Cole Ian B, Cao Jin, Alan Ali R, Saxena Praveen K, Murch Susan J
Chemistry, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
Planta Med. 2008 Mar;74(4):474-81. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1034358.
The genus Scutellaria in the family Lamiaceae has over 350 species, many of which are medicinally active. One species, Scutellaria baicalensis, is one of the most widely prescribed plants in Traditional Chinese Medicine, used for neurological disorders, cancer and inflammatory diseases and has been the subject of detailed scientific study but little is known about the phytochemistry of other Scutellaria. The current study was designed to compare the medicinal phytochemistry of 3 species of Scutellaria used to treat neurological disorders. To accomplish this objective, the specific objectives were (a) to establish an in vitro collection of the South American native; S. racemosa, (b) to botanically characterize S. racemosa and (c) to compare the phytochemistry of S. racemosa with S. baicalensis and S. lateriflora. S. racemosa was established in vitro from wild populations in Florida. Botanically, S. racemosa is diploid with 18 chromosomes, and flow cytometry data indicated that S. baicalensis and S. racemosa have small nuclei with estimated small genomes (377 mbp and 411 mbp respectively). Antioxidant potential studies showed that there were no significant differences in the 3 Scutellaria species. Phytochemical analyses detected and quantified the flavonoids baicalin, baicalein, scutellarin, and wogonin as well as the human neurohormones melatonin and serotonin in leaf and stem tissues from S. baicalensis, S. lateriflora, and S. racemosa. These findings represent the first phytochemical analysis of S. racemosa and establish S. racemosa as a model system for study of medicinal plant secondary metabolism and as a potential source of important phytopharmaceuticals for treatment of human disease.
唇形科黄芩属有350多种植物，其中许多具有药用活性。一种植物，黄芩，是中药中应用最广泛的植物之一，用于治疗神经系统疾病、癌症和炎症性疾病，并且已经成为详细科学研究的对象，但对于其他黄芩属植物的植物化学性质了解甚少。当前的研究旨在比较3种用于治疗神经系统疾病的黄芩属植物的药用植物化学性质。为实现这一目标，具体目标如下：（a）建立南美本土植物总状黄芩的体外培养物；（b）对总状黄芩进行植物学特征描述；（c）比较总状黄芩与黄芩和半枝莲的植物化学性质。总状黄芩是从佛罗里达州的野生种群中进行体外培养建立的。从植物学角度来看，总状黄芩是二倍体，有18条染色体，流式细胞术数据表明，黄芩和总状黄芩具有小核，估计基因组较小（分别为377兆碱基对和411兆碱基对）。抗氧化潜力研究表明，这3种黄芩属植物之间没有显著差异。植物化学分析检测并定量了黄芩苷、黄芩素、野黄芩苷和汉黄芩素等黄酮类化合物，以及黄芩、半枝莲和总状黄芩叶和茎组织中的人体神经激素褪黑素和血清素。这些发现代表了对总状黄芩的首次植物化学分析，并将总状黄芩确立为研究药用植物次生代谢的模型系统，以及作为治疗人类疾病的重要植物药物的潜在来源。
