State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
Chin J Nat Med. 2021 Jul;19(7):481-490. doi: 10.1016/S1875-5364(21)60047-X.
Honokiol is the dominant biphenolic compound isolated from the Magnolia tree, and has long been considered as the active constituent of the traditional Chinese herb, 'Houpo', which is widely used to treat symptoms due to 'stagnation of qi'. Pharmacological studies have shown that honokiol possesses a wide range of bioactivities without obvious toxicity. Honokiol protects the liver, kidneys, nervous system, and cardiovascular system through reducing oxidative stress and relieving inflammation. Moreover, honokiol shows anti-diabetic property through enhancing insulin sensitivity, and anti-obese property through promoting browning of adipocytes. In vivo and in vitro studies indicated that honokiol functions as an anti-cancer agent through multiple mechanisms: inhibiting angiogenesis, promoting cell apoptosis, and regulating cell cycle. A variety of therapeutic effects of honokiol may be associated with its physiochemical properties, which make honokiol readily cross the blood brain barrier and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, with high bioavailability. In the future, more clinical researches on honokiol are needed to fully authenticate its therapeutic values.
和厚朴酚是从厚朴树中分离得到的主要联苯类化合物，长期以来一直被认为是中国传统草药“厚朴”的有效成分，厚朴广泛用于治疗“气滞”相关症状。药理学研究表明，和厚朴酚具有广泛的生物活性而没有明显的毒性。和厚朴酚通过减少氧化应激和缓解炎症来保护肝脏、肾脏、神经系统和心血管系统。此外，和厚朴酚通过增强胰岛素敏感性显示出抗糖尿病特性，并通过促进脂肪细胞的棕色化来显示出抗肥胖特性。体内和体外研究表明，和厚朴酚通过多种机制发挥抗癌作用：抑制血管生成、促进细胞凋亡和调节细胞周期。和厚朴酚的多种治疗效果可能与其理化性质有关，这使得和厚朴酚容易穿过血脑屏障和血脑脊液屏障，具有较高的生物利用度。未来需要更多的和厚朴酚临床研究来充分验证其治疗价值。
