Conjugates of a secoiridoid glucoside with a phenolic glucoside from the flower buds of Lonicera japonica Thunb

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos with the homology of medicine and food: a review of active ingredients, anticancer mechanisms, pharmacokinetics, quality control, toxicity and applications

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF, called Jinyinhua in China), comes from the dried flower buds or flowers to be opened of Lonicera japonica Thunb. in the Lonicera family. It has a long history of medicinal use and has a wide range of application prospects. As modern research advances, an increasing number of scientific experiments have demonstrated the anticancer potential of LJF. However, there is a notable absence of systematic reports detailing the anti-tumor effects of LJF. This review integrates the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with contemporary pharmacological techniques, drawing upon literature from authoritative databases such as PubMed, CNKI, and WanFang to conduct a comprehensive study of LJF. Notably, a total of 507 compounds have been isolated and characterized from the plant to date, which include volatile oils, organic acids, flavonoids, iridoids, triterpenes and triterpenoid saponins. Pharmacological studies have demonstrated that LJF extract, along with components such as chlorogenic acid, luteolin, rutin, luteoloside, hyperoside and isochlorogenic acid, exhibits potential anticancer activities. Consequently, we have conducted a comprehensive review and summary of the mechanisms of action and clinical applications of these components. Furthermore, we have detailed the pharmacokinetics, quality control, and toxicity of LJF, while also discussing its prospective applications in the fields of biomedicine and preventive healthcare. It is hoped that these studies will provide valuable reference for the clinical research, development, and application of LJF.

The comparative analysis of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos: A systematical review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF) and Lonicerae Flos (LF) were once used as the same herb in China, but they were distinguished by Chinese Pharmacopoeia in 2005 in terms of their medicinal history, plant morphology, medicinal properties and chemical constituents. However, their functions, flavor, and meridian tropism are the same according to the Chinese pharmacopoeia 2020 edition, making researchers and customers confused.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

This review aimed to provide a comparative analysis of LJF and LF in order to provide a rational application in future research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The information was gathered from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SciFinder, Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and Chinese Masters and Doctoral Dissertations (all chosen articles were reviewed attentively from 1980.1 to 2023.8).

RESULTS

Till now, 507 chemical compounds have been isolated and identified in LJF, while 223 ones (79 overlapped compounds) are found in LF, including organic acids and derivatives, flavonoids, triterpenoids, iridoids, and essential oil components, etc. In addition, the pharmacological activities of LJF and LF, especially for their anti-influenza efficacy and mechanism, and their difference in terms of pharmacokinetic parameters, toxicology, and clinical applications were also summarized.

CONCLUSION

The current work offers comparative information between LJF and LF in terms of botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, ethnopharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and pharmacology, especially their anti-influenza activities. Despite the same clinical applications and similar chemical components in LJF and LF, differentiated components were still existed, resulting in differentiated pharmacological activities and pharmacokinetics parameters. Moreover, the research about anti-influenza mechanism and functional substances of LJF and LF is dramatically limited, restricting their clinical applications. In addition, few studies have investigated the metabolism feature of LF in vivo, which is one of the important bases for revealing the pharmacological mechanism of LF. At the same time, the toxicity of LJF and LF is not fully studied, and the toxic compounds of LJF and LF need to be screened out in order to standardize the drug use and improve their rational applications.

Traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos: A systematic comparative review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJF) and Lonicerae flos (LF) belong to different genera of Caprifoliaceae with analogous appearances and functions. Historically, they have been used as herbal medicines to treat various diseases with confirmed wind-heat evacuation, heat-clearing, and detoxification effects. However, the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2005 Edition) lists LJF and LF under different categories.

AIM OF THE STUDY

Few studies have systematically compared the similarities and dissimilarities of LJF and LF concerning their research achievements. This systematic review and comparison of the traditional use, identification, and phytochemical and pharmacological properties of LJF and LF provides valuable insights for their further application and clinical safety.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Related document information was collected from databases that included Web of Science, X-MOL, Science Direct, PubMed, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure.

RESULTS

The chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of LJF and LF were similar. A total of 337 and 242 chemical constituents were isolated and identified in LJF and LF, respectively. These included volatile oils, cyclic ether terpenes, flavonoids, phenolic acids, triterpenoids, and their saponins. Additionally, LJF plants contain more iridoids and flavonoids than LF plants. The latter have a variety of triterpenoid saponins and significantly higher chlorogenic acid content than LJF plants. Pharmacological studies have shown that LJF and LF have various anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-endotoxic, antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-platelet, myocardial protective, and hepatoprotective effects.

