The protective effects of baicalin for respiratory diseases: an update and future perspectives

Siyu Song; Lu Ding; Guangwen Liu; Tian Chen; Meiru Zhao; Xueyan Li; Min Li; Hongyu Qi; Jinjin Chen; Ziyuan Wang; Ying Wang; Jing Ma; Qi Wang; Xiangyan Li; Zeyu Wang

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1129817

The protective effects of baicalin for respiratory diseases: an update and future perspectives

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Mar 16:14:1129817. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1129817. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Siyu Song¹, Lu Ding¹, Guangwen Liu², Tian Chen³, Meiru Zhao³, Xueyan Li³, Min Li³, Hongyu Qi¹, Jinjin Chen¹, Ziyuan Wang⁴, Ying Wang⁴, Jing Ma⁴, Qi Wang³, Xiangyan Li¹, Zeyu Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Active Substances and Biological Mechanisms of Ginseng Efficacy, Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Bio-Macromolecules of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Education, Northeast Asia Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Jilin, China.
² GCP Department, Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China.
³ College of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China.
⁴ College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China.

Abstract

Background: Respiratory diseases are common and frequent diseases. Due to the high pathogenicity and side effects of respiratory diseases, the discovery of new strategies for drug treatment is a hot area of research. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) has been used as a medicinal herb in China for over 2000 years. Baicalin (BA) is a flavonoid active ingredient extracted from SBG that BA has been found to exert various pharmacological effects against respiratory diseases. However, there is no comprehensive review of the mechanism of the effects of BA in treating respiratory diseases. This review aims to summarize the current pharmacokinetics of BA, baicalin-loaded nano-delivery system, and its molecular mechanisms and therapeutical effects for treating respiratory diseases. Method: This review reviewed databases such as PubMed, NCBI, and Web of Science from their inception to 13 December 2022, in which literature was related to "baicalin", "Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi", "COVID-19", "acute lung injury", "pulmonary arterial hypertension", "asthma", "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", "pulmonary fibrosis", "lung cancer", "pharmacokinetics", "liposomes", "nano-emulsions", "micelles", "phospholipid complexes", "solid dispersions", "inclusion complexes", and other terms. Result: The pharmacokinetics of BA involves mainly gastrointestinal hydrolysis, the enteroglycoside cycle, multiple metabolic pathways, and excretion in bile and urine. Due to the poor bioavailability and solubility of BA, liposomes, nano-emulsions, micelles, phospholipid complexes, solid dispersions, and inclusion complexes of BA have been developed to improve its bioavailability, lung targeting, and solubility. BA exerts potent effects mainly by mediating upstream oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and immune response pathways. It regulates are the NF-κB, PI3K/AKT, TGF-β/Smad, Nrf2/HO-1, and ERK/GSK3β pathways. Conclusion: This review presents comprehensive information on BA about pharmacokinetics, baicalin-loaded nano-delivery system, and its therapeutic effects and potential pharmacological mechanisms in respiratory diseases. The available studies suggest that BA has excellent possible treatment of respiratory diseases and is worthy of further investigation and development.

Keywords: baicalin; baicalin-loaded nano-delivery system; molecular mechanisms; pharmacokinetics; pharmacological action; respiratory diseases.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Key Research and Development Project of Jilin Province (No. 20200404057YY), Jilin Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2022221), and the Science and Technology Development Plan Project of Jilin Province (YDZJ202301ZYTS136, YDZJ202202CXJD049).