Research progress from traditional medicine to chemical composition, pharmacological activity, and clinical...

Rhodiola crenulata (Hook. f. & Thomson) H. Ohba, a perennial herbaceous plant of the Rhodiola genus in the Crassulaceae family, is a commonly used Tibetan medicinal material grown in high-altitude areas ranging from 2800 to 5600 m. It is primarily distributed in China, Nepal, Bhutan, and so on. The roots of R. crenulata are its medicinal part, which possesses significant medicinal and health-care functions, and is commonly used to treat conditions such as hemoptysis, pneumonia, cough, and gynecological disorders like leucorrhea. With the development and utilization of R. crenulata resources, wild resources have been blindly excavated, putting them in an endangered state, and have been listed as a national second-class key protected wild plant.

This review systematically summarized the research progress and achievements in traditional use, artificial cultivation, chemical composition, pharmacological activity, clinical application, and quality standard of R. crenulata, aiming to provide theoretical support for its further research and clinical application.

A literature search on R. crenulata was performed using published scientific databases including SciFinder, Elsevier ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Taylor & Francis, ACS, Springer, PubMed, CNKI, and so on. Information was also collected from Classical books on Chinese and Tibetan medicines, Ph.D. and M.Sc. Dissertations, Baidu Scholar, and so on. Structures of chemical compounds were drawn by ChemDraw software.

Through literature review, 134 natural compounds have been reported from R. crenulata, which include flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, phenylethanes, terpenoids, and other compounds. R. crenulata exhibited extensive pharmacological activities, such as anti-aging, anti-hypoxia, anti-fatigue, anti-radiation, antitumor, cardiovascular system improvement, and anti-aging effects. With the development and utilization of R. crenulata resources, wild resources are gradually decreasing, and artificial breeding and in-depth research on its active compounds are becoming increasingly important, and a series of progress has been made. Due to the similar origins of species within the Rhodiola genus, current quality standards struggle to distinguish between them. This paper reviews HPLC fingerprint methods, thin layer chromatography, and ¹H NMR fingerprint technology, providing a reference for improving the quality standards of R. crenulata.

Extensive research has been conducted on the chemical composition and pharmacological activity of R. crenulata, yielding significant results. New compounds and activities are continuously being reported, yet research on its mechanism of action still needs to be strengthened. Various artificial cultivation techniques has been conducted, but current techniques cannot meet the actual demand for this plant. It is believed that with in-depth research, the resource issue of R. crenulata will be resolved. Continuous research is also being conducted to improve the quality standards of R. crenulata. This review provides a useful reference for in-depth research on R. crenulata and the development of new functional products.