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REVIEW article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1442879

Exploring Stachydrine: From Natural Occurrence to Biological Activities and Metabolic Pathways

Provisionally accepted
Zekun He Zekun He 1,2,3Peng Li Peng Li 2*Pan Liu Pan Liu 2*Ping Xu Ping Xu 2,3*
  • 1 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2 Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center (CAS), Shanghai, Shanghai, China
  • 3 Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Stachydrine, also known as proline betaine, is a prominent constituent of traditional Chinese herb Leonurus japonicus, renowned for its significant pharmacological effects.Widely distributed in plants like Leonurus and Citrus aurantium, as well as various bacteria, stachydrine serves pivotal physiological functions across animal, plant, and bacterial kingdoms. This review aims to summarizes diverse roles and mechanisms of stachydrine in addressing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, neuroprotection, anticancer activity, uterine regulation, anti-inflammatory response, obesity management, and respiratory ailments. Notably, stachydrine exhibits cardioprotective effects via multiple pathways encompassing anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and modulation of calcium handling functions. Furthermore, its anti-cancer properties inhibit proliferation and migration of numerous cancer cell types. With a bidirectional regulatory effect on uterine function, stachydrine holds promise for obstetrics and gynecology-related disorders. In plants, stachydrine serves as a secondary metabolite, contributing to osmotic pressure regulation, nitrogen fixation, pest resistance, and stress response. Similarly, in bacteria, it plays a crucial osmoprotective role, facilitating adaptation to high osmotic pressure environments. This review also addresses ongoing research on the anabolic metabolism of stachydrine.While the biosynthetic pathway remains incompletely understood, the metabolic pathway is well-established. A deeper understanding of stachydrine biosynthesis holds significance for elucidating its mechanism of action, advancing the study of plant secondary metabolism, enhancing drug quality control, and fostering new drug development endeavors.

    Keywords: Stachydrine, Leonurus japonicus, Pharmacological effects, Cardioprotective, Osmoprotective, biosynthesis pathway

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 He, Li, Liu and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Peng Li, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center (CAS), Shanghai, 201632, Shanghai, China
    Pan Liu, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center (CAS), Shanghai, 201632, Shanghai, China
    Ping Xu, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center (CAS), Shanghai, 201632, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.