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Review
. 2019 Sep 9;24(18):3274.
doi: 10.3390/molecules24183274.

Therapeutic Potential of Pien-Tze-Huang: A Review on Its Chemical Composition, Pharmacology, and Clinical Application

Lili Huang  1 , Yiping Zhang  2 , Xiaoqin Zhang  3 , Xiuping Chen  4 , Yitao Wang  5 , Jinjian Lu  6 , Mingqing Huang  7
Affiliations
Review

Therapeutic Potential of Pien-Tze-Huang: A Review on Its Chemical Composition, Pharmacology, and Clinical Application

Lili Huang et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Pien-Tze-Huang (PTH) is a famous and commonly used traditional Chinese medicine formula in China. It was first formulated by a royal physician of the Ming Dynasty (around 1555 AD). Recently, PTH has attracted attention worldwide due to its beneficial effects against various diseases, especially cancer. This paper systematically reviewed the up-to-date information on its chemical composition, pharmacology, and clinical application. A range of chemical compounds, mainly ginsenosides and bile acids, have been identified and quantified from PTH. Pharmacological studies indicated that PTH has beneficial effects against various cancers, hepatopathy, and ischemic stroke. Furthermore, PTH has been used clinically to treat various diseases in China, such as colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and hepatitis. In summary, PTH is a potential agent with extensive therapeutic effects for the treatment of various diseases. However, the lack of information on the side effects and toxicity of PTH is a non-negligible issue, which needs to be seriously studied in the future.

Keywords: Cancer; Chemical composition; Clinical application; Pharmacology; Pien-Tze-Huang.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of 27 compounds identified from Pien-Tze-Huang (PTH).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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