Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2021;1308:309-352. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-64872-5_22.
Today, there is an increased tendency to use herbal remedies. Rhubarb refers to several species of the genus Rheum L. in the Polygonaceae family. This species-rich genus is mainly distributed in Asian countries. Several medicinal effects have been attributed to the Rheum spp. in the traditional and modern medicine such as healing lungs, liver, kidney, womb and bladder diseases, cancer, diabetes, insect bites, relapsing fevers, diarrhea and constipation. Various in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies have investigated the therapeutic effect of extracts, fractions and pure compounds isolated from different species of this genus. Considering the positive findings, several pharmaceutical formulations containing rhubarb extract like capsules, drops, mouthwashes and different topical formulations are now present in the market. However, there are other traditional therapeutic effects of rhubarb that have not been studied yet and it is of great importance to perform confirmatory experiments or clinical investigations. The current review summarizes general information regarding botany, phytochemistry, ethnobotany and pharmacological aspects of Rheum spp. It is hoped that the present review could motivate subsequent research on the other medicinal properties of these plants that have been neglected until today.
如今，人们越来越倾向于使用草药疗法。大黄指的是蓼科大黄属的几种植物。这个物种丰富的属主要分布在亚洲国家。大黄属植物在传统医学和现代医学中具有多种药用功效，如治疗肺、肝、肾、子宫和膀胱疾病、癌症、糖尿病、虫咬、疟疾、腹泻和便秘等。许多体外、体内和临床研究都调查了从该属不同物种中分离得到的提取物、馏分和纯化合物的治疗效果。鉴于这些积极的发现，目前市场上有几种含有大黄提取物的药物制剂，如胶囊、滴剂、漱口水和不同的局部制剂。然而，大黄还有其他尚未被研究过的传统治疗功效，进行确证性实验或临床研究非常重要。本综述总结了大黄属植物的植物学、植物化学、民族植物学和药理学方面的一般信息。希望本综述能够激发对这些植物其他被忽视的药用特性的后续研究。