CONCLUSIONS

This review was undertaken to explore whether LJF and LF should be listed separately in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia in terms of their disease prevention and treatment strategies. Although LJF and LF showed promising effects, their action mechanisms remains unclear. Specifically, their impact on gut microbiota, gastrointestinal tract, and blood parameters requires further investigation. These studies will provide the foundation for scientific utilization and clinical/non-clinical applications of LJF and LF, and the maximum benefits from their mutual use.

Rapid screening of neuraminidase inhibitors using an at-line nanofractionation platform involving parallel oseltamivir-sensitive/resistant neuraminidase bioassays

In this study, an advanced at-line nanofractionation based screening platform was developed to screen potential neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) from Lonicera japonica Thunb by involving two parallel bioassays, for determining both oseltamivir-sensitive neuraminidase (NAS) and oseltamivir-resistant neuraminidase (NAR) inhibitory activities. 20 potential NAIs with both NAS and NAR inhibitory effects were screened from Lonicera japonica Thunb and identified by mass spectrometer, including 11 phenolic acids, 8 flavonoids and one iridoid glycoside. The proposed at-line nanofractionation based screening platform for NAIs was also used to rapidly screen nine batches of water extracts of Lonicera japonica Thunb or its similar species. Clear differences in the number and content of active components were easily observed, demonstrating that the proposed method possesses great potential for the quality control of herb medicines.

Investigation of Pharmacological Mechanisms of Yinhua Pinggan Granule on the Treatment of Pneumonia through Network Pharmacology and In Vitro

Yinhua pinggan granule (YHPGKL), a traditional Chinese medical compound, could treat pneumonia. Although previous studies demonstrated the protective and therapeutic effects of YHPGKL on pneumonia, its potential molecular mechanisms and its effective components are still elusive. Herein, we performed a network pharmacology analysis to determine the possible signaling pathways involved in the protective effects of components of YHPGKL. A total of 119 components and 257 target proteins of YHPGKL were identified, among which 117 effective components interacted with 113 proteins related to pneumonia. Then, a compound-effective component-target protein network was established to screen the effective hub components. The top three effective components, namely luteolin, kaempferol, and quercetin, were selected. Moreover, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of 113 proteins revealed a significant enrichment term associated with host immune and anti-infectious responses. Furthermore, by constructing a protein-protein interaction network between common proteins, ten hub proteins were identified, among which three hub components hit eight proteins. A further molecular docking analysis confirmed that the three effective hub components had a good affinity with six hub proteins. Eventually, the interactions were further visualized and screened on account of an infectious macrophage model in vitro. The results noted that three components could inhibit proinflammatory related hub genes but had no effect on survival-related hub genes. Thus, the three effective hub components and corresponding hub genes may play essential roles in the treatment of YHPGKL on pneumonia.

Systematic review of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos: A significant food and traditional Chinese medicine

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos has been used as a tea and medicine for more than 1,500 years. It has the functions of clearing heat, detoxification, and is often used to treat carbuncle, furuncle, throat arthralgia, erysipelas, heat-toxic blood dysentery, febrile fever. This paper summarizes the botany, ethnopharmacology, chemical composition and pharmacological action of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos from 1986 to 2022, and looks forward to the future research direction of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos. At present, the components isolated from Lonicerae Japonicae Flos include essential oils, organic acids, flavonoids, iridoids, saponins and other compounds. It has the effects of anti-inflammation, anti-virus, anti-bacteria, anti-oxidation, anti-tumor, protect liver and galltesticles, hypotensive, hypolipidemic, anti-thrombosis, anti-allergy, immune regulation and so on. It is often used in clinical treatment of diarrhea, hematochezia, febrile disease, exogenous wind-heat, and cold, swelling and toxin of carbuncle, sore throat and so on. The comprehensive evaluation of the quality of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and the understanding of multi-target network pharmacology also need to be studied. As a kind of health food with high value, LJF is worthy of further promotion and development.

