A review on phytochemical, ethnomedical and pharmacological studies on genus Sophora, Fabaceae

Abstract

Sophora is a genus of the Fabaceae family, contains about 52 species, nineteen varieties, and seven forms that are widely distributed in Asia, Oceanica, and the Pacific islands, in the family Fabaceae of herbaceous (Sophora flavescens Aiton) to trees (Sophora japonica L.). More than fifteen species in this genus have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicines. In the last decades the use of this genus in traditional Chinese drugs has led to rapid increase in the information available on active components and reported to posses various pharmacological/ therapeutic properties. The paper reviews the ethnopharmacology, the biological activities and the correlated chemical compounds of genus Sophora, Fabaceae. More than 300 compounds has been isolated, among them major are quinolizidine alkaloids particularly matrine and oxymatrine and flavonoids particularly prenylated and isoprenylated flavonoids. Modern pharmacological studies and clinical studies demonstrated that these chemical constituens possess wide reaching pharmacological actions like anti oxidant, anticancer, anti-asthamatic, anti-neoplastic, antimicrobial, antiviral, antidote, anti pyretic, cardiotonic, antinflammatory, diuretic and in the treatment of skin diseases like eczema, colitis and psoriasis.

Bioinformatics: Inflammatory Cytokines and Attenuation of Diabetes Hypercholesterolemia-Induced Renal Injury Using Morning Glory and Necklace Pod Extracts

“…Compounds other than the bioactive flavonoids as alkaloids, coumarochromones, saponins, triterpene glycosides, phospholipids, polysaccharides, oligostilbenes, and fatty acids are reported in many Sophora species [6].…”

“…NP showed the presence of various structural features of flavonoids as isoprenylated flavonoids, isoflavonones, flavones, and flavonols [6]. These specific classes of compounds have wide bioactivity including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and suppression effect on adhesion molecules [2,8,18].…”

“…Furthermore, these variable compounds may strengthen capillaries and other connective tissue and some function as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents. Hence, the endothelial dysfunction whether acute or chronic can be counteracted by the effect of these compounds [6,20]. Sophora radix has been applied for different disorders such as atherosclerosis and arrhythmias.…”

“…The genera of Sophora and Ipomoea are a prolific source of structurally diverse bioactive metabolites with interesting activities [6,7]. The chemical review on necklace pod ([NP], Sophora tomentosa, reveals the presence of alkaloids, polysaccharides, isoprenylated flavonoids, isoflavonones, flavones, flavonols, and their glycosides.…”

“…The chemical review on necklace pod ([NP], Sophora tomentosa, reveals the presence of alkaloids, polysaccharides, isoprenylated flavonoids, isoflavonones, flavones, flavonols, and their glycosides. Such compounds have been reported to have diverse bioactivities including antioxidant and immunoregulatory [6,8]. It was reported that the extracts of S. tonkinensis and Sophora flavescens significantly control the levels of insulin, through stimulation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4) which is attenuated by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway while being non-toxic for mice [9].…”