The anthraquinone ring and two phenolic hydroxyl groups in aloe-emodin determine that it has a variety of biological activities such as scavenging oxygen free radicals and anti-tumor.
1. Cardiovascular protection
1. 1 Scavenging effect of oxygen free radicals
The pathogenesis of the cardiovascular disease is complicated, and it has the characteristics of multiple factors affecting each other. Among them, the endothelial cell dysfunction caused by excessive oxygen free radicals is associated with hypertension, hyperlipidemia and early atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and congestive heart failure. , Arrhythmia and myocardial ischemia are closely related. The IC50 of aloe-emodin to superoxide anion free radicals is 6.8 mg·L -1, and the scavenging ability of aloe-emodin to oxygen free radicals is dose-dependent. The results of this study suggest that the role of aloe-emodin in scavenging oxygen free radicals may make it play an important role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
1. 2 lowering blood pressure
Aloe-emodin at a dose of 0.5, 1, 3 mg·kg ―¹ reduced mean arterial blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner; at a dose of 3 mg·kg ―¹, arterial blood pressure decreased by 79%, but its blood pressure reduction mechanism was still Unclear, awaiting further study.
1. 3 Potential effects of regulating blood lipids
Aloe-emodin scavenges oxygen free radicals, lowers blood pressure, and potentially regulates blood lipids, making it possible to treat hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and other diseases, as well as coronary heart disease induced by such diseases. Further prevention and treatment of disease, thereby reducing the risk of other cardiovascular diseases, thereby exerting cardiovascular protection.
2 Hepatoprotective effect
Arosio et al. studied the therapeutic effect of aloe-emodin on acute liver injury in rats caused by excessive free radical production and lipid peroxidation. The histological examination of the liver showed that aloe-emodin reduced the pathological changes in rats with acute liver injury. Quantitative determination of liver albumin and tumor necrosis factor mRNA levels showed that albumin mRNA levels decreased significantly in rats with acute liver injury, while acute liver injury rats given aloe-emodin only slightly decreased; tumor necrosis factor mRNA The level in the acute liver injury group treated with aloe-emodin was significantly lower than that in the acute liver injury group. The results prove that aloe-emodin can not only prevent liver cell death but also have a certain protective effect on inflammation after lipid peroxidation, suggesting that aloe-emodin may be used in the treatment of fatty liver and other liver diseases.
3 Anti-tumor effect
In recent years, the research on the anti-tumor effect of aloe-emodin has become a hot spot for scholars at home and abroad. Studies have reported that aloe-emodin can inhibit the proliferation of human malignant glioma (U87), pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (FaDu), liver cancer (Hep3B), and acute leukemia T (Jurkat T) and induce their apoptosis. Another study reported that gastric cancer (MGC-803 and SGC-7901) cells and highly metastatic breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells were used to study the anti-tumor effects of aloe-emodin. The results showed that aloe-emodin can inhibit tumor cell metastasis. . The above studies have shown that aloe-emodin has a wide range of anti-tumor activities, and it has effects on leukemia, glioma, pharyngeal cancer, liver cancer, gastric cancer, and breast cancer, and other tumors, and can induce apoptosis and anti-metastasis. A variety of ways to exert anti-cancer effects, therefore, is expected to become clinically important anti-tumor drugs.
4 Anti-pathogenic microorganisms and anti-inflammatory effects
Aloe-emodin has significant anti-fungal activity against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Trichophyton and Aspergillus, etc. It also has a strong inhibitory effect on clinically common anaerobes. In addition, it has a strong inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli and anaerobic bacteria. Bacillus, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Helicobacter pylori, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis have obvious antibacterial activity. Studies have shown that aloe-emodin may become a clinical antifungal, anti-anaerobic, anti-tuberculosis, and auxiliary treatment of gastric ulcer drugs. However, aloe-emodin can inhibit the growth of probiotics such as bifidobacteria in the intestines.
5 Skin conditioning effect
Aloe-emodin can inhibit the growth of scar fibroblasts. This inhibitory effect is dose- and time-dependent. It also reduces the proliferation index of fibroblasts and induces fibroblast apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, thereby reducing scar tissue formation. Popadic et al. studied the effects of aloe-emodin on the proliferation and apoptosis of human keratinocytes, and the results showed that aloe-emodin can significantly inhibit the proliferation of human keratinocytes and induce keratinocyte apoptosis. The above research results show that aloe-emodin can exert skin conditioning effects from multiple angles.
6 Regulation of the body's immune function
Aloe-emodin regulates the body's immune function by significantly inhibiting the proliferation of T cells induced by IL-2, and its mechanism of action may be related to inhibiting the increase of intracellular Ca2 + ion concentration. Other studies have shown that aloe-emodin can enhance the phagocytosis of macrophages, and can induce the expression of cytokines mRNA including interleukin 1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor, and interferon in leukocytes, thereby enhancing the body’s immunity Features.
If you want to know more, please consult info@natural-field.com