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Albiflorin, a principal monoterpene glycoside isolated from Paeonia lactiflora Pall., is known for its extensive pharmacological properties and medicinal value in a number of traditional Chinese medicine recipes. Herein, we consolidate current research on the biological profile, anti-inflammatory capabilities, pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, and toxicity of albiflorin with the, aim of delineating its therapeutic potential and safety profile. Albiflorin exhibits remarkable anti-inflammatory effects in various disease models, including respiratory, urinary, gastrointestinal, and rheumatic conditions, as well as metabolic and nutritional diseases, blood system disorders, mental illnesses, and pain. Pharmacokinetic studies have revealed its efficient absorption, distribution, and elimination, indicating favorable bioavailability with minimal toxicity, as supported by traditional toxicity assessments and next-generation metabolomics analyses. Despite its proven efficacy in a broad spectrum of health conditions, comprehensive toxicological studies are scarce, highlighting the need for further research to ascertain its safety in clinical applications. This review underscores the significant therapeutic promise of albiflorin, rooted in its efficacy as the key active ingredient in relevant traditional Chinese medicine formulas and reinforced by modern scientific inquiry. Albiflorin stands at the intersection of historical wisdom and contemporary pharmacological research, warranting further exploration to harness its full medical potential, especially for the treatment of inflammation-related diseases.

An unreported polysaccharide, PLP90-1B, was isolated from Paeonia lactiflora. Structural analysis showed that PLP90-1B contained arabinose and glucose, which was a highly-linear gluco-arabinan having a molecular weight of about 9.5 kDa. The backbone of PLP90-1B consisted of → 5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →3,5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →2,3,5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, and → 4)-α-d-Glcp-(1→, terminating with α-l-Araf. PLP90-1B was found to have anti-tumor activity by suppressing the proliferation and migration of HepG2 cells microinjected into the zebrafish. The further mechanism investigation revealed that the anti-tumor activity of PLP90-1B was closely related to immune regulation, which can improve phagocytic ability and enhance the release of NO and cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) in RAW264.7 cells. The immunopotentiation activity was further corroborated by zebrafish experiments. All these results exhibited that PLP90-1B may have the potential to become a potentially immune-mediated anti-tumor drug in the future.

Pollen, as the male gametophyte, carries half of plant genetic information and is an important source of germplasm. The cryopreservation of pollen can not only preserve germplasm, but also solve the problem of time and space barrier in crossbreeding. So it is of great significance to explore the mechanism of pollen viability maintenance after cryopreservation. In this paper, 10 cultivars of Paeonia lactiflora with different fresh pollen viability that did not change after cryopreservation were taken as objects and the effects of pollen inclusions such as soluble sugar, starch, soluble protein, free amino acids, and proline were explored. The results showed that: (1) The contents of pollen inclusions in the fresh pollen of 10 cultivars were different. After cryopreservation, the contents of starch and free amino acids significantly decreased in 10 cultivars, and the soluble sugar, soluble protein, and proline varied with cultivars. (2) Correlation analysis showed that fresh pollen viability was significantly positively correlated with the soluble sugar (R-values of 0.630) and starch content (R-values of 0.694) in fresh pollen. But after cryopreservation pollen viability was only significantly positively correlated with the starch content (R-values of 0.725). These results suggest that the effects of pollen inclusions on pollen vitality are different before and after cryopreservation. The fresh pollen with higher soluble sugar and starch is more vital. But after cryopreservation, the pollen with high starch content has higher viability. The maintenance of stable pollen viability after cryopreservation appears to be related to starch content or starch metabolism, which requires further to study for a final determination., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Society for Cryobiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) is an important ornamental and medicinal plant. DNA barcodes can reveal species identity via the nucleotide diversity of short DNA segments. In this study, two main candidate DNA barcodes (ITS2 and psbA-trnH) were tested to identify twenty-one cutting cultivars of P. lactiflora and their wild species. The efficacy of the candidate DNA barcodes was assessed by PCR amplification, sequence quality, sequence diversity, rate of correct identification, and phylogenetic analysis. ITS2 was easy to be amplified and sequenced among the samples. The identification by Blastn and phylogenetic analysis was 95.4% and 63.6%, respectively. For psbA-trnH, the presence of poly A-T led to sequencing failure which limited its use as DNA barcode candidate. Moreover, the authentic efficiency of psbA-trnH was lower than ITS2. The results showed that ITS2 is suitable as a candidate DNA barcode for the intraspecific identification of P. lactiflora cultivars.

Background: Paeonia lactiflora (PL) was widely used for pain relief, but its effects on migraine headaches remain unclear. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of PL on migraine headaches. Methods: First, we found that PL was frequently used in Taiwan for headache treatment based on data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Migraine was induced through the intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) of nitroglycerin (NTG, 10 mg/kg) in rats. Pretreatment with PL was administered orally 30 min prior to the NTG i.p. Migraine headache behavior was observed by video-recordings. Finally, the rats were sacrificed and brain was removed for immunohistochemistry staining analysis. Results: The frequency and total time spent rearing up and sniffing in exploratory behavior, and walking in locomotor behavior, were reduced in the NTG group compared with the control group (all p

Resveratrol oligomers from the extract of Peaonia lactiflora seeds were investigated for the first time and their potential role as nutraceuticals to treat airway inflammation based on their anti-inflammatory activity examined. After the isolation of five major peaks (suffruticosol B, suffruticosol A, trans-ε-viniferin, trans-gnetin H, and cis-suffruticosol D) of a P. lactiflora extract using a one-step high-speed counter current chromatograhy (HSCCC) process, the anti-inflammation activity of each compound was evaluated in the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Suffruticosol A showed potent levels of inhibition in the expression/production of NO, iNOS, and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) in the assay. Additionally, suffruticosol A exhibited a significant suppression of the increased inflammatory cell count, protein content, pro-inflammatory cytokines and the production of reactive oxygen species in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of acute airway inflammation murine model, in which cigarette smoke and LPS exposure were both used as pro-inflammatory stimuli. These experimental results indicate that suffruticosol A has significant effects both in vitro and in vivo to be a potential candidate for airway inflammation therapeutics based on its anti-inflammatory activity.

