sav

Angelica decursiva Fr. et Sav. (Umbelliferae) has traditionally been used to treat different diseases due to its antitussive, analgesic, and antipyretic activities. It is also a remedy for thick phlegm, asthma, and upper respiratory infections. Recently, the leaf of A. decursiva has been consumed as salad without showing any toxicity. This plant is a rich in different types of coumarin derivatives, including dihydroxanthyletin, psoralen, dihydropsoralen, hydroxycoumarin, and dihydropyran. Its crude extracts and pure constituents possess anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-Alzheimer disease, anti-hypertension, anti-cancer, antioxidant, anthelmintic, preventing cerebral stroke, and neuroprotective activities. This valuable herb needs to be further studied and developed not only to treat these human diseases, but also to improve human health. This review provides an overview of current knowledge of A. decursiva metabolites and their biological activities to prioritize future studies.

Chemical constituents from root of Angelica decursiva / 中国中药杂志

The compounds were isolated and purified by HP20 macroporous adsorption resin, ODS, silica gel, and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, as well as semi-preparative HPLC chromatography from the 80% ethanol extract of the root of Angelica decursiva, and their structures were identified based on their physiochemical properties and spectroscopic data. Twelve compounds were structures were identified as (9R,10R)-9-acetoxy-8,8-dimethyl-9,10-dihydro-2H,8H-benzo[1,2-b：3,4-b']dipyran-2-one-10-yl ester (1), bakuchicin (2), (3', S,4'S)-disenecioyloxy-3',4'-dihydroseselin (3), (3'R,4'R)-3'-angeloyloxy-4'-senecioyloxy-3',4'-dihydroseselincalipteryxin (4), (+)-8,9-dihydro-8-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-2-oxo-2H-furo[2,3h]chromen-9-yl-3-methylbut-2-enoate (5), libanoridin (6), selinidin (7), suberosin (8), crocatone (9), peujaponisinol B (10), peujaponisinol A (11), and ostenol (12), respectively. Compounds 1-5 were isolated from the plants of Angelica genus for the first time. Compounds 7-12 were isolated from A. decursiva for the first time.

Simultaneous Determination and Recognition Analysis of Coumarins in Angelica decursiva and Peucedanum praeruptorum by HPLC-DAD

Peucedani Radix is the root of Angelica decursiva Franchet et Savatier (=Peucedanum decursivum Maximowicz) or Peucedanum praeruptorum Dunn in several Asian countries. The coumarins contained in Peucedani Radix were quantitatively analyzed using HPLC-DAD to develop a simultaneous determination for the quality control of A. decursiva and P. praeruptorum. For quantitative analysis, four major coumarins contained in these medicinal plants were assessed. Nodakenin (1), nodakenetin (2), praeruptorin A (3), and praeruptorin B (4) were separated with a Phenomenex Luna C18 column (5 µm, 4.6 × 250 mm) under the gradient conditions using distilled water with 0.1% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile with 0.1% phosphoric acid as the mobile phase, at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and a detection wavelength of 330 nm. This method was fully validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery, and limit of detection and quantification. As a result, A. decursiva and P. praeruptorum were clearly classified by the quantification of four major coumarins in extracts. Also, the pattern recognition analysis based on HPLC indicates that all of the samples were largely clustered into two groups. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish between A. decursiva and P. praeruptorum and contribute to quality control.

Ethanol Extracts of Angelica decursiva Induces Apoptosis in Human Oral Cancer Cells

Angelica decursiva has been used in Korean traditional medicine as an antitussive, an analgesic, an antipyretic and a cough remedy. However, its anti-cancer properties have not yet been well defined. In our current study, we report the cytotoxic activity and the mechanism of cell death induced by ethanol extracts of Angelica decursiva (EEAD) against the human oral cancer cell line, KB. Treatment of KB cells with EEAD induced apoptotic cell death in both a dose- and time-dependent manner as determined by MTT assay and DNA fragmentation. However, no cytotoxic effects of EEAD against human normal oral keratinocytes (HNOK) were evident. By western blot analysis, we found that apoptosis in KB cells is associated with a decrease in procaspase-7 and -9. In addition, the activation of caspase-7 was detectable in living KB cells by fluorescence microscopy. These results suggest that EEAD exhibits anti-cancer activity in KB cells via apoptosis and thus has potential as an anticancer agent in future drug development strategies.