A critical review: traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of Stephania tetrandra S. Moore (Fen Fang Ji)

Abstract

Stephania tetrandra S. Moore (S. tetrandra) is distributed widely in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa. The root of this plant is known in Chinese as ''Fen Fang Ji''. It is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat arthralgia caused by rheumatism, wet beriberi, dysuria, eczema and inflamed sores. Although promising reports have been published on the various chemical constituents and activities of S. tetrandra, no review comprehensively summarizes its traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology. Therefore, the review aims to provide a critical and comprehensive evaluation of the traditional use, phytochemistry, pharmacological properties, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of S. tetrandra in China, and meaningful guidelines for future investigations.

A Comprehensive Review about the Molecular Structure of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): Insights into Natural Products against COVID-19

“…Based on these results, the authors suggested that mixing vitamin C with diammonium glycyrrhizinate could be a promising strategy for the treatment of severe COVID-19 symptoms [301]. Further, several studies endorsed the definite clinical effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in which the glycyrrhizin or licorice extract is used, for COVID-19 treatment [302]. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a hydrophilic epimer of chenodeoxycholate that demonstrated the ability to stimulate alveolar fluid clearance in lipopolysaccharide-induced pulmonary edema, leading to an improvement of acute respiratory distress syndrome.…”

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“…Papaverine modulated the activity of Th17 by reducing the expression of NF-κB, p38MAPK, RANKL, and IL-23 16 . The tetrandrine in Stephania tetrandra can suppress antibody synthesis by B cells and the mitogeninduced lymphoproliferative response, inhibiting activation of human peripheral blood T-cells 17 .…”

Role of gut microbiota in identification of novel TCM-derived active metabolites

“…Currently, platforms for high throughput screening of compounds, together with stringent functional and safety validations are used to better understand the mechanisms of action of functional compounds. Concordantly, for the development of novel therapeutic drugs from TCM-derived herbs, a similar approach was established (Martel et al, 2017a ; Jiang et al, 2020 ). Through this method, many active components in TCM herbs were identified.…”