Recent research progress of Cirsium medicinal plants in China

The species of the genus Cirsium have been used as traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. It is believed that Cirsium has the efficacies of cooling blood and stopping bleeding, dispelling blood stasis, detoxifying and eliminating carbuncle. At present, they are mainly used in treatment of the hemoptysis, hematemesis, hemoptysis, hematuria, traumatic bleeding and Henoch-Schonlein purpura. They are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine.

This paper systematically collated the classification, traditional use, pharmacological action, phytochemistry and clinical application of Cirsium plants in the past ten years, intending to provide a critical appraisal of current knowledge for future in-depth study and rational development and utilization of Cirsium plants.

This paper searched various databases (SciFinder, Science Direct, CNKI, Wiley online library, Spring Link, Web of Science, PubMed, Wanfang Data, Weipu Data), Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020 Edition, Chinese Flora, Chinese Materia Medica and some local books on ethnopharmacology.

More than ten species of Cirsium have been used as folk medicine, and modern pharmacological studies have shown that Cirsium has the effects of protecting liver, antioxidation, anti-tumor, anti-inflammation, antibacterial, etc. More than 200 chemical constituents such as flavonoids, triterpenes, sterols, phenylpropanoids have been isolated from Cirsium. Some ingredients show a wide variety of bioactivities including hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor and other activities. At present, Cirsium medicinal plants, as traditional Chinese medicine, were mainly used to treat nephritis, Henoch-Schonlein purpura and hemorrhage, although some species used in folk lack of quality control systems.

Cirsium plants are a safe and effective medicine for cooling blood and hemostasis. Recent studies on pharmacology and phytochemistry also provide solid scientific evidences for the traditional application of this genus. It also shows significant hepatoprotective activity and may be a potential clinical candidate for the treatment of liver disease. However, the qualitative and quantitative analysis, pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics and mechanism of action also need in-depth study.