phytochemistry Archives - World Asthma Foundation

Sophora flavescens ait.: Traditional usage, phytochemistry and pharmacology of an important traditional Chinese medicine.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Jun 15;

Authors: He X, Fang J, Huang L, Wang J, Huang X

Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Sophora flavescens (Fabaceae), also known as Kushen (Chinese: ), has been an important species in Chinese medicine since the Qin and Han dynasties. The root of Sophora flavescens has a long history in the traditional medicine of many countries, including China, Japan, Korea, India and some countries in Europe. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Sophora flavescens has been used extensively, mainly in combination with other medicinal plants in prescriptions to treat fever, dysentery, hematochezia, jaundice, oliguria, vulvar swelling, asthma, eczema, inflammatory disorders, ulcers and diseases associated with skin burns. The aim of this review is to provide updated and comprehensive information regarding the botany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, biological activities and toxicology of Sophora flavescens and to discuss possible trends and opportunities for further research on Sophora flavescens.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically searched major scientific databases (PubMed, Elsevier, SpringerLink, Google Scholar, Medline Plus, ACS, “Da Yi Yi Xue Sou Suo (http://www.dayi100.com/login.jsp)”, China Knowledge Resource Integrated (CNKI) and Web of Science) for information published between 1958 and 2015 on Sophora flavescens. Information was also acquired from local classic herbal literature, conference papers, government reports, and PhD and MSc dissertations.
RESULTS: The broad spectrum of biological activities associated with Sophora flavescens has been considered a valuable resource in both traditional and modern medicine. Extracts are taken either orally or by injection. More than 200 compounds have been isolated from Sophora flavescens, and the major components have been identified as flavonoids and alkaloids. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that at least 50 pure compounds and crude extracts from Sophora flavescens possess wide- ranging antitumor, antimicrobial, antipyretic, antinociceptive, and anti-inflammatory pharmacological abilities. The anticancer and anti-infection abilities of these components are especially attractive areas for research.
CONCLUSIONS: Sophora flavescens is a promising traditional medicine, but there is a need for more precise studies to test the safety and clinical value of its main active crude extracts and pure compounds and to clarify their mechanisms of action. Moreover, some existing studies have lacked systematic methods and integration with the existing literature, and some of the experiments were isolated, used small sample sizes and were unreliable. More validated data are therefore required.

PMID: 26087234 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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The genus Peucedanum traditional Uses, phytochemistry and Pharmacological Properties: A Review.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2014 Sep 2;

Authors: Sarkhail P

Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The genus Peucedanum (Apiaceae) comprising more than 120 species are widely distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa. The ethnopharmacologial history of this genus indicated that some extracts of aerial and underground parts of several Peucedanum species have used in folk medicine for treatment of various conditions, such as cough, cramps, pain, rheumatism, asthma and angina.
AIM OF THE REVIEW: This review focuses on ethnopharmacological uses of Peucedanum species, as well as the phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological studies on this genus. Through this review, we intend to highlight the known and potential effects of the Peucedanum species or their isolated compounds and show which of traditional medicine uses have supported by pharmacological investigations.
METHODS: Information on the Peucedanum species collected from scientific journals, books, thesis and reports via a library and electronic search (using Google Scholar, Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect). This review covers the available literature from 1970 to the end of September 2013.
RESULTS: Although, there are about 120 species in this genus, so far many species that have received no or little attention and the most of pharmacological studies were performed just about 20 species. Many phytochemical investigations on this genus confirmed Peucedanum species are rich in essential oils and coumarins. The present review article shows Peucedanum species have a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities that the most reported activities of Peucedanum plants come back to the presence of coumarins, flavonoids, phenolics and essential oils CONCLUSIONS: The present review confirmed some Peucedanum species have emerged as a good source of the traditional medicine for treatment of inflammation, microbial infections, cardiopulmonary diseases and provides new insights for further investigations on isolated compounds specially on praeruptorins to find novel therapeutics and drug discovery. However, for uses of Peucedanum species to prevent and treat various diseases the additional pharmacological studies to find the mechanism of action, safety and efficacy of them before starting clinical trials are required.

PMID: 25193684 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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