The Genus Cetraria s. str.—A Review of Its Botany, Phytochemistry, Traditional Uses and Pharmacology

Abstract

The genus Cetraria s. str. (Parmeliaceae family, Cetrarioid clade) consists of 15 species of mostly erect brown or greenish yellow fruticose or subfoliose thallus. These Cetraria species have a cosmopolitan distribution, being primarily located in the Northern Hemisphere, in North America and in the Eurasia area. Phytochemical analysis has demonstrated the presence of dibenzofuran derivatives (usnic acid), depsidones (fumarprotocetraric and protocetraric acids) and fatty acids (lichesterinic and protolichesterinic acids). The species of Cetraria, and more particularly Cetraria islandica, has been widely employed in folk medicine for the treatment of digestive and respiratory diseases as decoctions, tinctures, aqueous extract, and infusions. Moreover, Cetraria islandica has had an important nutritional and cosmetic value. These traditional uses have been validated in in vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies. Additionally, new therapeutic activities are being investigated, such as antioxidant, immunomodulatory, cytotoxic, genotoxic and antigenotoxic. Among all Cetraria species, the most investigated by far has been Cetraria islandica, followed by Cetraria pinastri and Cetraria aculeata. The aim of the current review is to update all the knowledge about the genus Cetraria covering aspects that include taxonomy and phylogeny, morphology and distribution, ecological and environmental interest, phytochemistry, traditional uses and pharmacological properties.

Ultrastructural, Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Chemical Study and LC-DAD-QToF Chemical Characterization of Cetraria islandica (L.) Ach

“…Two major compounds were identified in this study, assigned as fumaroprotocetraric acid (Compound 10) and cetraric acid (Compound 14), found in C. islandica [48]. On the other hand, usnic acid (Compound 17) is the only compound belonging to dibenzofurans that was identified in this study and found in C. islandica [48,49].…”

Antioxidant and antidiabetic activity and phytoconstituents of lichen extracts with temperate and polar distribution

“…As for the DPPH analysis, the three extracts evidenced an IC 50 value much higher than the gallic acid standard, suggesting a medium-low inhibition capacity of the study concentrations used; however, the extract of O. frigida continued to show better antioxidant These results correlate positively with the reports of extracts and compounds isolated from other lichen species that show highly effective phenolic concentration and antioxidant activity through Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org colorimetric techniques (Luo et al, 2009;Mitrović et al, 2011;Jha et al, 2017;Studzińska-Sroka et al, 2021a;Elečko et al, 2022) and electrochemical, computational, and genetic studies (Kalra et al, 2023;Yañez et al, 2023). Likewise, the variability in the antioxidant properties of lichens is mediated by the geographical, altitudinal, and/or microhabitat conditions in which they develop working concentrations, metabolite isolation efficiency, types of solvent, and forms of extraction and exploration of the mechanisms of action (Ranković et al, 2012;White et al, 2014;Studzińska-Sroka et al, 2021b;Li et al, 2022;Popovici et al, 2022;Sánchez et al, 2022). On the other hand, the evident antioxidant capacity of lichenic species has supported their use for the evaluation of neuroprotective effects in in vitro and in vivo models, yielding positive results regarding cell viability, protection against induced oxidative stress, decrease in reactive oxygen species, improvement of mitochondrial function, and suppression of signaling pathways that induce inflammatory response in astrocytes (Fernández-Moriano et al, 2015;Fernández-Moriano et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2021;Ureña-Vacas et al, 2022b).…”

The Protecting Activity of RIPACUT®: A New Therapeutic Approach Preserving Epithelial Health Based on the Combination of Iceland Lichen Extract, Silver Salt, and Sodium Hyaluronate

“…Cetraria islandica Ach. represents the most investigated species from the pharmacological perspective among the 20,000 lichen species described worldwide [ 11 ].…”