Integrating Anti-Influenza Virus Activity and Chemical Pattern Recognition to Explore the Quality Evaluation Method of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos

Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJF, Lonicera japonica Thunb.) is adopted as a core herb for preventing and treating influenza. However, the anti-influenza virus components of LJF and the impact of quality-affecting factors on the anti-influenza activity of LJF have not been systematically investigated. In this study, a strategy integrating anti-influenza virus activity, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint and chemical pattern recognition was proposed for the efficacy and quality evaluation of LJF. As a result, six bioactive compounds were screened out and identified as neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 4,5-Di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, sweroside and secoxyloganin. Based on the bioactive compounds, chemical pattern recognition models of LJF were established by a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The results of the LDA models and anti-influenza virus activity demonstrated that cultivation pattern significantly affected the anti-influenza effect of LJF and that the neuraminidase inhibition rate of wild LJF was significantly higher than that of cultivated LJF. Moreover, the quality of LJF samples with different processing methods and geographical origins showed no obvious difference. Overall, the proposed strategy in the current study revealed the anti-influenza virus components of LJF and provided a feasible method for thequality evaluation of LJF, which has great importance for assuring the clinical effect against influenza of LJF.

Genus Lonicera: New drug discovery from traditional usage to modern chemical and pharmacological research

BACKGROUND

Lonicera Linn. belonging to the family Caprifoliaceae, the largest genus in the plant family, includes about more than 200 species, which are mainly distributed in northern Africa, North America, Europe and Asia. Some species of this genus have been usually used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as functional foods, cosmetics and other applications, such as L. japonica Thunb. Bioactive components and pharmacological activities of the genus Lonicera plants have received an increasing interest from the scientific community. Thus, a comprehensive and systematic review on their traditional usage in China, chemical components, and their pharmacological properties of their whole plants, bioactive extracts, and bioactive isolates including partial structure-activity relationships from the genus is indispensable.

METHODS

Information on genus Lonicera of this systematic electronic literature search was gathered via the published articles, patents, clinical trials website (https://clinicaltrials.gov/) and several online bibliographic databases (PubMed, Sci Finder, Research Gate, Science Direct, CNKI, Web of Science and Google Scholar). The following keywords were used for the online search: Lonicera, phytochemical composition, Lonicerae japonica, Lonicera review articles, bioactivities of Lonicera, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-diabetic, and clinical trials. This review paper consists of a total of 225 papers covering the Lonicera genus from 1800 to 2021, including research articles, reviews, patents, and book chapters.

RESULTS

In this review (1800s-2021), about 420 components from the genus of Lonicera Linn. including 87 flavonoids, 222 terpenoids, 51 organic acids, and other compounds, together with their pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-allergic, immunomodulatory effects, and toxicity were summarized.

CONCLUSION

The relationship is discussed among their traditional usage, their pharmacological properties, and their chemical components, which indicate the genus Lonicera have a large prospect in terms of new drug exploitation, especially in COVID-19 treatment.

Updated pharmacological effects of Lonicerae japonicae flos, with a focus on its potential efficacy on coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)

Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJF), known as Jin Yin Hua in Chinese, is one of the most commonly used traditional Chinese herbs and nutraceuticals. Nowadays, LJF is broadly applied in an array of afflictions, such as fever, sore throat, flu infection, cough, and arthritis, with the action mechanism to be elucidated. Here, we strove to summarize the main phytochemical components of LJF and review its updated pharmacological effects, including inhibition of inflammation, pyrexia, viruses, and bacteria, immunoregulation, and protection of the liver, nervous system, and heart, with a focus on the potential efficacy of LJF on coronavirus disease–2019 based on network pharmacology so as to fully underpin the utilization of LJF as a medicinal herb and a favorable nutraceutical in daily life.

Potential Application of Lonicera japonica Extracts in Animal Production: From the Perspective of Intestinal Health

Lonicera japonica (L. japonica) extract is rich in active substances, such as phenolic acids, essential oils, flavones, saponins, and iridoids, which have a broad spectrum of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial effect. Previous studies have demonstrated that L. japonica has a good regulatory effect on animal intestinal health, which can be used as a potential antibiotic substitute product. However, previous studies about intestinal health regulation mainly focus on experimental animals or cells, like mice, rats, HMC-1 Cells, and RAW 264.7 cells. In this review, the intestinal health benefits including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activity, and its potential application in animal production were summarized. Through this review, we can see that the effects and mechanism of L. japonica extract on intestinal health regulation of farm and aquatic animals are still rare and unclear. Further studies could focus on the regulatory mechanism of L. japonica extract on intestinal health especially the protective effects of L. japonica extract on oxidative injury, inflammation, and regulation of intestinal flora in farm animals and aquatic animals, thereby providing references for the rational utilization and application of L. japonica and its extracts in animal production.

