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Review
. 2022 Oct 3:13:1016004.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1016004. eCollection 2022.

Chinese medicinal herbs as potential prodrugs for obesity

Siu Kan Law  1   2 , Yanping Wang  3 , Xinchen Lu  2 , Dawn Ching Tung Au  2 , Wesley Yeuk Lung Chow  2 , Albert Wing Nang Leung  4 , Chuanshan Xu  1
Affiliations
Review

Chinese medicinal herbs as potential prodrugs for obesity

Siu Kan Law et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Obesity is a leading worldwide health threat with ever-growing prevalence, it promotes the incidence of various diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used to control body weight and treat obesity for thousands of years, Chinese medicinal herbs provide a rich natural source of effective agents against obesity. However, some problems such as complex active ingredients, poor quality control, and unclear therapeutic mechanisms still need to be investigated and resolved. Prodrugs provide a path forward to overcome TCM deficiencies such as absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (ADME) properties, and toxicity. This article aimed to review the possible prodrugs from various medicinal plants that demonstrate beneficial effects on obesity and seek to offer insights on prodrug design as well as a solution to the global obesity issues.

Keywords: active ingredient; bioavailability; herbal medicine; medicinal plants; nanotechnology; obesity; prodrug; traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Chemical structure of Resveratrol.
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FIGURE 2
Chemical structures of amino acid substituted prodrugs.
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FIGURE 3
Example of gut microbiota biotransformation of trans-resveratrol.
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Chemical structures of curcumin and its derivative through the “reductase” metabolism.
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Chemical structure of curcumin diethyl disuccinate (CurDD).
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Chemical structure of curcumin diglutaric acid.
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Chemical structure of curcumin D-gluronide.
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FIGURE 8
Chemical structures of (A) protopanaxadiol (PPD), (B) protopanaxatriol (PPT), (C) oleanane group (Ro), and (D) ocotillol type pseudoginsenoside.
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FIGURE 9
Chemical structure of celastrol.
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FIGURE 10
Chemical structures of (A) triptolide, (B) triptonide, and (C) wilforlide.
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FIGURE 11
Chemical structures of (A) omtriptolide, (B) 5-hydroxytriptolide, and (C) disodium phosphonooxymethyl.
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FIGURE 12
Chemical structure of berberine.
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FIGURE 13
Chemical structures of (A) berberrubine, (B) thalifendine, (C) demethyleneberberine, and (D) jatrorrhizine.
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FIGURE 14
Chemical structures of 9-O-Aryl berberine and its derivatives.
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Chemical structures of (A) artemisinin, (B) artemether, and (C) dihydroartemisinin.
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Chemical structure of artesunate.
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Chemical structures of (A) SM934 and (B) ADRT.
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Chemical structure of artemisinin linked with hydrocarbylene.
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FIGURE 19
Chemical structure of artemether-lumefantrine.
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FIGURE 20
Chemical structures of (A) capsaicin and (B) capsaicinoids.
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FIGURE 21
Chemical structure of trans-CAP, vocacapsaicin (trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide).
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