Biochanin A from Chinese Medicine: An Isoflavone with Diverse Pharmacological Properties
Jia Yan1, Panda Qiu1, Xinyu Zhang1
1Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Drug-Targeting and Drug Delivery, System of the Education Ministry, Sichuan Engineering Laboratory for Plant-Sourced, Drug and Sichuan Research Center for Drug Precision Industrial Technology, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Biochanin A (BCA) is a dietary isoflavone, isolated from the leaves and stems of Trifolium pratense L and many other herbs of Chinese medicine. Recent findings indicated BCA as a promising drug candidate with diverse bioactive effects. On the purpose of evaluating the possibility of BCA in clinical application, this review is trying to provide a comprehensive summary of the pharmacological actions of BCA. The publications collected from PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Wiley databases were summarized for the last 10 years. Then, the potential therapeutic use of BCA on the treatment of various diseases was discussed according to its pharmacological properties, namely, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic, and anti-obesity effects as well as neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, and osteoprotective effects. BCA might mainly regulate the MAPK, PI3K, NRF2, and NF-kB pathways, respectively, to exert its bioactive effects. However, the limited definitive targets, poor biological availability, and insufficient safety evaluation might block the clinical application of BCA. This review may provide new insights for the development of BCA in the application of related diseases.
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