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.