Boldine: a narrative review of the bioactive compound with versatile biological and pharmacological potential

Deepak Lamba; Durgesh Kumar Dwivedi; Monu Yadav; Sanjaya Kumar Yr

doi:10.1515/jcim-2023-0224

Boldine: a narrative review of the bioactive compound with versatile biological and pharmacological potential

J Complement Integr Med. 2024 Jan 19. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2023-0224. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Deepak Lamba¹, Durgesh Kumar Dwivedi², Monu Yadav³, Sanjaya Kumar Yr¹

Affiliations

¹ Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, Janakpuri, New Delhi, India.
² Department of Pharmacology, National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders, (Under Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, New Delhi), Erragadda, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
³ Department of Pharmacology, Amity University, Gurugram, Haryana, India.

PMID: 38234264
DOI: 10.1515/jcim-2023-0224

Abstract

Objective: Boldine is a plant-derived bioactive compound that has a beneficial impact on human health. Boldine is an aporphine alkaloid mainly obtained from the leaves and bark of the Chilean Boldo tree (Peumus boldus, Family: Monimiaceae). There are plenty of preclinical evidence supports that boldine exerts its beneficial effects against various diseases. Lumiskin™, a patented and marketed formulation by Revitol Skincare for skin brightening, contains Dicetyl boldine, a boldine derivative.

Content: All the available information on the Chilean boldo tree (P. boldus Molina) species was actualized by systematically searching the scientific databases (PubMed, SciFinder, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus and others) and scientific literature. This article covers the recent advances in pharmacokinetic, toxicological, pharmacological/biological activities, and molecular mechanisms of the bioactive compound to understand health benefits of boldine better.

Summary: Boldine exerts antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-diabetic, analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-epileptic, neuroprotective, nephroprotective, anti-arthritis, anticancer and nootropic effects. Moreover, boldine exhibits its various pharmacological activities by altering antioxidant parameters (MDA, superoxide dismutase, glutathione), peroxynitrite, inflammatory markers apoptotic index, caspase-3, acetyl-cholinesterase, myeloperoxidase, TNF-α (Tumor necrosis factor-α), iNOS, Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX), ACE-1(Angiotensin-converting enzyme-1), dopamine D2 receptors and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Boldine has the potential to modulate a variety of biological networks.

Outlook: Due to its versatile pharmacological effects reported in various experimental animals as well as in randomized clinical trials for the treatment of facial melasma and for treatment of urinary stone lithotripsy in children as a complementary phytotherapy; in the future, this compound might be developed as a novel drug for a different indication.

Keywords: Peumus boldus; anti-inflammatory; anticancer; antioxidant; boldine.

Publication types

Review