Title:The Pentacyclic Triterpenoids in Herbal Medicines and Their Pharmacological Activities in Diabetes and Diabetic Complications
VOLUME: 20 ISSUE: 7
Author(s):A. Alqahtani, K. Hamid, A. Kam, K.H. Wong, Z. Abdelhak, V. Razmovski-Naumovski, K. Chan, K.M. Li, P.W. Groundwater and G.Q. Li
Affiliation:Faculty of Pharmacy, the University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Keywords:Diabetes, diabetic complications, herbal medicines, pentacyclic triterpenoids, phytochemicals, structure-activity relationship, Pentacyclic triterpenoids, oleanane, lupane, medicinal plants
Abstract:Pentacyclic triterpenoids including the oleanane, ursane and lupane groups are widely distributed in many medicinal plants,
such as Glycyrrhiza species, Gymnema species, Centella asiatica, Camellia sinensis, Crataegus species and Olea europaea, which are
commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes and diabetic complications. A large number of bioactive pentacyclic
triterpenoids, such as oleanolic acid, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, ursolic acid, betulin, betulinic acid and lupeol have shown multiple
biological activities with apparent effects on glucose absorption, glucose uptake, insulin secretion, diabetic vascular dysfunction, retinopathy
and nephropathy. The versatility of the pentacyclic triterpenes provides a promising approach for diabetes management.
