Fu Xiang, Shao Bing-Hao, Wei Xue, Wang Hui-Hui, Chen Xing, Zhao Tian-Tian, Wang Chun-Mei
Department of Biopharmaceuticals, School of Life Science, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2022 Nov 15;298:115642. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2022.115642. Epub 2022 Aug 13.
Tubiechong comprises mainly Eupolyphaga and Steleophaga is widely distributed in China. It has been used in the traditional medicine systems in Asian countries specially in China，Japan and Singapore for thousand years.
The aim of this work is to review the scientific work about Tubiechong regarding their ethnomedicinal uses, bioactive chemical constituents and pharmacological activities.
Relevant literature of Tubiechong was collected for its traditional uses, pharmacological activities, and bioactive compounds released from inception until May 2022. The online databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, SciFinder Scholar, Springer Link, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, and VIP database were used as electronic search engines for articles with the various specific keywords. Additionally, references from ancient texts and local information such as PhD and MSc theses, books, and Chinese journals were also included.
The clinical researches have revealed that Tubiechong alone has been successfully used to treat bone disease, ache, sprain, herpes zoster, paronychia and so on. Tubichong's main clinical application is to form formulations with other herbs. The most widely used 34 kinds of Chinese patent medicine containing Tubiechong were included in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 Edition) for the treatment of traumatic injury, low back pain, cardiovascular disease, tumors or mass and nodule, cervical spondylopathy, osteoarthritis and psoriasis. Its other derived formulas have been used in the clinical treatment of various diseases, such as blood stasis, hepatic cirrhosis, cyclomastopathy, chronic active hepatitis, nephropathy, gynaecopathia, cancer diseases. To date, the bioactive substances reported are limited to protein and peptides, fatty acids, polysaccharides and alkaloids from Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker. So far, the pharmacological activities of Tubiechong and its various extracts have been evaluated, including anticoagulant and antithrombotic, anticancer, bone repair, immunomodulation, analgesia, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, antimicrobial and protective and repair functions for damage to the liver, heart, brain and skin. As an edible insect, its safety has also been confirmed by acute toxicity tests and 30-day feeding trials.
Tubiechong is an important insect medicine with the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years for the treatment of trauma and abdominal lumps, and has now been clinically extended to the treatment of a variety of diseases. Its multiple pharmacological activities indicate that it has great potential for development and application. However, its chemical constituents with pharmacological activity require further excavation and detailed study. In addition, the in-depth molecular pharmacological mechanisms deserve further explanation.
土鳖虫主要包括地鳖和冀地鳖，在中国广泛分布。它在亚洲国家，特别是中国、日本和新加坡的传统医学体系中已被使用了数千年。
本研究旨在综述有关土鳖虫的民族药用、生物活性化学成分和药理活性的科学研究。
收集了从开始到2022年5月期间有关土鳖虫传统用途、药理活性和生物活性化合物的相关文献。使用科学网、PubMed、谷歌学术、科学Direct、Scopus、SciFinder Scholar、Springer Link、中国知网、万方数据和维普数据库等在线数据库作为电子搜索引擎，搜索包含各种特定关键词的文章。此外，还纳入了古籍参考文献以及博士和硕士论文、书籍和中文期刊等地方资料。
临床研究表明，土鳖虫单独使用已成功用于治疗骨病、疼痛、扭伤、带状疱疹、甲沟炎等。土鳖虫的主要临床应用是与其他草药配伍成方。《中国药典》（2020年版）收录了最常用的含土鳖虫的34种中成药，用于治疗跌打损伤、腰痛、心血管疾病、肿瘤或肿块结节、颈椎病、骨关节炎和银屑病。其其他衍生方剂已用于临床治疗各种疾病，如血瘀、肝硬化、乳腺增生病、慢性活动性肝炎、肾病、妇科病、癌症等。迄今为止，报道的生物活性物质仅限于中华地鳖的蛋白质和肽、脂肪酸、多糖和生物碱。到目前为止，已评估了土鳖虫及其各种提取物的药理活性，包括抗凝和抗血栓形成、抗癌、骨修复、免疫调节、镇痛、抗氧化、抗高血脂、抗菌以及对肝脏、心脏、大脑和皮肤损伤的保护和修复作用。作为一种可食用昆虫，其安全性也已通过急性毒性试验和30天喂养试验得到证实。
土鳖虫是一种重要的虫类药，具有活血化瘀的功效，在中医中已使用数千年用于治疗创伤和腹部肿块，目前临床上已扩展到治疗多种疾病。其多种药理活性表明它具有很大的开发和应用潜力。然而，其具有药理活性的化学成分需要进一步挖掘和详细研究。此外，其深入的分子药理机制值得进一步阐释。
