•  doi: 10.1007/s11101-016-9470-4
•  Published online 2016 May 12

Agnieszka Szopa,¹Radosław Ekiert,² and Halina Ekiert¹

Abstract

Schisandra chinensis Turcz. (Baill.) is a plant species whose fruits have been well known in Far Eastern medicine for a long time. However, schisandra seems to be a plant still underestimated in contemporary therapy still in the countries of East Asia. The article presents latest available information on the chemical composition of this plant species. Special attention is given to dibenzo cyclooctadiene lignans. In addition, recent studies of the biological activity of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans and schisandra fruit extracts are recapitulated. The paper gives a short resume of their beneficial effects in biological systems in vitro, in animals, and in humans, thus underlining their medicinal potential. The cosmetic properties are depicted, too. The analytical methods used for assaying schisandra lignans in the scientific studies and also in industry are also presented. Moreover, special attention is given to the information on the latest biotechnological studies of this plant species. The intention of this review is to contribute to a better understanding of the huge potential of the pharmacological relevance of S. chinensis.

Keywords: Schizandra, Dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans, Schisandrin, Gomisin A, Triterpenoids, In vitro cultures

Introduction

Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.—Chinese magnolia vine; schisandra (eng.), schizandre de Chine (fr.), chinesische Beerentraube, chinesisches Spaltkölbchen (germ.), Лимoнник китaйcкий (rus.), wuweizi, 五味子 (chin.), gomishi, ゴミシ (jap.), 오미자, omija (kor.) is a plant species well-known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and also in modern Chinese medicine. The first description of S. chinensis species can be found in a 1596 work on ancient Chinese medicine written by Li Shih-Chen—“Pên T’shao Kang Mu”. The fruit of the Chinese magnolia vine was used in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory failure, cardiovascular diseases, in the states of body fatigue and weakness, excessive sweating and insomnia. The material is also known from the traditional Russian medicine, in which it was described as a tonic, reducing hunger, fatigue, delaying the aging process, increasing vitality, and improving mental health (Fil’kin 1952; Bensky and Gamble 1993).

Recent researches on the biological activity of extracts from the fruit, as well as the main active components isolated from this raw material—dibenzo[a,c]cyclooctadiene lignans, have confirmed these properties and added new aspects relating to the action of S. chinensis.

The most valuable, collective sources of information on the latest research on this species are periodically appearing review publications. The first of the modern reviews from 1999 by Hancke et al. (1999) signalled different aspects of the pharmacology of S. chinensis fruit, focusing in particular on the antihepatotoxic, antioxidant and antitumoral activities, and on the effects on physical performance and on the central nervous system proved by scientific researches.

A very valuable study is the publication by Opletal et al. from 2004 (2004), in which the authors focused on dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans. They presented different methods of isolating these compounds and their biological activity, paying special attention to analytical methods. Another extensive study dealing with the issue of the pharmacology of fruit extracts of S. chinensis in Russian research and medicine is a publication from 2008 written by Panossian and Wikman (2008). This work raises the aspects of ethnobotany and the chemical composition and pharmacology of S. chinensis fruit. There are some review articles in national languages, for example in Polish, focused on different aspects of value of S. chinensis (Ekiert 2005; Szopa et al. 2012). In recent years there have also been reports on the biotechnological research of this species. The progress achieved in this area was presented in a monograph by our team in the form of a book chapter by Szopa and Ekiert (2014).

The objective of present paper is to systematize the latest reports on the chemical composition, biological activity and analytical testing of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans and S. chinensis fruit extracts. It also includes a presentation of the position of Schisandrae chinensis fructus in the world pharmacopoeial documents. Moreover, attention is drawn to biotechnological studies on S. chinensis.

Reference:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5378736/