Identification and quantification of oleanane triterpenoid saponins and potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities from the roots and rhizomes of Panax stipuleanatus

Pan-Pan Shu; Lu-Xi Li; Qin-Min He; Jun Pan; Xiao-Lei Li; Min Zhu; Ye Yang; Yuan Qu

doi:10.1016/j.jgr.2020.05.002

Identification and quantification of oleanane triterpenoid saponins and potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities from the roots and rhizomes of Panax stipuleanatus

J Ginseng Res. 2021 Mar;45(2):305-315. doi: 10.1016/j.jgr.2020.05.002. Epub 2020 May 18.

Authors

Pan-Pan Shu^{1

2}, Lu-Xi Li^{1

2}, Qin-Min He¹, Jun Pan³, Xiao-Lei Li¹, Min Zhu¹, Ye Yang^{1

2}, Yuan Qu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
² Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Panax notoginseng, Kunming, 650500, China.
³ Yunnan Provincal Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming, 650231, China.

Abstract

Background: Panax stipuleanatus represents a folk medicine for treatment of inflammation. However, lack of experimental data does not confirm its function. This article aims to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of triterpenoid saponins isolated from P. stipuleanatus.

Methods: The chemical characterization of P. stipuleanatus allowed the identification and quantitation of two major compounds. Analgesic effects of triterpenoid saponins were evaluated in two models of thermal- and chemical-stimulated acute pain. Anti-inflammatory effects of triterpenoid saponins were also evaluated using four models of acetic acid-induced vascular permeability, xylene-induced ear edema, carrageenan-induced paw edema, and cotton pellet-induced granuloma in mice.

Results: Two triterpenoid saponins of stipuleanosides R₁ (SP-R₁) and R₂ (SP-R₂) were isolated and identified from P. stipuleanatus. The results showed that SP-R₁ and SP-R₂ significantly increased the latency time to thermal pain in the hot plate test and reduced the writhing response in the acetic acid-induced writhing test. SP-R₁ and SP-R₂ caused a significant decrease in vascular permeability, ear edema, paw edema, and granuloma formation in inflammatory models. Further studies showed that the levels of inflammatory mediators, nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin 6 in paw tissues were downregulated by SP-R₁ and SP-R₂. In addition, the rational harvest of three- to five-year-old P. stipuleanatus was preferable to obtain a higher level of triterpenoid saponins. SP-R₂ showed the highest content in P. stipuleanatus, which had potential as a chemical marker for quality control of P. stipuleanatus.

Conclusion: This study provides important basic information about utilization of P. stipuleanatus resources for production of active triterpenoid saponins.

Keywords: Analgesic; Anti-inflammatory; Panax stipuleanatus; Paw edema; Stipuleanosides.