Wang Lingchong, Zhang Dapeng, Wang Ning, Li Sha, Tan Hor-Yue, Feng Yibin
School of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Nanjing City Jiangsu Province 210023 P. R. China
School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong SAR P. R. China
RSC Adv. 2019 Aug 15;9(44):25518-25532. doi: 10.1039/c9ra03229k. eCollection 2019 Aug 13.
Great efforts have been made to identify the principle bioactive constituents of Chinese herbs and to unravel the molecular mechanisms behind their anticancer effects. (Huangqin or Chinese skullcap) is a widely consumed herbal medicine and has been historically used in anticancer therapy in China and other countries. Chinese skullcap generates many active chemicals in the root and is abundant in polyphenols, which act as its anti-cancer ingredients. It contains around 53 polyphenols in total: 50 flavonoids and 3 stilbenes. The polyphenols have similar chemical structures since they are derived from similar biochemical synthetic pathways. According to the literature, as the active chemicals of the skullcap root, 18 polyphenols exhibit evident anticancer activities. They can be developed not only as novel candidates and precursors in anticancer drug screening, but also as important tools and agents in cancer pharmacology. We comprehensively elaborated the anticancer pharmacological properties of crude polyphenolic extracts and 12 other single compounds excluding the six well-known polyphenols, , baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, wogonoside, chrysin and verbascoside. In this review, we also discussed the possible mechanisms of the anticancer effect of several skullcap polyphenols. Overall, this paper provides a unique path to understand the anticancer properties of Chinese skullcap as well as guidance to find novel anticancer drugs from a natural polyphenolic reservoir.
人们已经做出了巨大努力来确定中草药的主要生物活性成分，并阐明其抗癌作用背后的分子机制。（黄芩）是一种广泛食用的草药，在中国和其他国家历史上一直用于抗癌治疗。黄芩根中产生许多活性化学物质，富含多酚，这些多酚是其抗癌成分。它总共含有约53种多酚：50种黄酮类化合物和3种芪类化合物。这些多酚具有相似的化学结构，因为它们来自相似的生化合成途径。根据文献，作为黄芩根的活性化学物质，18种多酚表现出明显的抗癌活性。它们不仅可以作为抗癌药物筛选中的新型候选物和前体，还可以作为癌症药理学中的重要工具和药物。我们全面阐述了粗多酚提取物和其他12种单一化合物（不包括六种著名的多酚，即黄芩素、黄芩苷、汉黄芩素、汉黄芩苷、白杨素和毛蕊花糖苷）的抗癌药理特性。在这篇综述中，我们还讨论了几种黄芩多酚抗癌作用的可能机制。总体而言，本文为理解黄芩的抗癌特性提供了一条独特的途径，并为从天然多酚库中寻找新型抗癌药物提供了指导。
