ReviewThe genus Litsea in traditional Chinese medicine: An ethnomedical, phytochemical and pharmacological review
Graphical abstract
Introduction
The genus Litsea, belonging to the family Lauraceae, contains approximately 200 plant species, which are mainly distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions around the world (Richter, 1981). It is documented that 74 plant species of this genus have been found in China, most of which are growing in the regions between 18° and 34° north latitude of Southern and Southwest China, including Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet provinces (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 1994). In the aspect of ethnomedicine,20 plants in Litsea species have a long history of use in traditional and indigenous Chinese medicines (Xie and Yu, 1996). Fruit of the plant is the commonly prescribed medicinal part for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, pain, asthma, and traumatic injury. Meanwhile, the leaves, stems, velamina, roots and barks have also been adopted to treat people suffering from stomachache, cold, pain, arthritis, diarrhea, traumatic injury, etc. (Editorial Committee of Zhonghua Bencao National Traditional Chinese Herb Administration, 1999, Xie and Yu, 1996, Xie and Liang, 1996).
A great deal of studies concerning the phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of the genus Litsea have been carried out. More than 200 chemical ingredients, covering flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, butanolides and butenolactones, lignans, amides, steroids, fatty acids, megastigmanes, etc., have hitherto been isolated from these 20 plants medicinally used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Of these chemical ingredients, flavonoids and terpenoids are regarded as the two groups of bioactive substances that are responsible for the observed pharmacological effects of Litsea species (Chen et al., 2004, Tang et al., 2013, Wan et al., 2006, Wang and Liu, 2010, Wang et al., 2009, Ye et al., 2006). Extracts of plants from this genus, as well as the purified molecules, demonstrate a wide spectrum of pharmacological functions, involving in antifungal (Yang et al., 2010), antibacterial (Chen and Xu, 2013), antidiarrheal (Mandal et al., 2000), anti-inflammatory (Tang et al., 2013), anti-arthritic (Zhou et al., 2010), anti-HIV (H. Zhang et al., 2003), anti-asthma (Yin et al., 2006), hepatoprotective (Wang et al., 2009), immunomodulatory (Hu et al., 2007), and anti-diabetic properties (Sun et al., 2010), confirmed by experiments in vivo and in vitro.
Several reviews dealing with the phytochemistry and pharmacology of the genus Litsea have been reported. Two reviews focusing on terpenoids and alkaloids from Litsea species and their biological activities have been published (Xie and Zhang, 1999, Zhao, 2006). Recently, Agrawal et al. (2011) comprehensively summarized the chemical ingredients isolated from the genus Litsea before the year of 2009, and also briefly introduced their biological activities. Different from writing objectives of above literatures, the present review focuses on the research progress targeting the Litsea species used in TCM, to provide a comprehensive summary on the ethnomedical uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of these plants. Besides, correlations of ethnomedical uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology have been discussed based on the research findings of these fields (Arora and Kaur, 2007, Mandal et al., 2000, Chen and Xu, 2013, Wang and Liu, 2010, Devib and Meera, 2010, Chen et al., 2004, Zhong et al., 2013, Zhang and Di, 2008, Zhou et al., 2007, Wang et al., 1999, Wang et al., 2009; Tu et al., 1985, Fang et al., 2002, Qian et al., 1980, Yin et al., 2006, Lv et al., 2008).
Section snippets
Ethnomedical uses
Common names, ethnomedical uses and medicinal parts of the Litsea species used in TCM are listed in Table 1. On the basis of our investigations, 20 Litsea species are used in a Chinese ethnomedical system (Xie and Yu, 1996). Fruits, roots, leaves and barks of these plant species are adopted for the therapy of diseases in the different approaches including (i) pharmaceutics (e.g. decoction, pill, pulvis, etc.) of signal medicine, or compound preparations with other traditional Chinese medicines;
Phytochemistry
Agrawal et al. (2011) have reviewed the chemical ingredients isolated from the genus Litsea before the year 2009. With respect to these 20 medicinal plant species in China, more than 200 chemical ingredients, covering flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, butanolides and butenolactones, lignans, amides, steroids, fatty acids and megastigmanes, have been reported. Their structures and resources have been comprehensively summarized, and given in (Fig. 1 and Supplementary data). Based on these
Antimicrobial activity
The EtOH extract of the L. glutinosa leaves was evaluated for its antibacterial effect in vitro against urinary tract infection causing pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli using the disc diffusion assay method. The extract at the concentration of 250 μg/disc displayed good inhibition against these tested pathogens with the zones of inhibition ranging from 8.1 mm to 11.8 mm (Arora and Kaur, 2007). Mandal
Toxicology
The oil of L. cubeba has been evaluated for its acute toxicity using mice by different research groups. Zhou et al. (1984) reported that the 50% of lethal dose (LD50) for intragastric administration was 3.25 mL/kg. Later, the LD50 for intraperitoneal injection was determined to be 381 mg/kg (Wan et al., 2006). The oil of L. cubeba is pungent for skin, leading to the skin inflammatory response of guinea pig (Tu and Zhang, 1995). Intraperitoneal administration of the essential oil of L. glauca was
Conclusions
The present review summarizes ethnomedical uses of the Litsea species in TCM, and analyzes phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of 20 medicinal plants from the genus Litsea in China. The phytochemical results indicate a significant variety of structural types of chemical constituents. Pharmacological studies indicated that these plants and ingredients possessed various biological activities, especially in the areas of antimicrobial, hepatoprotection, anti-inflammatory, antiasthmatic and
Acknowledgments
We wish to acknowledge our funding from the NNSF of China (Nos. 31470419, 21472113, 81102319, and 81173528) and NSF of Shandong (No. ZR2014HM019).
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These two authors contributed equally.