Ancient herbal component may be a novel therapeutic for gouty arthritis

[摘要] Rhodiola species are flowering perennial plants in Crassulaceae family that have been used in folk medicine in Asia and Europe for thousands of years. In traditional Chinese medicine, Rhodiola species was initially documented in Sheng Nong’s herbal classic, the earliest known compendium of Chinese Materia Medica compiled 2000 years ago, as a top grade herb with the capacity to promote healthy ageing and longevity.1 Rhodiala species commonly refer to “golden root” or “arctic root”, presumably because this indigenous plant from the arctic region has been believed to own marked health-boosting effects and part of the plant used in traditional medicine is rhizome or underground stem. Recent studies show that Rhodiola species have a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities and therapeutic effects, including antioxidant, adaptogenic, anti-stress, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and antitumor effects.2 The extracts of Rhodiola species are available worldwide as a dietary supplement, and purportedly have many beneficial effects, such as improvement of cognitive function, reduction of mental fatigue, stress relief, enhancement of endurance and exercise performance.3 Constituting roughly 1% of raw herb, salidroside (Sal, a glucoside of tyrosol) was identified as a major biologically active component of Rhodiola species.2 The pharmacological activities of Sal, including its anti-inflammatory effect, have been extensively studied. For example, Wang et al. reported that Sal markedly inhibits the level of proinflammatory cytokines and airway inflammation in asthma induced by diisocyanate (TDI) in mice by regulating GATA3/T-bet.4 Recently, the antiarthritis activities of Sal were convincingly studied by Liu and colleagues, which further advances our understanding of its anti-inflammatory property and the underlying mechanism of action of this ancient golden root-derived compound.

[学科分类] 生理学