Research Progress on Pharmacological Action and Pharmacokinetics of Hydroxytyrosol / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Hydroxytyrosol as one of natural anti-oxidants，extracted from the fruits and leaves of Olea europaea，is a natural polyphenol compound in the form of esters. Recently，considerable studies showed that hydroxytyrosol demonstrated intrinsic biological activity for metabolic syndromes， cardiovascular- and neurodegenerative-related diseases，and it was revealed to play the roles in the anti-activities of cancerous，inflammatory as well as depressing issues. In addition，hydroxytyrosol is an oleophilic and hydrophilic compound with high bioavailability and low cellular cytotoxicity. It could be absorbed by various tissues and could easily passe through blood brain barrier. Therefore，hydroxytyrosol was introduced as one of the key subjects targeted by innovative drug development. However，it has a short half-life in vivo and non-tissue specific，which lead to its limitation in clinical application， so further in-depth studies are still needed. The authors had a literature review of hydroxytyrosol，and summarized the basic properties of its pharmacokinetic，pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms. This article mainly focused on it’s pharmacological activity and the mechanism involved in treating damages induced by the oxidative stress，in alleviating cardiovascular diseases and in inhibition of neurodegenerative diseases. In this article， its anti-inflammatory，anti-tumor，anti-depressant effects，other biological activities，and pharmacokinetics were also briefly reviewed. The authors put forward some personal thoughts on its future research direction，hoping to provide ideas and inspirations for the vast number of researchers，and provide references for its further development，research and application.