Integrating Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology of Cotinus coggygria and Toxicodendron vernicifluum: What Predictions can be Made for the European Smoketree?

Abstract

The smoketree (Cotinus coggygria) is a historically known medicinal plant from Southeast Europe. Its ethnomedicinal use in skin and mucosal lesions is commonly accepted across countries. Other utilizations reported locally include fever reduction, cardiac diseases, hypertension, urinary diseases, cough, asthma, hemorrhoids, diabetes, numbness of arm, liver disease, and cancer. Departing from the smoketree’s traditional uses, this review summarizes investigations on the phytochemistry and bioactivity of the plant. In vitro and in vivo experiments supporting wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antioxidative, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic effects are presented. Metabolites from smoketree that are responsible for the main pharmacological effects of smoketree are pointed out. Furthermore, the review performs a comparison between C. coggygria and the lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum). The latter is a comprehensively studied species used in Asian phytotherapy, with whom the European smoketree shares a consistent pool of secondary metabolites. The comparative approach aims to open new perspectives in the research of smoketree and anticipates an optimized use of C. coggygria in therapy. It also points out the relevance of a chemosystematic approach in the field of medicinal plants research.

In Silico Discovery of Potential Inhibitors Targeting the RNA Binding Loop of ADAR2 and 5-HT2CR from Traditional Chinese Natural Compounds

“…This makes ZINC000042890265 an interesting candidate to test for its potential anti-cancer activity against brain cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, breast cancer, human non-small cell lung cancer, and human colorectal carcinoma. The anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic activity of C. coggygria have been highlighted in the literature [ 142 , 143 , 144 ]. ZINC000039183320 (neocalyxin A), a diarylheptanoid derivative, is also found in the seeds of Alpinia blepharocalyx and A. roxburghii [ 145 , 146 , 147 ].…”

Hepatoprotective effect of the flavonoid fustin in a rat model of paracetamol-induced acute liver damage

“…Cotinus coggygria (smoke tree) is a medical plant with health-promoting biological activities proven in experimental and clinical studies [7,8,9] and attributed to its phytochemical components such as tannins, flavonoids, phenolic acids and essential oils [10]. Among these components, dihydroflavonol fustin is the least studied.…”

The Impact of Acute Low-Dose Gamma Irradiation on Biomass Accumulation and Secondary Metabolites Production in Cotinus coggygria Scop. and Fragaria × ananassa Duch. Red Callus Cultures

“…(smoketree) is a shrub species that originated from the temperate area (central and eastern Asia and south-eastern Europe) that has been intensively used in the treatment of cardiovascular [ 5 ], oral [ 6 ], skin [ 7 , 8 ], digestive [ 5 ], respiratory [ 5 ] and urinary conditions [ 5 ]. The chemical composition of this species has been extensively studied, using all parts of the plant and diverse extraction methods, revealing a complex secondary metabolism, which comprises phenolic acids (gallic acid, chlorogenic acid and rosmaric acid) [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], flavonoids (sulfuretin, taxifolin, fisetin, myricetin, petunidin-3-glucoside, cyaniding-3-galactoside and delphinidin-3-galactoside) [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], hydrolysable tannins (pentagalloyl glucose, galloyl glucose and gallocatechin) [ 9 , 17 ] and terpenes (limonene, myrcene, geranyl acetate, sabinene, terpinolene and α-pinene) [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Although research using in vitro technologies for micropropagation purposes of different smoketree varieties has been done [ 26 ], there are no studies concerning the use of in vitro cultures (hairy roots, suspensions or callus culture) as means for exploiting secondary metabolites of interest.…”