New Benzofuranylpropanoids from the Roots of Codonopsis lanceolata

Advancements in the investigation of chemical components and pharmacological properties of Codonopsis: A review

Species of the genus Codonopsis (Campanulaceae) have a long history of application, acclaimed for its edible and therapeutic attributes. Scholarly inquiries into Codonopsis span botany, phytochemistry, quality assurance, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity, revealing a rich and comprehensive body of knowledge. This study synthesizes information from esteemed scientific databases like SciFinder, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese herbal classics to create a thorough scientific conceptual and theoretical framework for Codonopsis research. In this article, the phytochemical composition includes saccharides, polyacetylenes, polyenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, lignans, terpenoids, and organic acids was summarized. To date, over 350 monomeric compounds have been isolated and identified from Codonopsis, with recent studies primarily focusing on polysaccharides, aromatic derivatives, lignans, and polyacetylenes. Codonopsis exhibits broad pharmacological activities across various systems, including immune, blood, cardiovascular, central nervous, and digestive systems, with no significant toxicity or adverse effects reported. The existing research, focusing on various extracts and active parts without identifying specific active molecules, complicates the understanding of the mechanisms of action. There is an urgent need to advance research on the chemical composition and pharmacological effects to fully elucidate its pharmacodynamic properties and the basis of its material composition. Such efforts are crucial for the rational development, utilization, and clinical application of this herb.

Insights into Genus Codonopsis: From past Achievements to Future Perspectives

Codonopsis plants, as a kind of medicinal and edible herb, have a long history of application and have been widely concerned by pharmacists and biologists. In this article, the species diversity, taxonomy and distribution, ethnic medicinal records, chemical composition, pharmacological activity, and quality evaluation methods of Codonopsis species were systematically reviewed. In addition, the research progress of Codonopsis plants using biotechnology in recent years was summarized. The phytochemistry and biological activities of Codonopsis are widely evaluated. To date, more than 350 compounds have been isolated from Codonopsis. Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides are important functional components and biomarkers. Lobetyolin, atractylenolide III, tangshenoside I, and oligosaccharide can be considered as characteristic index components to evaluate the quality of Codonopsis plants. Although recent experimental evidence has confirmed the pharmacological value of this genus, its quality control, resource development and utilization, and active ingredient synthesis mechanisms are not well studied. In particular, molecular biology research is still in its infancy, but its application prospects are broad, and it is a hot spot for future research on Codonopsis. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct a detailed study on the single level of phytochemistry, pharmacology, and molecular biology of Codonopsis to establish a scientific evaluation system and modern medication guidelines. The multi-angle, multi-level, and multi-aspect integrated association analysis is also an inevitable trend for the future in-depth study of Codonopsis plants. This research status was summarized in order to provide a broader scientific research idea and theoretical reference for the in-depth study of Codonopsis.

Recent bioanalytical methods for the isolation of bioactive natural products from genus Codonopsis

INTRODUCTION

Chromatography and spectroscopy are nowadays well-validated techniques allowing to isolate and purify different class of natural products from the genus Codonopsis. Several categories of phytochemicals with drug like properties have been selectively extracted, isolated, characterised by this methodology.

OBJECTIVES

The present review aims to provide up-to-date and comprehensive information on the chromatography, phytochemistry and pharmacology of natural products of Codonopsis with an emphasis on the search for natural products having various biological activities and the semi-synthetic derivatives of bioactive ones and to highlight current gaps in knowledge.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A literature search was performed in the SciFinder Scholar, PubMed, Medline, and Scopus databases.

RESULTS

During the period covered in this review, several classes of compounds have been reported from genus Codonopsis. Codonopsis pilosula and Codonopsis lanceolata are the most popular in the genus especially as per phytochemical and bioactive studies. Phytochemical investigation demonstrates that Codonopsis species contain mainly xanthones, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyacetylenes, phenylpropanoids, triterpenoids and polysaccharides, which contribute to numerous bioactivities. The major bioactive compounds isolated were used for semi-synthetic modification to increase the chance to discover lead compound.

