Chemical and pharmacological studies of Oplopanax horridus, a North American botanical

Abstract

Oplopanax horridus (OH) or Devil's club is an ethnobotanical used by the indigenous people native to the Pacific Northwest. There are three species in the genus Oplopanax, and OH is the only species that is distributed in North America. Compared with the extensive research on OH's “cousin,” American ginseng, there is comparatively little about the chemical makeup and pharmacological effects of OH. Nevertheless, there has been some research over the past few years that shows promise for future usage perspectives of OH. To date, seventeen compounds were isolated and elucidated including polyynes, glycosides, lignans, and polyenes, with most of the attention being paid to the polyynes. GC and HPLC were used to determine the contents of volatile compounds and polyynes in the essential oil and extracts of OH. For the pharmacological studies, antibacterial and anti-diabetes effects of polyynes were reported. Our recent study has focused more on the anticancer effects of OH and the involved mechanisms of action. In this review, we will summarize the research status in the botany, phytochemistry and pharmacology of OH.

Identification of potential anticancer compounds from Oplopanax horridus

“…Because O. elatus and O. japonicus are found in the East Asian countries of China, Korea, and Japan, countries with a long history of herbal medicine use, the breadth and depth of research on the phytochemistry and pharmacology of the two species is higher than that of O. horridus (Calway et al, 2012). Relatively more literature was found to report progress on the former two species; however, anticancer related reports were still limited even for the two Asian species.…”

“…Wild resources of O. horridus are plentiful, but research on O. horridus is just at the beginning stage. Based on the literature search, several polyynes and volatile compounds were isolated from O. horridus (Kobaisy et al, 1997; Calway et al, 2012). Pharmacological studies on O. horridus were only focused on its antibacterial, antidiabetic, and antimalignancy properties, and the components used in previous studies were mostly herbal extracts or fractions (Wang et al, 2010; Calway et al, 2012).…”

“…Miq. (Araliaceae), or Devil's club, is a shrub distributed around the Pacific Northwest of North America, from Alaska and the southwestern Yukon Territory down to Oregon, Idaho, and Montana (Calway et al, 2012). As an herbal medicine, O. horridus has a rich history of use by the Pacific indigenous peoples from over 38 linguistic groups for the treatment of upwards of 34 categories of medical conditions.…”

Extracts of Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus) Exert Therapeutic Efficacy in Experimental Models of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

“…There is also some variation on the parts used, although the inner bark of the stem and roots appear to be the most common (Turner, ). Devil's club is a member of the family Araliaceae which includes the Asian ginseng, American ginseng, eleuthero (Siberian ginseng), and small spikenard, all of which possess documented medicinal benefits (Calway et al ., ; Choi et al ., ; Shergis et al ., ; Turner, ; Qi et al ., ). Traditional use of Devil's club continues amongst indigenous peoples of Alaska, despite the availability of modern medical options, as strong evidence for its efficacy as a therapeutic.…”

Determination of six polyynes in Oplopanax horridus and Oplopanax elatus using polyethylene glycol modified reversed migration microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography

“…Oplopanax horridus , known as Devil's Club in North America, is a medicinal herb, which belongs to the genus Oplopanax . Its inner bark and root were used for treatment of internal infections, diabetes, and its anticancer activities have also been demonstrated . Another species of this genus, Oplopanax elatus , mainly distributed in Korea and in the northeast of China , is also used as anti‐inflammatory and analgesic herb .…”