Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos: A Systematic Pharmacology Review

Abstract

Lonicerae japonicae flos, a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been used for several thousand years in China. Chinese Pharmacopeia once included Lonicerae japonicae flos of Caprifoliaceae family and plants of the same species named Lonicerae flos in general in the same group. Chinese Pharmacopeia (2005 Edition) lists Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos under different categories, although they have the similar history of efficacy. In this study, we research ancient books of TCM, 4 main databases of Chinese academic journals, and MEDLINE/PubMed to verify the origins and effects of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos in traditional medicine and systematically summarized the research data in light of modern pharmacology and toxicology. Our results show that Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos are similar pharmacologically, but they also differ significantly in certain aspects. A comprehensive systematic review and a standard comparative pharmacological study of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos as well as other species of Lonicerae flos support their clinical safety and application. Our study provides evidence supporting separate listing of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos in Chinese Pharmacopeia as well as references for revision of relevant pharmacopeial records dealing with traditional efficacy of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Lonicera japonica (Caprifoliaceae), a long history herb species plant from China

“…In China, the L. japonica (Chinese name 'Jin-Yin-Hua') and has been an important medicinal plant for thousands of years, which was cultivated as medicinal plant with great economic value in the pharmaceutical industry (Muluye et al 2014). Modern pharmacological studies have shown that extracts from L. japonica possess a wide range of bioactive properties, such as anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-pyretic, anti-oxidant, anti-hyperlipidemic, and anti-nociceptive among others (Li et al 2015). In order to further study, the phylogenetic relationship of L. japonica, we presented the complete chloroplast genome of L. japonica, which can use for medicinal valuable and clinical drug development in further.…”

Quality evaluation of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos based on simultaneous determination of multiple bioactive constituents combined with multivariate statistical analysis

“…They are typical Chinese medicines of "heterologous effect". Numerous literature has reported that LF has similar pharmacological activities as LJF, 8,11 only with a marginal difference in the strength of the drug effect. But until now, there is still no recognised theory to explain this phenomenon.…”

De novo transcriptome assembly and characterization of nine tissues of Lonicera japonica to identify potential candidate genes involved in chlorogenic acid, luteolosides, and secoiridoid biosynthesis pathways

“…L. japonica has been used as traditional medicine in China for over thousands of years, and has been listed as top grade in 'Ming Yi Bie Lu' and 'Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing', and described in 'Ben Cao Gang Mu', the famous classical book of Chinese Materia Medica, as early as the seventeenth century, for applications in various diseases such as to clean away the heat-evil or heal the swelling [1]. Different parts of L. japonica have been reported to possess unique medicinal properties, with flowers and floral buds being highly used in Chinese traditional medicine, while the leaves and stems are used in Japan [2,4,5]. The commercial value of L. japonica in the herbal medicine trading market has increased by several hundred-fold in recent years, and [30 % of current traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions contain extracts from different plant parts of L. japonica [6].…”

“…Whole plant or aerial parts of L. japonica, particularly leaves and floral buds are used to derive bioactive metabolites for various preparations and medicinal uses [7]. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that extracts from L. japonica possess a wide range of bioactive properties, such as anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-pyretic, anti-oxidant, anti-hyperlipidemic, and anti-nociceptive among others [2,5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Extracts from L. japonica were used to prevent and treat severe acute respiratory syndromes, H1N1 influenza, and hand, foot and mouth diseases, and were reported to be effective against SARS coronavirus [2].…”

“…In Japanese pharmacopoeia, loganin along with CGA are recommended as a means to evaluate the quality of L. japonica. Several studies on chemical constituents across different tissues have shown a higher content of CGA and luteolosides in floral buds, leaves and stems of L. japonica [1,5,7]. The CGA content in L. macranthoides, a species closely related to L. japonica, was reported to be higher in young leaves and young stems compared to flowers [38].…”