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The traditional uses, secondary metabolites, and pharmacology of Eleutherococcus species

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Abstract

Plants of genus Eleutherococcus belong to Araliaceae family, which mainly distributed in Asia. Several Eleutherococcus species have been used as ancient medicinal plants for many years in different traditional medical systems. The secondary metabolites of plants of genus Eleutherococcus have been studied since 1960s. In recent years, with the boom of "return to nature" and "the renewed emphasis on natural medicine", the investigations of genus Eleutherococcus have made new progress. So far, 422 secondary metabolites have been isolated and identified from 17 species. There are various pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammation, anti-tumor, anti-anxiety, anti-depression, anti-diabetes, anti-fatigue, neuroprotection, hepatoprotection, immunoregulation, anti-Parkinson’s disease, anti-Alzheimer's disease, and anti-cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, most of which can be found internal connection with traditional medicine. Moreover, clinical researches have revealed the efficacy of drugs made from Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Harms in the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which have been marketed in China for decades. Despite a large number of literature reports regarding to the phytochemistry and biological activity of various Eleutherococcus species have been issued, there is not a complete and comprehensive review. Therefore, we discuss knowledge on ethnopharmacology, secondary metabolites, pharmacological and biological activity, clinical trial, and quality control of drugs made from plants of genus Eleutherococcus. Furthermore, deficiencies on present studies have also been discussed so as to provide reference for further research and promote the contemporary development of Eleutherococcus genus.

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Abbreviations

Aβ :

β-Amyloid peptide

ACE:

Angiotensin converting enzyme

AD:

Alzheimer's disease

Akt:

Phospho-protein kinase B

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

AMPK:

AMP-activated protein kinase

ESS:

Saponins extracted from E. senticosus

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

BDNF:

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor

BrdU:

5-Bromo-2-deoxyuridine

CaMKII:

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II

CCD:

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease

ChP:

Chinese Pharmacopoeia

CK:

Creatine phosphokinase

CMS:

Clinical management system

CREB:

CAMP-response element binding

CRT:

Combined Raven's test

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

DCX:

Doublecortin

DGAT:

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase

DG:

Dentate gyrus

D-GalN/LPS:

D-Galactosamine/Lipopolysaccharide

EES:

Ethanol extract of E. senticosus

Erk:

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase ½

EtOAc:

Ethyl acetate

EtOH:

Ethanol

FFA:

Fatty acid

GSH:

Glutathione

GSH-Px:

Glutathione peroxidase

HMGB1:

High-mobility group box

HO-1:

Heme oxygenase-1

HUVECs:

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells

IC50 :

50% Inhibiting concentration

IFN:

Interferon

IL:

Interleukin

iNOS:

Nitric oxide synthase

I/R:

Ischemia–reperfusion

LAD:

Left-anterior descending-branch coronary artery ligation

LDH:

Lactate dehydrogenase

LPS:

Lipopolysaccharide

LPO:

Lipid peroxidation

LVAW:

Left ventricular absolute weight

LVEDP:

Left ventricular end diastolic pressure

LVLA:

Left ventricular long axis

LVP:

Left ventricle pressure

LVRW:

Left ventricular absolute relative

LVSA:

Left ventricular short axis

LVSP:

Left ventricular systolic pressure

LVV:

Left ventricular volume

LXR:

Liver X receptors

MAP:

Mean artery pressure

MAPK:

Mitogen-activated protein kinase

MDA:

Malonic dialdehyde

MPP+ :

1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium

MPTP:

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine

MPO:

Myeloperoxidase

NF-κB:

Nuclear factor kappaB

NGF:

Nerve growth factor

NK:

Natural killer

NO:

Nitric oxide

NPY:

Neurokpeptide Y

Nrf2:

Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor2

NSF:

Novelty suppressed feeding

OXPHOS:

Oxidative phosphorylation

PD:

Parkinson’s disease

PPARγ:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ

PGI2 :

Prostacycline

PTP1B:

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B

SCID:

Severe combined immunodeficient

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

SHR:

Spontaneously hypertensive rats

Smac:

Second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

STAT:

Signal transducer and activator of transcription

TCM:

Traditional Chinese medicine

TLR4:

Toll-Like Receptor 4

TNF-α :

Tumor necrosis factorα

TrkB:

Tropomyosin receptor kinase B

TXA2 :

Thromboxane A2

VD:

Vascular dementia

VF:

Ventricular fibrillation

VT:

Ventricular tachycardia

 ± dp/dtmax :

Maximum left ventricular pressure rising and dropping rates

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by a grant (81892971) from The National Natural Science Foundation of China, a grant (2019-YFYF-00002-SN) from Key R&D Program of Science and Technology Bureau of Chengdu, and a grant (2018YFC1707904) from National Key R&D Program of China.

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Authors

Contributions

Yuehui Huang and Jintao Li wrote the manuscript, Ke Zan help with the literature search and data analysis, Wang Jun was responsible for the data searching and writing of the quality control part, and Qiang Fu provided analysis and critically revised the work.

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Correspondence to Ke Zan, Jun Wang or Qiang Fu.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

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Yue-Hui Huang and Jin-Tao Li contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.

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Huang, YH., Li, JT., Zan, K. et al. The traditional uses, secondary metabolites, and pharmacology of Eleutherococcus species. Phytochem Rev 21, 1081–1184 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-021-09775-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-021-09775-z

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