Abstract
Many studies indicate that traditional Chinese herbs are beneficial in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Evodia rutaecarpa (‘Wu-Chu-Yu’) remains the most popular and multi-purpose herb traditionally used in China for treatment of headache, abdominal pain, postpartum hemorrhage, dysentery and amenorrhea. Rutaecarpine is one of the intriguing indolopyridoquinazoline alkaloids isolated from ‘Wu-Chu-Yu’. Rutaecarpine has been shown to have cardiovascular biological effects such as inotropic and chronotropic, vasorelaxant, anti-platelet aggregation and anti-inflammatory effects. Furthermore, it has been reported that rutaecarpine has beneficial effects on some cardiovascular diseases. This review summarizes data on the cardiovascular pharmacological actions of rutaecarpine the published over the recent years, aiming to provide more evidence supporting its use in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Highlights
Rutaceous plants, especially Evodia rutaecarpa, have been widely used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, headache, amenorrhea, and postpartum hemorrhage in traditional oriental medicine for hundreds of years [1,2]
The understanding of the precise pharmacological properties of rutaecarpine will definitely help the development of this new drug
The review summarizes the studies on the cardiovascular effects of rutaecarpine, which provides extensive and strong evidence for the potential use of this promising drug in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases
Summary
Especially Evodia rutaecarpa (whose dried fruit is named ‘Wu-Chu-Yu’ in China), have been widely used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, headache, amenorrhea, and postpartum hemorrhage in traditional oriental medicine for hundreds of years [1,2]. Recent studies have demonstrated that rutaecarpine possess extensive biological and pharmacological properties, such as diuresis, perspiration, uterotonic action, improvement of cerebral functions, antinociception, inhibition of KCN-induced anoxia, specific 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin binding, thermoregulatory and anti-obesity [4,5]. It has been reported that rutaecarpine has beneficial effects on some cardiovascular diseases [8,9,10]. This review summarized the cardiovascular pharmacological actions of rutaecarpine over the recent years, aiming to provide more evidence for rutaecarpine in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases
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