The Chemical and Pharmacological Research Progress on a Kind of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Fructus Malvae

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role in the treatment process. Furthermore, the discovery of artemisinin in Artemisia annua has reduced the incidence of malaria all over the world. Therefore, it is becoming urgent and important to establish a novel method of conducting systematic research on Chinese herbal medicine, improving the medicinal utilization value of traditional Chinese medicine and bringing great benefits to human health all over the world. Fructus Malvae, a kind of Chinese herbal medicine which has been recorded in the “Chinese Pharmacopoeia” (2020 edition), refers to the dry, ripe fruits of Malva verticillata L. Recently, some studies have shown that Fructus Malvae exhibits some special pharmacological activities; for example, it has diuretic, anti-diabetes, antioxidant and anti-tumor properties, and it alleviates hair loss. Furthermore, according to the reports, the active ingredients separated and identified from Fructus Malvae contain some very novel compounds such as nortangeretin-8-O-β-d-glucuronopyranoside and 1-O-(6-deoxy-6-sulfo)-glucopyranosyl-2-O-linolenoyl-3-O-palmitoyl glyceride, which could be screened as important candidate compounds for diabetes- or tumor-treatment drugs, respectively. Therefore, in this research, we take Fructus Malvae as an example and systematically summarize the chemical constituents and pharmacological activity research progress of it. This review will be helpful in promoting the development and application of Fructus Malvae and will also provide an example for other investigations of traditional Chinese medicine.

Strictinin, a Major Ingredient in Yunnan Kucha Tea Possessing Inhibitory Activity on the Infection of Mouse Hepatitis Virus to Mouse L Cells

“…Therefore, natural compounds in herbs seem to be rich sources for screening potential drugs against coronaviruses. As expected, several herbal medicines as well as isolated compounds in herbs have been reported to possess inhibitory activities against SARS-CoV-2 in the past few years [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Although herbal medicines and their isolated compounds are not as effective as chemical antiviral drugs, they are empirically safe for the human body, particularly after long-term consumption.…”

Exploring the Value of Combining Glucocorticoids with RAS Blockers and Modified Huangqi Chifeng Decoction in the Treatment of Moderate Proteinuria in IgA Nephropathy: A Propensity-Score Matching Study

“…In this study, the adverse events in both the control group and the observation group were low and the difference was not statistically signi cant, which suggests that combining glucocorticoids with RAS blockers plus MHCD did not increase the risk of adverse events while improving the e cacy. In addition, MHCD can bene t qi, activate blood, detoxi e and resolve blood stasis, and modern pharmacology con rms that Astragalus, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Radix Paeoniae Lacti orae, Fenghuang, Radix et Rhizoma Alba, and Andrographis paniculatae all have the effects of regulating mucosal immunity and attenuating renal brosis [23][24][25].…”

Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis based on Cohosh-atractylodes

“…Although ulcerative colitis is a complex systemic disease, chronic inflammation is still one of the main factors, and cohosh has an obvious effect of inhibiting inflammatory factors, which is consistent with the "elimination" of all drugs recorded in ancient books of traditional Chinese medicine. Chen Liyi et al also found that cohosh could inhibit the release of inflammatory mediators, regulating the expression of inflammation-related mediators, and regulate neutrophils [14] . It can be seen that cohosh is indeed the dominant drug in the treatment of inflammation.…”

“…The study findings of Liu Yinze et al [13] indicated that when using cohosh to treat ulcerative colitis caused by inflammation, adding cohosh to the treatment with basic drugs can effectively improve the treatment effect and delay the occurrence and development of the disease to a certain extent. Its mechanism of action may be due to the inflammatory factor interferon-γand interleukin (Interleukin, IL) -6 secreted components [14] . Although ulcerative colitis is a complex systemic disease, chronic inflammation is still one of the main factors, and cohosh has an obvious effect of inhibiting inflammatory factors, which is consistent with the "elimination" of all drugs recorded in ancient books of traditional Chinese medicine.…”