Traditional herbal medicine, Chinese skullcap, has compounds that may fight cancer, experts say.
John Innes Center professor Cathie Martin said that Scutellaria baicalensis, the medicine traditionally used by the Chinese to treat fever, liver disease, and lung problems, produces compounds that can potentially cure cancer and other liver diseases.
In a previous study that cultured the plants cells established that Chinese skullcap or Huang-Qin contain the compound flavones. These compounds found in the roots of the plant were not only proven to have antiviral and antioxidants properties, but they are also found to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. Live animal testing also showed that flavones stopped tumor growth.
What the researchers want to establish is whether the flavones present in Huang-Qin roots, including baicalin and wogonin have different effects, as they are missing the hydroxyl (OH) group in their chemical structure.
Martin said most of the flavones undergo synthesis using a compound naringenin as its building block. She explained that naringenin's structure has a hydroxyl attachment that allows for the pathway to proceed. They are still in the process of identifying how flavones in Scutellaria roots can be made even if its compounds do not have the hydroxyl group.
Martin collaborated with Chinese scientists and theorized that Chinese skullcap's root-specific flavones (RSFs) used a different biochemical pathway. The team also used chrysin as the building block.
The research team is positive that once they fully understand the pathway, a traditional Chinese medicine would, again, pave the way for effective treatment of debilitating diseases.
"Understanding the pathway should help us to produce these special flavones in large quantities, which will enable further research into their potential medicinal uses," said Martin. "It's exciting to consider that the plants which have been used as traditional Chinese remedies for thousands of years may lead to effective modern medicines."
Dr. Alan Worsley of Cancer Research UK commented that the study examined the molecular biology of the plant but did not answer the particular question of whether the plant can indeed be used as a cancer treatment.
"Instead it looks at how this compound is made in nature, which may allow scientists to make more of it in the lab and be able to research its potential uses." Worsley said.
More experts are now looking at exploring the secrets of Chinese traditional medicine. In 2015, 84-year old Tu Youyou became the first Chinese to receive a Nobel Prize for Medicine for her work on artemisinin. Tu's work was pivotal for the discovery of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) used in malaria treatment.
