Botanical Source

Silymarin (SIL), a standardized plant extract containing about 60% polyphenole silibinin, is used as a hepatoprotective agent, it retards collagen accumulation in early and advanced biliary fibrosis secondary to complete bile duct obliteration in rats, it also may play a role in the therapy of (alcoholic) liver cirrhosis.[1,2]

Tenuifolin is an effective compound from tenuigenin, is commonly used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine for memory loss, has no inherent toxicity to either the transfected or wild type cells at the effective concentrations, it inhibits amyloid-β secretion in vitro.

Jujuboside A, a neuroprotective agent, can ameliorates behavioral disorders of the dementia mouse model induced by Aβ1-42. It possesses sedative , anticonvulsant , antianxiety, anti-proliferation, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects, it can notably reduce the damage cause by ISO via promoting the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt, and mTOR and inhibiting LC3 conversion, which may be a potential choice for the treatment of heart diseases. Jujuboside A can inhibit gamma aminobutyric acid type A receptor, and the hyperactivity of hippocampal CAl area induced by penicillin sodium.

Tuberostemonine has antitussive activity, acts in part as an open-channel blocker at the crayfish neuromuscular junction; it also exhibits relatively higher intestinal permeabilities.

8-Prenylnaringenin is a phytoestrogen with high estrogenic activity, it shows more potent effects on promoting osteoblastic bone formation and inhibiting osteoclastic bone resorption by ERα instead of ERβ than the two classic phytoestrogens: genistein and daidzein. 8-Prenylnaringenin at all assayed doses (0.001-20 µM) presumably improves mitochondrial function, whereas a high dose of XN (5 µM) worsens the functionality of this organelle.

1,5-Dicaffeoylquinic acid (1,5-DQA), a caffeoylquinic acid derivative isolated from Aster scaber, has neuroprotective effects, can prevent Aβ(42)-induced neurotoxicity through the activation of PI3K/Akt followed by the stimulation of Trk A, then the inhibition of GSK3β as well as the modulation of Bcl-2/Bax.

Matrine, an alkaloid purified from the chinese herb Sophora flavescens Ait, is well known to possess activities including anti-inflammation, anti-fibrotic and anticancer, it could inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells in vitro by up-regulating Fas/FasL expression and activating caspase-3 enzyme.

Berberine, a naturally occurring isoquinoline alkaloid, has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties in some in vitro systems; berberine-induced apoptosis of human prostate cancer cells is mediated primarily through the caspase-dependent pathway, the effectiveness of berberine in checking the growth of androgen-insensitive, as well as androgen-sensitive, prostate cancer cells without affecting the growth of normal prostate epithelial cells indicates that it may be a promising candidate for prostate cancer therapy.