State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Med Res Rev. 2021 May;41(3):1539-1577. doi: 10.1002/med.21768. Epub 2021 Jan 31.
Cistanches Herba (CH, Chinese name: Roucongrong), is a very precious, tonic Chinese medicine. Cistanche deserticola and Cistanche tubulosa are the two commonly used species and authenticated in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Due to the parasitic nature of Cistanche plants, the wild source was once endangered and listed in the Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. However, after continuously struggling in the past decades, CH has grown up to a big brand of Chinese medicine featured with the cultivation area as 1.26 million mu, the annual output as 6000 tons, and the related industrial output value as more than 20 billion China Yuan, attributing to large-scale cultivation and in-depth phytochemical and pharmacological investigations. Noteworthily, great achievements have reached concerning the research and development of relevant products, such as modern drugs, traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, and dietary supplements. The current review summarizes the research progresses concerning the distribution and cultivation, phytochemistry, pharmacology, metabolism and product development of CH in the past decades, and the emerging challenges and developing prospects are discussed as well.
肉苁蓉（Cistanches Herba，CH）是一种非常珍贵的滋补中药。中国药典中常用的两种品种为管花肉苁蓉（Cistanche deserticola）和荒漠肉苁蓉（Cistanche tubulosa）。由于肉苁蓉植物的寄生特性，其野生资源一度濒危，并被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》附录 II。然而，经过过去几十年的持续努力，肉苁蓉已发展成为一个具有特色的中药大品种，种植面积达 126 万亩，年产量 6000 吨，相关工业产值超过 200 亿元，这主要得益于大规模的种植以及对其深入的植物化学和药理学研究。值得注意的是，在相关产品的研发方面已经取得了巨大的成就，如现代药物、中药方剂和膳食补充剂。本综述总结了过去几十年中肉苁蓉的分布与栽培、植物化学、药理学、代谢及产品开发等方面的研究进展，并讨论了当前面临的挑战和发展前景。
