Imperatorin: A review of its pharmacology, toxicity and pharmacokinetics.

As a naturally occurring furanocoumarin, the medicinal value of imperatorin has been studied more and more. We hope to provide useful information for the further development of imperatorin by analyzing the literature of imperatorin in recent years. By collating the literature on the pharmacology of imperatorin, we found that the pharmacological activity of imperatorin is wide and imperatorin can be used for anti-cancer, neuroprotection, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertension and antibacterial. In addition, we found that some researchers confirmed the toxicity of imperatorin. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that oxidation metabolism is the main metabolic pathways of imperatorin. At present, the shortcomings of research on imperatorin mainly include: most pharmacological studies are concentrated in vitro, lacking enough in vivo experimental data; more and more studies showed that imperatorin has synergistic effect with other drugs in anticancer and other aspects, but lacking the detailed explanation of the mechanism of the synergistic effect; imperatorin has side effect, but it lacks enough experimental conclusions. Based on the above defects, we believe that more in vivo experiments of imperatorin should be carried out in the future; future research need to explore synergistic mechanisms of imperatorin with other drugs, especially in anticancer; the dose affects both the pharmacological activity and the side effect of imperatorin. The relationship between the dose and the two aspects need to be further studied in order to reduce the side effect. In addition, through structural modification of imperatorin, it is possible to improve the treatment effect and reduce side effect.

Palmatine: A review of its pharmacology, toxicity and pharmacokinetics.

Palmatine is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid and has been widely used in pharmaceutical field. The purpose of this review is to provide the latest and comprehensive information on the pharmacology, toxicity and pharmacokinetics of palmatine in the past, to explore the therapeutic potential of this compound and look for ways to reduce toxicity. Information on palmatine was collected from the internet database PubMed, Elsevier, ResearchGate, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library and Europe PMC using a combination of keywords including "pharmacology", "toxicology", "pharmacokinetics". All studies of this genus were included in this review until March 2019. Palmatine has a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects, including anti-cancer, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotection, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and regulating blood lipids. However, palmatine has obvious DNA toxicity, and has a complex effect on metabolic enzymes in the liver. Pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that glucuronidation and sulfation are the main metabolic pathways of palmatine. Palmatine can be used in many diseases. Future research directions include: how the concentration of palmatine affects pharmacological effects and toxicity; the mechanism of synergy between palmatine and other protoberberine alkaloid; Structural modification of palmatine is one of the key methods to enhance pharmacological activity and reduce activity.