Thesium chinense Turcz.: An ethnomedical, phytochemical and pharmacological review

Thesium chinense Turcz. has been used to treat mastitis, pulmonitis, tonsillitis, iaryngopharyngitis and upper respiratory tract infections in the indigenous medicine of China for a long history. Presently, several pharmaceutics prepared by this medical herb have been clinically used for the therapy of infectious diseases.

This review aims to comprehensively summarize the current researches on the ethnomedical, phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of T. chinense, and discuss their possible opportunities for the future research.

Extensive database searches, including Web of Science, SciFinder, Google Scholar and China Knowledge Resource Integrated, were performed using keywords such as 'Thesium chinense', 'Bai Rui Cao', and their chemical constituents. In addition, local classic herbal literature on ethnopharmacology and relevant textbooks were consulted to provide a comprehensive survey of this ethnomedicine.

Thirty four chemical constituents, including flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenoids, have been identified from T. chinense. Of which, flavonoids are the predominant and characteristic constituents. The crude extracts, the purified constituents, and commercial available pharmaceutics have displayed diverse in vitro and in vivo pharmacological functions (e.g. anti-inflammation, antimicrobial activity, analgesic effect, hepaprotection), and are particularly useful as a potential therapeutic agent against inflammation-related diseases.

T. chinense is an important ethnomedical medicine and possesses a satisfying effect for treating inflammation, microbial infection, and upper respiratory diseases. It has received plenty of researches on its phytochemical and pharmacological aspects since 1970s. These findings definitely establish the link between chemical composition and pharmacological application, and support the ethnomedical use of T. chinense in the indigenous medicine of China. However, chemical composition of this plant and the molecular mechanisms of purified constituents have not been comprehensively investigated, and thus the trace constituents and the therapeutic targets of bioactive constituents deserve a further exploration. Collectively, the researchers should pay more attention to a better understanding and application of this ethnomedical plant.