Newest Results on the Chemistry and Pharmacology of TCM Drugs Containing Triterpene and Steroid Saponins
The aim of this review is to provide newest results in the chemistry, pharmacology, and clinical studies of saponins-containing TCM drugs, some of them being listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. It appears that literature on triterpene saponins is more ab
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Newest Results on the Chemistry and Pharmacology of TCM Drugs Containing Triterpene and Steroid Saponins Marie-Aleth Lacaille-Dubois
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Introduction
Nature has provided traditional therapies in all cultures since the beginning of civilization, but only recently has human technology caught up with nature. The long-term objectives of these therapies include the discovery of new pharmacologically active agents using traditional herbal drugs as a guide. In this context, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could serve as a source of inspiration for drug development (Verpoorte et al. 2009). Research combining phytochemical and phytopharmacological techniques provides an excellent opportunity to identify novel natural compounds of biological interest. The saponins are a group of steroidal and triterpenoid glycosides possessing a broad spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities (immunomodulating, immunoadjuvant, cytotoxic, antitumor, antihepatotoxic, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, and others), as has been highlighted in several review articles (Lacaille-Dubois 2005; Podolak et al. 2010; Dinda et al. 2010). They are among the main bioactive components in TCM. Some saponin drugs are reported in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2005, 2010) and several Chinese drug monographs and analyses have been produced in order to provide a scientific, pharmaceutical characterization of single Chinese herbal drugs and their compounds (Wagner and Bauer 1996–2010). Furthermore, the analytical investigation of 80 Chinese herbal drugs, among them more than ten saponin-containing TCM drugs which are most frequently in use, has been described in a detailed overview (Wagner et al. 2011). The authors demonstrated that chromatographic fingerprint analysis by TLC and HPLC provides a rational approach to the quality assessment of Chinese drugs.
M.-A. Lacaille-Dubois (*) Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie, EA 4267, Faculte´ de Pharmacie. Universite´ de Bourgogne, Dijon, France e-mail: [email protected] H. Wagner and G. Ulrich-Merzenich (eds.), Evidence and Rational Based Research on Chinese Drugs, DOI 10.1007/978-3-7091-0442-2_3, # Springer-Verlag Wien 2013
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This review focuses on the latest chemical, pharmacological, and clinical perspectives on the most important triterpenoidal and steroidal saponin drugs in TCM, some of which were outlined in Wagner et al. (2011) from an analytical and biological point of view: P. ginseng N 72, Vol II, p875, P. quinquefolium N 72, Vol II, p843, P. notoginseng N 70, Vol II, p843, Astragalus ssp. N 8, Vol I, p83, Bupleurum ssp. N 1, Vol I, p1, Lonicera macranthoides N 51, Vol II, p587, Clematis ssp. N 33, Vol I, p355, Anemarrhena asphodeloides N 37, Vol I, p403, Dioscorea ssp. N 53, Vol II, p615, Tribulus terrestris N 67, Vol II, p805, Ophiopogon japonicus N 68, Vol II, p819, and Rhizoma Cimicifugae “Shengma” N 49, Vol II, p559. We will first introduce the newest techniques for obtaining and analyzing the saponins from complex mixtures
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