甘草酸、甘草次酸的抗肿瘤机制及其作为药物递送载体的研究进展

甘草Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma是中医临床常用中药之一,具有补脾益气、清热解毒、祛痰止咳、缓急止痛、调和诸药等功能。其主要活性成分为皂苷、黄酮、多糖等。其中,皂苷类成分甘草酸、甘草次酸不仅对肝癌、肺癌、乳腺癌等多种癌症具有抑制作用,还能与化疗药物联用增加药效,同时可被开发用作药物递送的载体材料以解决药物低水溶性、低生物利用度、高毒副作用等问题。研究发现,甘草酸、甘草次酸的增溶作用可能与其两亲性结构有关,有望进一步探索它们作为药物跨膜运输载体的特性。基于甘草的抗肿瘤机制,系统地对甘草酸、甘草次酸在药物递送系统方面的应用进行综述,为开发甘草酸、甘草次酸作为药物递送系统辅料的深入研究提供参考。

Antitumor mechanism of glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid and their application as drug delivery carriers

Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma is one of the commonly used Chinese materia medica in clinic. It has the effects of tonifying spleen and replenishing qi, clearing heat and removing toxin, dispelling phlegm, relieving cough, relieving pain, and reconciling various drugs. Its main active ingredients are saponins, flavonoids and polysaccharides. Among them, glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid not only have inhibitory effects on liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and other cancers, but also can be combined with chemotherapeutic drugs to increase drug efficacy as well. At the same time, they can be developed as drug carrier for drug delivery to solve the problems of low water solubility, low bioavailability, high toxicity and side effects of drugs. It was found that their solubilization may be closely related to their amphiphilic structure, which is expected to further explore the role of their carrier characteristics in drug transmembrane transport. Based on the anti-tumor mechanisms of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, the applications of glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid in drug delivery systems were systematically summarized in this paper, which could provide reference for the further study of glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid as excipients of drug delivery systems.