Cassiae semen: A review of its phytochemistry and pharmacology

Dong, Xiaoxv; Fu, Jing; Yin, Xingbin; Yang, Chunjing; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Wenping; Du, Xueying; Wang, Qingling; Ni, Jian

A number of studies have demonstrated that Cassiae semen exhibits anti-diabetic activity. A total of three naphthopyrone glucosides (compounds 49, 52 and 55) isolated from the butanol-soluble extract of Cassia semen have been evaluated for their inhibitory activity on advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formation in vitro. The results revealed that these compounds possessed more potent inhibitory activity against AGEs compared with the aminoguanidine positive control (15) . In addition, rubrofusarin-6-O-βd-gentiobioside (compound 49) and cassiaside (compound 52) significantly inhibited the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-1 and extracellular matrix protein in glomerular mesangial cells cultured under diabetic conditions, suggesting that the active compounds in Cassiae semen may be effective in the treatment of renal complications associated with diabetes (16) . Similarly, Kim et al (75) evaluated the preventive effects of the methanol extract of Cassia semen (200 mg/kg/day, for 12 weeks) on the development of diabetic nephropathy in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The results indicated that oral treatment with the Cassia semen methanol extract inhibited the development of diabetic nephropathy by inhibiting AGEs accumulation, receptor for advanced glycosylation end product and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in the renal cortex of STZ-diabetic rats (75, 76) . In addition, Zhu (77) reported that the water extract of Cassia semen exhibited protective activity against STZ-induced renal fibrosis in diabetic rats. The underlying mechanisms may be associated with its ability to downregulate the expression of TGF-β1, connective tissue growth factor and mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (smad3), as well as upregulating the protein expression of smad6 (77) .