Chemical compositions, pharmacological activities, quality control studies of Erycibes plants, and the development of their substitutes

Abstract

Erycibes are members of the Convolvulaceae family, including more than 10 species worldwide that are distributed in tropical Asia. Some Erycibes species have long been used as traditional remedies for rheumatoid arthritis, fever, hepatitis, and liver injury in China and Thailand. A total of 152 compounds from Erycibes plants have been isolated and identified, categorized as flavonoids, coumarins, quinic acid derivatives, lignans, and alkaloids. Coumarins are the characteristic and active constituents of this species, including scopoletin and scopolin. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that the extracts and bioactive components of Erycibes plants exhibit several biological activities, including antiinflammatory, analgesic, hepatoprotective, anti‐gout, antitumor, antioxidation, and other therapeutic effects. However, in recent years, due to destructive exploitation and utilization, some Erycibes plants' natural resources have become rare or endangered. Developing substitutes is a strategy to alleviate the pressure on those endangered medicinal plant resources. To provide a scientific basis for the development and protection of those threatened Erycibes species, this review summarized the current status of the chemical compositions, pharmacological activities, quality control studies, and the development of substitutes for Erycibes plants. In particular, the rationale for use of Porana sinensis currently on the market is discussed.

The genus Porana (Convolvulaceae) - A phytochemical and pharmacological review

“…Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org application of Dinggongteng has been to treat rheumatoid arthritis, bruises, and other diseases, according to the 2020 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. With E. caulis as the main medicinal material, and more than ten Chinese patent medicines have been developed, including Feng Liaoxing Rheumatism Dieda Liquor and Tengluoning Capsule (Fan et al, 2021;Peng et al, 2021). Dinggongteng is often combined with Cinnamomi ramulus, Ephedrae herba, Angelicae sinensis radix, and other medicinal materials.…”

“…According to reports, no characteristic flavonoid has been found in this genus; this might be due to the lack of reports on the chemical constituents of Porana plants. However, several characteristic isoflavones, pterocarpans, and rotenoids were identified in Erycibes plants ( Peng et al, 2021 ). Based on this, we speculate that flavonoids might be the components differentiating Porana from Erycibes .…”

“…As a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis is closely related to oxidative stress ( Peng et al, 2021 ). The 60% ethanol extract (extract 4 ) of P. paniculata presented good anti-oxidant activity in DPPH assay, superoxide anion scavenging activity assay, nitric oxide scavenging activity assay, hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay and metal chelating activity ( Kumar et al, 2015 ).…”