Anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective cembranoid alcohols from the Gum Resin of Boswellia carterii

Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Properties of Frankincense: Implications for Anticancer Therapy

The discovery of novel antitumor agents derived from natural plants is a principal objective of anticancer drug research. Frankincense, a widely recognized natural antitumor medicine, has undergone a systematic review encompassing its species, chemical constituents, and diverse pharmacological activities and mechanisms. The different species of frankincense include Boswellia serrata, Somali frankincense, Boswellia frereana, and Boswellia arabica. Various frankincense extracts and compounds exhibit antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties and antioxidation, memory enhancement, and immunological regulation capabilities. They also have comprehensive effects on regulating flora. Frankincense and its principal chemical constituents have demonstrated promising chemoprophylactic and therapeutic abilities against tumors. This review provides a systematic summary of the mechanism of action underlying the antitumor effects of frankincense and its major constituents, thus laying the foundations for developing effective tumor-combating targets.

Medicinal plant resin natural products: structural diversity and biological activities

Covering: up to the mid of 2023Plants secrete defense resins rich in small-molecule natural products under abiotic and biotic stresses. This comprehensive review encompasses the literature published up to mid-2023 on medicinal plant resin natural products from six main contributor genera, featuring 275 citations that refer to 1115 structurally diverse compounds. The scope of this review extends to include essential information such as the racemic nature of metabolites found in different species of plant resins, source of resins, and revised structures. Additionally, we carefully analyze the reported biological activities of resins, organizing them based on the their structures. The findings offer important insights into the relationship between their structure and activity. Furthermore, this detailed examination can be valuable for researchers and scientists in the field of medicinal plant resin natural products and will promote continued exploration and progress in this area.

Bioactive constituents from the leaves of Lonicera japonica

Six new isolates including three new alkaloids (1-3), one new secoiridoid glycoside (4) and one new 11-delactonization-secoiridoid glycoside (5), and one new organic acid (6) were identified from the leaves of Lonicera japonica, among which 1 and 2 assigned as a pair of configurational isomers possessed two oxazolidin-2-one fragments connected through NN bond. The structures were elucidated by the NMR data and ICD analysis. All the compounds (1-6) were tested for their antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities using cell models of ABAP-induced HepG₂ cell and APAP-induced HepG₂ cell by the MTT method. Outstandingly, compound 2 exhibited remarkable antioxidative activity with inhibitory rate of 117.2%, and compounds 2, 4, 6 exhibited significant effects with inhibitory rates of 68.1%, 69.3%, 69.2%, respectively.

Tracing analgesic constituents from crude and vinegar-processed resin of Boswellia carterii by integrating ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry based determination, analgesic evaluation in mice and grey relationship analysis

The analgesic effect of resin of Boswellia carterii is well-known, however, the constituents which contribute to the analgesic effect remain elusive. The current study intergrates ultrasonic assisted extraction, quantitative determination, analgesic evaluation in rats and grey relationship analysis for tracing analgesic constituents from resin of Boswellia carterii. First, a robust and precise ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry approach with multiple reaction monitoring mode was developed for simultaneous quantification of seven major constituents in crude and vinegar-processed resin of Boswellia carterii. Glycyrrhetinic acid was chosen as the internal standard. The approach showed good linearity. The intra-day and inter-day precisions of each constituent were all within 3.0%. The recoveries of each constituent were in the range of 96.4 to 102.7%. The approach was then applied to determining the seven constituents in ten batches of crude and vinegar-processed resin of Boswellia carterii. Second, the analgesic effects of crude and vinegar-processed resin of Boswellia carterii were assessed in mice. Third, chemometrics methods, grey relationship analysis and partial least squares regression were employed for clarifying the relationship between the contents of seven constituents and their analgesic effect. 11-Keto-β-boswellic acid, 3-acetyl-β-boswellic acid, 3-acetyl-α-boswellic acid, 3-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid and β-sitosterol were identified to be the key analgesic constituents of Boswellia carterii.