Phytochemical studies on traditional herbal medicines based on the ethnopharmacological information obtained by field studies

Traditional herbal medicines, which have been used in the matured traditional medical systems as well as those have been used in ethnic medical systems, are invaluable resources of drug seeds. Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological survey may provide useful information of these herbal medicines, which are valuable for searching new bioactive molecules. From this viewpoint, we have been performing the ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological field studies in Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, and Mongolia. Phytochemical studies on traditional herbal medicines were performed based on the information obtained by our ethnobotanical survey. Herbal medicines used in Uzbekistan and Bangladesh were also investigated on the basis of the ethnopharmacological information obtained from collaborative researchers in the respective regions. Some studies were carried out for searching active substance(s) based on bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation. Over 150 new molecules were isolated in these studies, and their various biological activities were also demonstrated. This review summarizes the results of phytochemical studies of those traditional herbal medicines as well as biological activities of the isolated molecules.

Influence of Static Magnetic Field Stimulation on the Accuracy of Tachystoscopically Presented Line Bisection

Transcranial static magnetic stimulation (tSMS) has been known to reduce human cortical excitability. Here, we investigated whether tSMS would modulate visuo-spatial cognition in healthy humans. Subjects performed a visuo-spatial task requiring judgements about the symmetry of pre-bisected lines. Visual stimuli consisted of symmetrically or asymmetrically transected lines, tachystoscopically presented for 150 ms on a computer monitor. Task performance was examined before, immediately after, and 10 min after tSMS/sham stimulation of 20 min over the posterior parietal cortex (PPC: P4 from the international 10-20 system) or superior temporal gyrus (STG: C6). Nine out of 16 subjects misjudged pre-bisected lines by consistently underestimating the length of the right-side segment (judging lines to be exactly pre-bisected when the transector was located to the left of the midpoint, or judging the left-side segment to be longer when the transector was located at the midpoint). In these subjects showing a leftward bias, tSMS over the right STG reduced the magnitude of the leftward bias. This did not occur with tSMS over the right PPC or sham stimulation. In the remaining right-biased subjects, no intervention effect was observed with any stimulation. Our findings indicate that application of tSMS over the right STG modulates visuo-spatial cognition in healthy adults.

Preliminary study of Yinhuapinggan granule against H1N1 influenza virus infection in mice through inhibition of apoptosis

CONTEXT

Yinhuapinggan granule (YHPG) is frequently used for treating fever, cough, and viral pneumonia in traditional Chinese medicine.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the antiviral effects of YHPG in H1N1 influenza virus (IFV)-infected mice and its possible mechanism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

ICR mice were intranasally infected with 10 LD₅₀ viral dose of IFV and then oral administration of YHPG (6, 12, and 18 g/kg) or oseltamivir (positive control) once a day for 2 or 4 consecutive days, six mice in each group. The lung, spleen and thymus indexes of IFV-infected mice, the expression of viral loads and pathological changes in lung tissues were performed to evaluate the antiviral effects of YHPG. Real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and western blot assays were used to determine the expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and caspase-3.

RESULTS

LD₅₀ in mice was 10^-3.5/0.02 mL. YHPG (6, 12, and 18 g/kg) dose-dependently decreased the lung index and viral load; the inhibition ratio of lung index was 5.31, 18.22, and 34.06%, respectively. Further detection revealed that YHPG (12 and 18 g/kg) significantly attenuated lung pathological changes, and increased the spleen and thymus indexes. Moreover, YHPG significantly down-regulated the mRNA and protein expression of Bax and caspase-3 in lung tissues of mice infected with IFV, and up-regulated the expression of Bcl-2.

CONCLUSIONS

YHPG has significant antiviral effects in IFV-infected mice, partially by inhibiting influenza virus replication and regulating the occurrence of apoptosis induced by influenza virus infection, suggesting that YHPG may be a promising antiviral agent with potential clinical application prospects.

A new nitrogen-containing iridoid glycoside from lonicera macranthoides

A new nitrogen-containing iridoid glycoside, named (7 R,3'R)-lonijapospiroside A (1), together with thirteen known iridoid glycosides, were isolated from the flower buds of Lonicera macranthoides. The structures of these compounds were established on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. Among them, compounds 1-4 are four diastereoisomers, and their absolute configurations were accurately established by the NOE spectra as well as comparison of their experimental and calculated ECD spectra. The anti-inflammatory activities of all isolates were evaluated by measuring their inhibitory effects on NO, IL-6, and TNF-α production in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Compound 14 exhibited anti-inflammatory activities by inhibiting IL-6 with an IC₅₀ value of 54.70 μM, comparable to that of the positive control (hydrocortisone, IC₅₀: 62.6 ± 1.7 μM).

