Natural Sources, Pharmacological Properties, and Health Benefits of Daucosterol: Versatility of Actions

Abstract

Daucosterol is a saponin present in various natural sources, including medicinal plant families. This secondary metabolite is produced at different contents depending on species, extraction techniques, and plant parts used. Currently, daucosterol has been tested and explored for its various biological activities. The results reveal potential pharmacological properties such as antioxidant, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective, and anticancer. Indeed, daucosterol possesses important anticancer effects in many signaling pathways, such as an increase in pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bcl2, a decrease in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, upregulation of the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) gene, inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway, and distortion of cell-cycle progression and tumor cell evolution. Its neuroprotective effect is via decreased caspase-3 activation in neurons and during simulated reperfusion (OGD/R), increased IGF1 protein expression (decreasing the downregulation of p-AKT3 and p-GSK-3b4), and activation of the AKT5 signaling pathway. At the same time, daucosterol inhibits key glucose metabolism enzymes to keep blood sugar levels within normal ranges. Therefore, this review describes the principal research on the pharmacological activities of daucosterol and the mechanisms of action underlying some of these effects. Moreover, further investigation of pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology are suggested.

Antioxidant activity and chemical composition of Spirolobium cambodianum Baill.

“…For Daucosterol, several reports mentioned the DPPH and ABTS •+ radical scavenging ability of Daucosterol ( 6 ). Its value of IC 50 for DPPH and ABTS •+ assay is relatively low (11.42 ± 0.07, 0.71 ± 0.01 µg/mL, respectively) 38 …”

“…Its value of IC 50 for DPPH and ABTS •+ assay is relatively low (11.42 ± 0.07, 0.71 ± 0.01 μg/mL, respectively). 38 The antioxidant activity of isolated compounds, such as Naringenin (8) and quercetin (10), has previously been reported. Therefore, compounds (8) and (10) have potent antioxidant activity consistent with the above study results.…”

Two New Compounds Isolated from the Itea omeiensis and Their Anti‐oxidant Activities

“…In our previous study, compounds from Itea plants exhibited anti-tumor and anti-oxidant potentials, [5][6][7][8] which fascinated us to evaluate the similar biological activities of compounds 1-12. As most of known compounds have been evaluated for their anti-tumor and anti-oxidant potential, [23][24][25][26][27][28] thus the new compounds were employed for the biological assays. Firstly, compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for their anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effects based on SK-Hep-1 cells model.…”

Clerodendrum Glandulosum Lindl.: A Review of Ethnopharmacology, Pharmacological Potentials, and their Mechanism of Action

“…The presence of numerous bioactive phytochemicals, such as compounds 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and maslinic acid in C. glandulosum leaf accounts for the occurrence of antioxidant potential. [64,78,79,84,85,[89][90][91]…”