Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Platelet activation and aggregation play a central role in hemostasis and thrombosis. Herbal medicines have been traditionally used in the management of CVD and can play a role in modifying CVD progression, particularly in platelet function, and have the potential of altering platelet function tests, as well as some coagulation parameters. Herbal medicines, such as feverfew, garlic, ginger, ginseng, motherwort, St John's wort, and willow bark, were found to reduce platelet aggregation. In vitro studies show promise in the reduction of platelet aggregation for Andrographis, feverfew, garlic, ginger, Ginkgo, ginseng, hawthorn, horse chestnut, and turmeric. In addition, cranberry, danshen, dong quai, Ginkgo, ginseng, green tea, and St John's wort were found to have potential interactions with warfarin. Furthermore, St John's wort interacted with clopidogrel and danshen with aspirin. Therefore, repeat testing of platelet function and coagulation studies, particularly for patients on warfarin therapy, may be required after exclusion of herbal medicines that could have possibly affected initial test results.

The influence of herbal medicine on platelet function and coagulation: a narrative review.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2016/np/c6np00059b

Diterpenoids of terrestrial origin

Leonurus japonicus (Chinese motherwort), an excellent traditional medicine for obstetrical and gynecological diseases: A comprehensive overview.

Phytochemistry and pharmacology of the genus Leonurus: The herb to benefit the mothers and more

Angiogenic effect of motherwort (Leonurus japonicus) alkaloids and toxicity of motherwort essential oil on zebrafish embryos.

Bis-spirolabdane diterpenoids from Leonurus japonicus and their anti-platelet aggregative activity.

Steroids from the aerial parts of Leonurus japonicus

Chemical constituents of Leonurus japonicus were isolated and purified by a combination of various chromatographic techniques including column chromatography over silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, MCI, and Rp C18. Structures of the isolates were determined by spectroscopic analysis as 10 coumarins: bergapten (1), xanthotoxin (2), isopimpinellin (3), isogosferal (4), imperatorin (5), meransin hydrate(6), isomeranzin(7), murrayone(8) , auraptenol(9), and osthol(10). In addition to compound 9, the others were isolated from the genus Leonurus for the first time. In the in vitro assay, compounds 4 and 8 significantly inhibited the abnormal increase of platelet aggregation induced by ADP.

[Coumarins from Leonurus japonicus and their anti-platelet aggregative activity].

Angelica sinensis contains a large amount of essential oil (angelica oil), which is rich in phthalide derivatives with a lot of bioactivities. In vitro activity screening of angelica oil from the roots of A. sinensis found that it had concentration-dependent effect on glutamate-induced injury in PC12 cells. Further phytochemical investigation on this angelica oil led to the isolation of nine butylphthalides (1–9) including two new compounds (1 and 2). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses. It is noteworthy that most of the isolated butylphthalides also displayed protective activity at low concentrations and cytotoxicity at high concentrations. These results imply that angelica oil and its main chemical components have protective effect for injured neurons only in appropriate concentration range.

Lu-Si Liu

Papers

Bis-spirolabdane diterpenoids from Leonurus japonicus and their anti-platelet aggregative activity.

Steroids from the aerial parts of Leonurus japonicus

[Coumarins from Leonurus japonicus and their anti-platelet aggregative activity].

Effects of Angelica Oil and the Isolated Butylphthalides on Glutamate-induced Neurotoxicity in PC12 Cells

Polyoxygenated ergosteroids from the macrofungus Omphalia lapidescens and the structure-cytotoxicity relationship in a human gastric cancer cell line