Natural products against acute respiratory infections: Strategies and lessons learned

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

A wide variety of traditional herbal remedies have been used throughout history for the treatment of symptoms related to acute respiratory infections (ARIs).

AIM OF THE REVIEW

The present work provides a timely overview of natural products affecting the most common pathogens involved in ARIs, in particular influenza viruses and rhinoviruses as well as bacteria involved in co-infections, their molecular targets, their role in drug discovery, and the current portfolio of available naturally derived anti-ARI drugs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Literature of the last ten years was evaluated for natural products active against influenza viruses and rhinoviruses. The collected bioactive agents were further investigated for reported activities against ARI-relevant bacteria, and analysed for the chemical space they cover in relation to currently known natural products and approved drugs.

RESULTS

An overview of (i) natural compounds active in target-based and/or phenotypic assays relevant to ARIs, (ii) extracts, and (iii) in vivo data are provided, offering not only a starting point for further in-depth phytochemical and antimicrobial studies, but also revealing insights into the most relevant anti-ARI scaffolds and compound classes. Investigations of the chemical space of bioactive natural products based on principal component analysis show that many of these compounds are drug-like. However, some bioactive natural products are substantially larger and have more polar groups than most approved drugs. A workflow with various strategies for the discovery of novel antiviral agents is suggested, thereby evaluating the merit of in silico techniques, the use of complementary assays, and the relevance of ethnopharmacological knowledge on the exploration of the therapeutic potential of natural products.

CONCLUSIONS

The longstanding ethnopharmacological tradition of natural remedies against ARIs highlights their therapeutic impact and remains a highly valuable selection criterion for natural materials to be investigated in the search for novel anti-ARI acting concepts. We observe a tendency towards assaying for broad-spectrum antivirals and antibacterials mainly discovered in interdisciplinary academic settings, and ascertain a clear demand for more translational studies to strengthen efforts for the development of effective and safe therapeutic agents for patients suffering from ARIs.

Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos: a systematic review of ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacology

Lonicerae japonicae flos (called Jinyinhua, JYH in Chinese), flowers or flower buds of Lonicera japonica Thunberg, is an extremely used traditional edible-medicinal herb. Pharmacological studies have already proved JYH ideal clinical therapeutic effects on inflammation and infectious diseases and prominent effects on multiple targets in vitro and in vivo, such as pro-inflammatory protein inducible nitric oxide synthase, toll-like receptor 4, interleukin-1 receptor. JYH and Lonicerae flos [called Shanyinhua, SYH in Chinese, flowers or flower buds of Lonicera hypoglauca Miquel, Lonicera confusa De Candolle or Lonicera macrantha (D.Don) Spreng] which belongs to the same family of JYH were once recorded as same herb in multiple versions of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP). However, they were listed as two different herbs in 2005 Edition ChP, leading to endless controversy since they have close proximity on plant species, appearances and functions, together with traditional applications. In the past decades, there has no literature regarding to systematical comparison on the similarity concerning research achievements of the two herbs. This review comprehensively presents similarities and differences between JYH and SYH retrospectively, particularly proposing them the marked differences in botanies, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities which can be used as evidence of separate list of JYH and SYH. Furthermore, deficiencies on present studies have also been discussed so as to further research could use for reference.

A proposed protocol based on integrative metabonomics analysis for the rapid detection and mechanistic understanding of sulfur fumigation of Chinese herbal medicines

In the current work, Lonicera japonica Flos (FLJ) was selected as a model Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and a protocol was proposed for the rapid detection of sulfur-fumigated (SF) CHMs. A multiple metabonomics analysis was conducted using HPLC, NIR spectroscopy and a UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. First, the group discriminatory potential of each technique was respectively investigated based on PCA. Then, the effect of mid-level metabonomics data fusion on sample spatial distribution was evaluated based on data obtained using the above three technologies. Furthermore, based on the acquired HRMS data, 76 markers discriminating SF from non-sulfur-fumigated (NSF) CHMs were observed and 49 of them were eventually characterized. Moreover, NIR absorptions of 18 sulfur-containing markers were identified to be in close correlation with the discriminatory NIR wavebands. In conclusion, the proposed protocol based on integrative metabonomics analysis that we established for the rapid detection and mechanistic explanation of the sulfur fumigation of CHMs was able to achieve variable selection, enhance group separation and reveal the intrinsic mechanism of the sulfur fumigation of CHMs.

