Research Advances on Anti-Cancer Natural Products.

Malignant tumors seriously threaten people's health and life worldwide. Natural products, with definite pharmacological effects and known chemical structures, present dual advantages of Chinese herbs and chemotherapeutic drug. Some of them exhibit favorable anti-cancer activity. Natural products were categorized into eight classes according to their chemical structures, including alkaloids, terpenoids and volatile oils, inorganic salts, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids and isoflavones, quinone, saponins and polysaccharides. The review focused on the latest advances in anti-cancer activity of representative natural products for every class. Additionally, anti-cancer molecular mechanism and derivatization of natural products were summarized in detail, which would provide new core structures and new insights for anti-cancer new drug development.

Research Advances on Matrine.

Matrine is an alkaloid extracted from traditional Chinese herbs including Sophora flavescentis, Sophora alopecuroides, Sophora root, etc. It has the dual advantages of traditional Chinese herbs and chemotherapy drugs. It exhibits distinct benefits in preventing and improving chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and tumors. The review introduced recent research progresses on extraction, synthesis and derivatization of Matrine. The summary focused on the latest research advances of Matrine on anti-atherosclerosis, anti-hypertension, anti-ischemia reperfusion injury, anti-arrhythmia, anti-diabetic cardiovascular complications, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterium, anti-virus, which would provide new core structures and new insights for new drug development in related fields.