Abstract
Xanthium strumarium L. (Asteraceae) is a common and well-known traditional Chinese herbal medicine usually named Cang-Er-Zi, and has been used for thousands of years in China. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the progress of modern research, and provide a systematic review on the traditional usages, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology of the X. strumarium. Moreover, an in-depth discussion of some valuable issues and possible development for future research on this plant is also given. X. strumarium, as a traditional herbal medicine, has been extensively applied to treat many diseases, such as rhinitis, nasal sinusitis, headache, gastric ulcer, urticaria, rheumatism bacterial, fungal infections and arthritis. Up to now, more than 170 chemical constituents have been isolated and identified from X. strumarium, including sesquiterpenoids, phenylpropenoids, lignanoids, coumarins, steroids, glycosides, flavonoids, thiazides, anthraquinones, naphthoquinones and other compounds. Modern research shows that the extracts and compounds from X. strumarium possess wide-ranging pharmacological effects, including anti- allergic rhinitis (AR) effects, anti-tumor effects, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, insecticide and antiparasitic effects, antioxidant effects, antibacterial and antifungal effects, antidiabetic effects, antilipidemic effects and antiviral effects. However, further research should focus on investigating bioactive compounds and demonstrate the mechanism of its detoxification, and more reasonable quality control standards for X. strumarium should also be established.
Highlights
Since 1963, the fruits of Xanthium strumarium L. have been listed in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (CH.P), and currently over 60 formulas containing the fruits of X. strumarium have been applied for treating various diseases, including rhinitis, nasal sinusitis, headache, gastric ulcer, urticarial, rheumatism, bacterial and fungal infections, and arthritis [1–3]
Phenylpropenoids are important active constituents found in X. strumarium
Takeda et al studied the mechanism of xanthatin against breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells in 2011, and the results indicated that xanthatin (5–25 μM) inhibits cell growth via inducing caspase independent cell death which were irrelevant with FTase inhibition [72]
Summary
Since 1963, the fruits of Xanthium strumarium L. have been listed in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (CH.P), and currently over 60 formulas containing the fruits of X. strumarium have been applied for treating various diseases, including rhinitis, nasal sinusitis, headache, gastric ulcer, urticarial, rheumatism, bacterial and fungal infections, and arthritis [1–3]. The fruits of X. strumarium remains a common Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) listed in the CH.P, and atractyloside and chlorogenic acid are used as the quality indicator agents for evaluating quality of the fruits of X. strumarium [5]. We systematically summarize the traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics as well as the safety aspects of X. strumarium, hoping that it could propel the research forward for applying the medicinal values of this plant completely. Potential research directions and emphasis on Xanthium strumarium L. are discussed as well
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