Secoiridoid analogues from the fruits of Ligustrum lucidum and their inhibitory activities against influenza A virus

A phytochemical study focusing on the secoiridoid components in the fruits of Ligustrum lucidum was carried out, which finally led to the isolation of nine secoiridoid glycosides (1-9) together with two secoiridoids (10, 11). The structures of all compounds were established mainly by NMR and MS experiments as well as the necessary chemical evidence, of which 1, 2, 4 (ligulucisides A-C), 10 and 11 (liguluciridoids A and B) were identified as new secoiridoid analogues. An in vitro antiviral bioassay indicated that 1, 4, 6, and 10 displayed the inhibitory activities against influenza A virus with the IC₅₀ values of 16.5, 12.5, 13.1, and 18.5 μM, respectively, which were better than the positive control Ribavirin (IC₅₀ 22.6 μM). .

Research Progress on Chemical Constituents of Lonicerae japonicae flos

Lonicerae japonicae flos is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years with confirmed curative effects. Except for medicine, it is also used in healthy food, cosmetics, and soft beverages for its specific activities. Therefore, the chemical constituents, mainly including organic acids, flavonoids, iridoids, triterpenoids, and volatile oils, have been well studied by many scholars in recent years and a comprehensive and systematic review on chemical constituents of Lonicerae japonicae flos is indispensable. This paper aims at reviewing the chemical components of LJF in recent years through searching for the literatures both at home and abroad. Our results show that 212 components have been isolated from Lonicerae japonicae flos, including 27 flavonoids, 40 organic acids, 83 iridoids, 17 triterpenoids, and 45 other compounds, which could lay a foundation for the further application of Lonicerae japonicae flos.

Proteomic Analysis of Lonicera japonica Thunb. Immature Flower Buds Using Combinatorial Peptide Ligand Libraries and Polyethylene Glycol Fractionation

Lonicera japonica Thunb. flower is a well-known medicinal plant that has been widely used for the treatment of human disease. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the biological activities of L. japonica immature flower buds, a gel-free/label-free proteomic technique was used in combination with combinatorial peptide ligand libraries (CPLL) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) fractionation for the enrichment of low-abundance proteins and removal of high-abundance proteins, respectively. A total of 177, 614, and 529 proteins were identified in crude protein extraction, CPLL fractions, and PEG fractions, respectively. Among the identified proteins, 283 and 239 proteins were specifically identified by the CPLL and PEG methods, respectively. In particular, proteins related to the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, signaling, hormone metabolism, and transport were highly enriched by CPLL and PEG fractionation compared to crude protein extraction. A total of 28 secondary metabolism-related proteins and 25 metabolites were identified in L. japonica immature flower buds. To determine the specificity of the identified proteins and metabolites for L. japonica immature flower buds, Cerasus flower buds were used, which resulted in the abundance of hydroxymethylbutenyl 4-diphosphate synthase in L. japonica immature flower buds being 10-fold higher than that in Cerasus flower buds. These results suggest that proteins related to secondary metabolism might be responsible for the biological activities of L. japonica immature flower buds.

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos: A Systematic Pharmacology Review

Lonicerae japonicae flos, a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been used for several thousand years in China. Chinese Pharmacopeia once included Lonicerae japonicae flos of Caprifoliaceae family and plants of the same species named Lonicerae flos in general in the same group. Chinese Pharmacopeia (2005 Edition) lists Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos under different categories, although they have the similar history of efficacy. In this study, we research ancient books of TCM, 4 main databases of Chinese academic journals, and MEDLINE/PubMed to verify the origins and effects of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos in traditional medicine and systematically summarized the research data in light of modern pharmacology and toxicology. Our results show that Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos are similar pharmacologically, but they also differ significantly in certain aspects. A comprehensive systematic review and a standard comparative pharmacological study of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos as well as other species of Lonicerae flos support their clinical safety and application. Our study provides evidence supporting separate listing of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos in Chinese Pharmacopeia as well as references for revision of relevant pharmacopeial records dealing with traditional efficacy of Lonicerae japonicae flos and Lonicerae flos.