CONCLUSIONS

It can be concluded that genus Codonopsis has been used as traditional medicines and food materials around the world over years due to chemical constituents with diverse structural types, exhibiting extensive pharmacological activities in immune system, blood system, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, digestive system, and so forth, with almost no obvious toxicity and side effect. Therefore, Codonopsis can be used as a promising ethnopharmacological plant source.

A review of the botany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, analysis method and quality control, processing methods, pharmacological effects, pharmacokinetics and toxicity of codonopsis radix

Codonopsis Radix, a traditional Chinese medicine in China, has great medicinal and scientific value. Moreover, it can also be used as a health product in daily diet. This paper reviews the botany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, analysis method and quality control, processing methods, pharmacological effects, pharmacokinetics and toxicity related to Codonopsis Radix. The information of Codonopsis Radix is obtained from scientific databases (such as Baidu Scholar, CNKI, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and SciFinder Scholar), Chinese herbal classics, Chinese Pharmacopoeia, PhD and MSc dissertations, and so on. The chemical components mainly include alkaloids, alkynes and polyacetylenes, flavonoids, lignans, steroids, terpenoids, organic acids, volatile oils, saccharides and other components, which have a wide range of neuroprotective effects, protection of gastrointestinal mucosa and anti-ulcer, regulation of body immunity, anti-tumor, endocrine regulation, improvement of hematopoietic function, cardiovascular protection, anti-aging and antioxidant effects. In conclusion, this paper summarizes in depth the shortcomings of the current research on Codonopsis Radix and proposes corresponding solutions. At the same time, this paper provides theoretical support for further research on the biological function and potential clinical efficacy of Codonopsis Radix.

Chemical constituents of the roots of Codonopsis lanceolata

A new phenylpropanoid (1), a new alkaloid (11), and a new natural polyacetylene (17), together with nine phenolic compounds (2-10), five alkaloids (12-16), three polyacetylenes (18-20), three triterpenoidal saponins (21-23), one phenylethanoid glycoside (24), and three hexyl glycosides (25-27) with previous known structures, were isolated from the roots of Codonopsis lanceolata. All of the isolates 1-27 were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 macrophages and cell viability in A2780 human ovarian cancer cells. Among the isolates, lancemasides A and B have a significant inhibitory effect on the production of NO in RAW264.7 cells (IC₅₀ values < 50 μM). In A2780 cells, lancemaside A exhibited the most potent inhibitory effect on cell viability. This is the first report on the pharmacological activities of lancemaside B (22).

The genus Codonopsis (Campanulaceae): a review of phytochemistry, bioactivity and quality control

Codonopsis, in the family Campanulaceae, is a genus containing 42 species of dicotyledonous herbaceous perennial plants, predominantly found in Central, East and South Asia. Several Codonopsis species are widely used in traditional medicine and are considered to have multiple medicinal properties. Among the Codonopsis species, Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. and C. lanceolata (Sieb. et Zucc.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex Trautv. are more popular than others according to the findings, especially phytochemical and bioactive studies. Phytochemical research shows that Codonopsis species contain mainly polyacetylenes, phenylpropanoids, alkaloids, triterpenoids and polysaccharides, which contribute to multiple bioactivities. However, the mechanisms of their bioactivities need to be further elucidated. The less popular Codonopsis species remain to be studied and exploited. In addition, although a series of methods for the quality evaluation of Codonopsis species have been developed, a feasible and reliable approach to the efficacious and safe use of various Codonopsis species is still needed, with considering botanical origin, chemical constituents and bioactive effects. This review aims to provide up-to-date and comprehensive information on the phytochemistry, bioactivity and quality control of medicinal plants in the genus Codonopsis and to highlight current gaps in knowledge, which is useful for the wider development of the Codonopsis genus.