Liu Songtao, Yang Liu, Zheng Senwang, Hou Ajiao, Man Wenjing, Zhang Jiaxu, Wang Song, Wang Xuejiao, Yu Huan, Jiang Hai
Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Education Harbin 150040 China
RSC Adv. 2021 Aug 12;11(44):27461-27497. doi: 10.1039/d1ra04965h. eCollection 2021 Aug 9.
Cinnamomi Cortex (CC) is the dried bark of (L.) J. Presl. Modern pharmacological research shows that CC can be used to treat diabetes, breast cancer, leukemia and other diseases. It has been used for more than 2000 years in China, mainly distributed in Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan and Fujian. In this paper, the botany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and other aspects of CC are summarized. We hope to provide convenience for the further exploration and development of CC. There are more than 300 components isolated from CC including essential oils, polyphenols, diterpenes and sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, polysaccharides and others. Pharmacological studies show that CC has a wide range of pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor, improving glucose and lipid metabolism, neuroprotection and so on. It shows that CC has great potential to develop into a cheap, low-toxicity and highly-efficient natural therapeutic drug. However, there is still a long way to go for research of CC, although great progress has been made. For instance, clinical practices for CC recorded in traditional medicine books need to be paid more attention. Present achievements are still not enough to clearly explain the mechanism for some diseases. New skeletons and new drugs will be required to be discovered, so that the potential of CC can be brought into full play.
肉桂是樟科植物肉桂（拉丁学名：Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J. Presl.）的干燥树皮。现代药理研究表明，肉桂可用于治疗糖尿病、乳腺癌、白血病等疾病。在中国，它已被使用了两千多年，主要分布在广西、广东、云南和福建。本文对肉桂的植物学、民族药理学、植物化学、药理学、药代动力学等方面进行了综述。我们希望为肉桂的进一步探索和开发提供便利。从肉桂中分离出了300多种成分，包括挥发油、多酚、二萜、倍半萜、黄酮类、多糖等。药理研究表明，肉桂具有抗炎、抗菌、抗氧化、抗肿瘤、改善糖脂代谢、神经保护等多种药理活性。这表明肉桂有很大的潜力发展成为一种廉价、低毒、高效的天然治疗药物。然而，尽管已经取得了很大进展，但肉桂的研究仍有很长的路要走。例如，传统医学书籍中记载的肉桂临床应用需要更多关注。目前的研究成果仍不足以清楚地解释某些疾病的发病机制。需要发现新的骨架和新药，以便充分发挥肉桂的潜力。
