Review
Towards a better understanding of medicinal uses of Carthamus tinctorius L. in traditional Chinese medicine: A phytochemical and pharmacological review

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Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Carthamus tinctorius L. (Compositae), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine, was known as Hong hua (Chinese:

), safflower. Safflower with a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects has been used to treat dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain and mass, trauma and pain of joints, etc. The present paper reviews the advancements in investigation of botany and ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of safflower. Finally, the possible tendency and perspective for future investigation of this plant are discussed, too.

Materials and methods

The information on safflower was collected via piles of resources including classic books about Chinese herbal medicine, and scientific databases including Pubmed, Google Scholar, ACS, Web of science, CNKI and others.

Results

Over 104 compounds from this plant have been isolated and identified, and quinochalcones and flavonoids are considered as the characteristic and active constituents of safflower. Safflower with its active compounds possesses wide-reaching biological activities, including dilating coronary artery, improving myocardial ischemia, modulating immune system, anticoagulation and antithrombosis, antioxidation, antiaging, antihypoxia, antifatigue, antiinflammation, anti-hepatic fibrosis, antitumor, analgesia, etc.

Conclusions

As an important traditional Chinese medicine, it is important to investigate the pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of this plant based on modern realization of diseases' pathophysiology. More bioactive components should be identified using bioactivity-guided isolation strategies, and the possible mechanism of action as well as potential synergistic or antagonistic effects of multi-component mixtures derived from safflower need to be evaluated integrating pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, bioavailability-centered and physiological approaches. Further studies on safflower can lead to the development of new drugs and therapeutics for various diseases, and how to utilize it better should be paid more attention to.

Introduction

When it refers to safflower, most fans of Legend of Zhen huan, a hot drama centering on the schemes among Emperor Yong zheng’s concubines in the imperial palace during Qing dynasty, will regard it as a violent aborticide due to the induction of related plots. Although it is too exaggerated that drinking of safflower decoction can lead to lifelong infertility, safflower was indeed evidenced to stimulate uterus, which may cause abortion when taken in an improper way. This review will display the research status on safflower.

Carthamus tinctorius L. (C. tinctorius) or safflower, commonly called Honghua (

) in Chinese, is an annual or biennial herbal plant in the family of Compositae. The red tubular flowers without ovary are usually picked in summer when the color of flowers changes from yellow into red, and then dried in shady and well-ventilated places for the clinical usage (Committee for the Pharmacopoeia of PR China, 2010). With the increasingly extensiveness of study on chemical constituents of Chinese Material Medica, investigations related to phytochemistry have been conducted on safflower. Currently, over 104 compounds from this plant have been isolated and identified, and they are quinochalones, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyacetylene, aromatic glucosides, organic acids, etc. (Xiao, 2002). In the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), safflower is considered to promote blood circulation to remove blood stasis, promote menstruation and alleviate pain. In the aspect of clinical practice, safflower is mainly applied for blood-stasis syndrome with dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain and mass, trauma and pain of joints, etc. (Tang, 2003). Modern pharmacological experiments have demonstrated that safflower with its active compounds possesses wide-reaching biological activities, including dilating coronary artery, improving myocardial ischemia, modulating immune system, anticoagulation and antithrombosis, antioxidation, antiaging, antihypoxia, antifatigue, antiinflammation, anti-hepatic fibrosis, antitumor, analgesia, etc. (Xiao, 2002). In recent years, more investigations on safflower have been conducted, and safflower has gradually been paid more attention to due to its medicinal value and hearth care value.

In the present review, the advancements in investigation of botany and ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of safflower are reviewed, which will be significant for the exploitation for new drug and full utilization of this plant. The possible tendency and perspective for future investigation of this plant are discussed, too.

Section snippets

Botany

Carthamus tinctorius (Fig. 1) belongs to the genus Carthamus, family Compositae. There are about thirteen species in the genus Carthamus, and Carthamus tinctorius is the only one existing in China (Wang et al., 2001). Thus, there is no doubt that Carthamus tinctorius is the sole source for the medicinal material in the Pharmacopeia of People’s Republic of China.

As the typical botanical characters, Carthamus tinctorius grows to the height of 30–180 cm and the whole plant is glabrous. Stems are

Phytochemistry

Up to date, many chemical constituents (Table 2), such as quinochalcones, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyacetylenes, alkane-diol, fatty acids, steroids, lignans, etc., have been isolated from safflower. Among them, quinochalcones and flavonoids are considered as the characteristic and active constituents of safflower.

Anticoagulant and antithrombotic activities

It is reported that safflower decoction and its ethanol extract can significantly inhibit the platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in vitro and in vivo in rats and rabbits (Gu et al., 1994). As a kind of acknowledged main effective constituents of safflower, safflower yellow (SY), which was prepared from safflower aqueous extract with silicone gel adsorption, was found to prolong the plasma prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT) and activated partial thromboplastin

Quality control

As described previously, the distribution of safflower almost scatters across the country of China, which determines the various differences among every producing area. Up to date, there are three representative national GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) bases in Xinjiang to produce safflower. In the Pharmacopeia of People’s Republic of China, qualitative identification by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and determination of content by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are mainly

Toxicology

Clinical reports on the toxicity issue of safflower are very few. Ames experiments were conducted to explore the acute toxicity and genetic toxicity of safflower, as a result, safflower was found to be low toxicity and no genetic toxicity (Liu et al., 2012). The different dosage groups were set up to investigate the long-term toxicity of Compound safflower Dripping Pill in rats, and it was demonstrated that the difference among the three dosage groups was not significant (Yu et al., 2011).

Concluding remarks

Thousands of clinical practice has witnessed the successful usage of safflower for activating blood circulation and removing the stasis in TCM. Contemporary pharmacological studies have gradually validated its traditional effects. The crude extracts and pure compounds from safflower have shown to possess multiple medical functions especially for the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular system. Yet further study is still urgently needed to gain a better understanding of safflower and provide

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