Traditional Chinese medicine preparation Shuang-Huang-Lian in the treatment of influenza: A review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: As one of the top 10 traditional Chinese medicine preparations to treat influenza in China, the polysaccharides in Shuang-Huang-Lian (SHL) are always removed, while the polysaccharides often have excellent effects in treating influenza. Till now, the summarized chemical profile, anti-influenza substances and mechanism of SHL, especially for the polysaccharides, were not provided, dramatically restricting its product development.

AIM OF THE STUDY: This work aimed to summarize the chemical profile, anti-influenza substances, and mechanism of SHL, with a focus on polysaccharides.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The literature was collected from online scientific databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Journals, PubMed, Web of Science, SciFinder, Google Scholar, and Chinese Masters and Doctoral Dissertations from 1990.8 to 2024.8.

RESULTS

SHL contained more than 800 chemical components, including flavonoids, organic acids, polysaccharides, phenylethanoid glycosides, and lignans, etc. The anti-influenza substances (baicalin, chlorogenic acid, phillyrin, etc) and their mechanism (NF-κB signal pathway, etc) of SHL were also summarized, especially for polysaccharides. Meanwhile, in addition to three official quality control markers (baicalin, chlorogenic acid, and phillyrin), other recommended quality control markers of SHL were also discussed, including luteoloside, neochlorogenic acid, sweroside, forsythoside A, and baicalein. The allergic reactions of SHL injection were more obvious than the other formats.

CONCLUSIONS

This review summarized the chemical profile, anti-influenza substances, and mechanism of SHL, especially for the polysaccharides, providing prospects for future studies of SHL in the treatment of influenza. Notably, some problems still exist in SHL, including fewer quality control markers, fewer identified pure polysaccharides and their anti-influenza mechanism, and the unelucidated anti-influenza effects of other saccharides.