AGRIMOPHOL

Description

This substance is the active ingredient of agrimony, the dry part above the ground of Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb, which is distributed in most areas of China. Its same generic plants include Agrimonia pilosa Ldb. var. nepalensis (D.Don) Nakai, Agrimonia nipponica Koidz. var. occidentalis Skalicky, Agrimonia coreana Nakai, and Agrimonia eupatoria Linn. subsp. asiatica (Juzep.) Skalicky. In recent years, the role of agrimony in the treatment of cancer diseases and other aspects of attention has gradually attracted much attention.
Agrimony also contains volatile oil, trace elements, agrimarin, agrimus lactone, tannin, sterols, organic acids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and glycosides, and other compounds. Among them, the phenolic compounds mainly contain agrimony A, agrimony B, agrimony C, agrimony D, agrimony E, agrimony, pseudoephedrine, and so on.

Physical properties

Appearance: light yellow-green oblique prism. Solubility: soluble in chloroform and benzene and slightly soluble in methanol, ethanol, and petroleum ether but almost insoluble in water. Melting point: 138.5–139.5?°C.

History

In folk medicine, the whole agrimony was used to stop bleeding and inflammation sterilization; its rhizome was used to treat intestinal bloody flux, the radical bud to expelling tenia. The clinical application and pharmacological studies have shown that agrimony root has a broad spectrum of anthelmintic effect with high activity and low toxicity.
In the early 1970s, the Chinese scientists used lime milk extraction method or petroleum ether as a solvent to separate the extract from the grass buds and further extracted the main ingredient, agrimophol . Animal experiments and clinical applications show that the agrimophol has a broad spectrum of anthelmintic effect with high efficacy, as well as the function of killing schistosomiasis.
The chemical structure of agrimophol was determined, and the synthesis was realized . It is synthesized from methyl phloroglucinol.
Recent studies have shown that agrimophol has a significant anticancer effect .

Indications

Available in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (1977). Capsules, suitable for the treatment of tapeworm and trichomonas infection.

Pharmacology

Agrimophol has excellent anthelmintic effect and also can be used for treating trichomonas enteritis, vaginitis, and other diseases. Pharmacological and clinical trials have shown that the effect of disinfecting cestode is stronger than that of niclosamide and bithionol, and the side effects are fewer.
Agrimophol can be rapidly oxidized after irradiation and release of ROS such as H2O2, O2 and OH?. OH? which directly destroy DNA and membrane structure of tumor cells, leading to irreversible damage to the cells . Compared with the monotherapy with radiotherapy, combined treatment with agrimophol further induces 25.1% more cell death of human lung adenocarcinoma cells .

Clinical Use

Agrimophol is clinically used to expel tenia and roundworms and kill schistosomiasis.

Side Effects

Fewer adverse effects were observed; occasional nausea, vomiting, dizziness, cold sweat, or a diarrhea after a half month even can lead to collapse reaction. Although studies have shown that agrimophol has a more pronounced antitumor activity, there is no relevant antineoplastic drug available.