One unusual stilbene trimer-flavonoid hybrid, paeonilactiflobenoid (1), together with six known stilbenes (2-7) were isolated from the seeds of Paeonia lactiflora. The structure of 1 was elucidated with the aid of HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, [α] D spectroscopic data and ECD calculation. Compounds 2-7 showed stimulative effects on GLP-1 secretion with promoting rates of 79.8%-880.4% (25 μM) and 217.6%-1089.4% (50 μM), more potent than the positive control, oleoylethanolamide (250.2% at 50 μM). Moreover, compounds 4 and 6 exhibited agonistic activity on the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) TGR5 with stimulative ratios of 40.2% and 40.5% at 50 μM, and 54.2% and 49.1% at 100 μM, respectively. Docking study manifested that 6 well located in the catalytic pocket of TGR5 by hydrogen-bond and hydrophobic interactions. The GLP-1 promotion of 6 could be attenuated by IP 3 , Ca 2+ /CaMKII and MEK/ERK pathway inhibitors, suggesting that these pathways played important roles in GLP-1 secretion. Thus, stilbenes in peony seeds maybe regarded as potential GLP-1 secretagogues through TGR5-IP 3 -Ca 2+ /CaMKII-MEK/ERK pathways., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Paeonone A (1), a unique nonanortriterpenoid, and a new octanortriterpenoid, paeonone B (2), were isolated from the roots of Paeonia lactiflora, together with a known analogue, palbinone (3). Paeonone A (1) is the first example of naturally occurring nonanortriterpenoid with a diketo acid group. Extensive NMR and HRESIMS experiments were applied to identify the structures of 1 and 2, and their absolute configurations were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and ECD data. Biological properties of 1-3 were explored against pancreatic lipase and cancer cell lines., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Terpenes form a class of highly diverse natural products. The diversity of terpenes is created by terpene synthases. During the reaction, carbocation intermediates form and their rearrangement could lead to the formation of various products. Terpene synthases determine the final product profile by controlling the conformation of the intermediate or stabilizing the carbocation. Pinene synthase is a monoterpene synthase catalyzing the cyclization of geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) to form pinene. Our study suggests that by mutating the aromatic residue F482 to Ala, Val, Ile and Thr, the enzyme can be converted to sabinene synthase, with more than 90% of its total terpene products becoming sabinene, which indicates the aromaticity of this residue is essential for stabilizing the pinyl carbocation. We also identified a mutation S491A that could cause an about 29% increase in the overall activity of the enzyme without altering its produce selectivity. Molecular dynamic simulation indicates this mutation could decrease the flexibility of the enzyme when it forms a complex with the pinyl carbocation. Our study suggests the active pocket of pinene synthase has a certain level of plasticity, making it relatively easy to change the product selectivity or overall activity. This property could have an important implication in the evolution of terpene synthases and thereby terpene diversity, as by changing a few residues an enzyme could synthesize a completely different terpene product in a significant amount, which allows selection to take place., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The methanolic extract and its subfractions from red peony root, the dried roots of Paeonia lactiflora Pallas showed potent antiallergic effects, as inhibition of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated degranulation in rat basophil leukemia (RBL)-2H3 cells. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of 16 monoterpene derivatives, including 3 new compounds, paeoniflorol (1), 4'-hydroxypaeoniflorigenone (2) and 4-epi-albiflorin (3), together with 13 known ones (4-16). The chemical structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic and chemical evidences. Among the isolated monoterpene derivatives, nine compounds showed potent anti-allergic effects and compound 1 was the most effective. A primary structure-activity relationship of monoterpene derivatives was discussed., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Four new neolignans (1-4), together with two known lignans (5 and 6), were isolated from the root of Paeonia lactiflora. Compounds 1 and 2 were two racemates and were separated by chiral high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to give all of the four stereoisomeric forms sharing a common planar structure. Compounds 3 and 4 were two neolignan glycoside diastereomers but interestingly appeared to be enantiomers: they had the extremely similar (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra and had to be solved only by chiral HPLC. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS and electronic circular dichroism experiments. All compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on β-amyloid aggregation, and the optical pure compound 2b was found to show the optimal Aβ(1-42) aggregation inhibition potency (81.1% at 20 μM). In addition, despite large amount of chemical studies performed on genus Paeonia, the lignans were reported for the first time., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

An unusual nor-monoterpene with only nine carbons, nor-paeonilactone (1), two new monoterpenes, paeonisuffrone C (2), paeonilactone D (9), and a new monoterpene glucoside, paeonin D (3), along with ten known compounds were isolated from the dried roots of Paeonia lactiflora. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, and computational data. Compounds 4-14 were evaluated for their anti-proliferative activities against BT 483 human breast cancer cells and OVCA 429 human ovarian cancer cells by MTT assay., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)