A Review on Pharmacological Activities of Lupeol and its Triterpene Derivatives

Abstract

Lupeol is a pentacyclic triterpenoid commonly distributed in the plant kingdom and is found in edible fruits and vegetables. It is a naturally occurring triterpene that is used to reduce the inflammatory responses and also have immunomodulating properties. Lupeol and its derivatives have a great potential to act as an anti- inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-proliferative, anti-invasive, anti-angiogenic, anti-protozoal, and cholesterol-lowering agent. Various studies have shown that anti-inflammatory activity of lupeol through the modulation of p-38 pathways inhibits neuroinflammation in the cerebellum and induces neuroprotection. It has been also found effective on lung cancer (i.e A427 cancer cells and normal MRC-5 cells). Observation of inhibiting the growth of lung cancer cells is checked by MTT assay. Lupeol and its ester lupeol linoleate have been used to reduce the levels of hypercholesterolemia in the rats and decrease the activities of such enzymes namely Na+, K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase, and Mg2+. Lupeol also decreases the levels of calcium-oxalate and has cytoprotective action against free-radical-induced damage and also decreases the level of cadmium in the kidney.
 Keywords: Lupeol, anti- inflammatory, anti-protozoal, triterpenoids

Aloe vera and Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes Mellitus

“…Triterpenes, which are important structural components of plant membranes whose free forms are used to stabilize phospholipid bilayers in plant cell membranes, are found in A. vera leaves (Saleem 2009 ). Lupeol ( 7 ), an A. vera -isolated pharmacologically active triterpenoid, is shown to have anti-microbial, antiprotozoal, nephroprotective, anti-diabetic, skin protective, and cardioprotective effects (Gallo and Sarachine 2009 ; Jäger et al 2009 ; Gangadharan et al 2019 ; Sharma et al 2020 ). As an anti-inflammatory agent, lupeol acts primarily through the interleukin system, reducing the secretion of interleukin-4 in type 2 T-helper cells (Bani et al 2006 ).…”

A Rare Dirhamnosyl Flavonoid and Other Radical‐Scavenging Metabolites from Cynophalla mollis (Kunth) J. Presl and Colicodendron scabridum (Kunt) Seem. (Capparaceae) of Ecuador

“…Compounds 1 and 2 are biogenetically closely related and very common metabolites. Lupeol ( 1 ) is claimed to possess many biological activities, such as anti‐inflammatory, anti‐cancerous, anti‐diabetic, cardioprotective, skin protective, antiprotozoal, antimicrobial and nephroprotective [48] . On the other hand, among other biological properties, betulin ( 2 ) is able to induce apoptosis in tumoral cells, with a selective response depending on the cell lines and its apoptosis related protein profile [49] …”

Evaluation of phytochemical and ethnomedicinal uses of Bersama swinnyi E. Phillips (Francoaceae)

“…These phytochemical compounds identi ied from the bark and leaves of B. swinnyi include 23-hydroxy betulinaldehyde, 24-propylcholestan-7,15,20triol, betunal, lupeol, oleanolic acid and swinniol. Research by Sharma et al (2020) showed that lupeol and its derivatives are characterized by biological activities such as anti-in lammatory, immunomodulating, antimicrobial, anti-invasive, antiprotozoal, anti-angiogenic, cholesterol-lowering and anti-proliferative activities.…”