In the treasure trove of traditional Chinese medicine, Cistanche has always held a unique position and is renowned as the "ginseng of the desert." In recent years, with the continuous deepening of research, more of the value of Cistanche has been gradually unveiled. Notably, during the period from 2024 to 2025, remarkable achievements have been made in related research.
I. Analysis of the Biosynthetic Pathway of Pharmacodynamic Components in Cistanche
On January 21, 2025, the research teams led by Researcher Tu Pengfei, Researcher Shi Shepo, and Researcher Li Jun published a groundbreaking research achievement in the international top journal Nature Communications. They for the first time reported the complete biosynthetic pathway of echinacoside, the most complex phenylethanoid glycoside in Cistanche tubulosa, and achieved the heterologous de novo synthesis of 23 phenylethanoid glycosides in tobacco.
As a rare and precious tonic in traditional Chinese medicine, Cistanche has various functions such as tonifying kidney yang and enriching essence and blood. However, due to the depletion of its wild resources, it has been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Phenylethanoid glycosides represented by echinacoside are not only the characteristic components of Cistanche but also the key components for the quality control of Cistanche medicinal materials in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. They possess important biological activities, including improving sexual function, enhancing learning and memory abilities, and preventing and treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Through in - depth exploration, the research team found that the biosynthetic pathway of echinacoside can be divided into three stages: the synthesis of tyrosol or hydroxytyrosol, the introduction of side - chain alcohol hydroxyl glucose - based substituents, and a series of acylation, glycosylation, and hydroxylation steps in the post - modification stage. They also successfully excavated and cloned 11 candidate glycosyltransferase genes and identified key enzymes such as rhamnosyltransferase CtUGT79G13, glycosyltransferase CtUGT73EV1, and acyltransferase CtAT - E, which play an indispensable role in the biosynthetic process of echinacoside.
This research achievement has laid a solid foundation for the breeding of excellent varieties of Cistanche and the research and development of innovative drugs of phenylethanoid glycosides, and it holds significant scientific value and application prospects. It not only helps us deeply understand the formation mechanism of the pharmacodynamic components of Cistanche but also provides the possibility of producing these precious components through biotechnological means, thus expected to alleviate the bottleneck in industrial development caused by the scarcity of wild resources.
II. Research Progress on Cistanche Polysaccharides
In a review published in 2024, the research group from Xinjiang Medical University systematically discussed the research progress of Cistanche polysaccharides. Cistanche polysaccharides (CDPS), as the main components and important bioactive substances of Cistanche, exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities in immune regulation, anti - aging, anti - oxidation, liver protection, anti - osteoporosis, anti - inflammation, and regulation of the intestinal flora.
Cistanche is mainly distributed in China (Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu), Mongolia, Iran, India, and other regions. The extraction and purification of polysaccharides from Cistanche involve four steps: pretreatment, extraction, separation, and purification. The extraction methods include hot water/cold water extraction, alkali extraction, enzyme - assisted extraction, and ultrasonic - assisted extraction, each having its own advantages and disadvantages.
Through techniques such as GC, HPGPC, IR, and NMR, more than 30 polysaccharides have been isolated and identified from Cistanche. Their monosaccharide compositions mainly include Man, Rha, Gal, Glc, Ara, and Xyl. Since natural CDPS cannot fully meet all requirements, structural modification has become the focus of subsequent research. Chemical modification methods such as sulfonation, methylation, and acetylation can endow polysaccharides with better biological activities, high reactivity, and biocompatibility.
Although significant progress has been made in the research on CDPS in recent years, there are still some issues. For instance, previous studies mainly focused on the activities of crude Cistanche polysaccharides, while the structural analysis and biological activity research of homogeneous CDPS are relatively scarce, mainly because the purification and structural characterization of homogeneous CDPS are more challenging. Future research should place more emphasis on the purification and structural analysis of CDPS, apply advanced methods such as circular dichroism spectroscopy, high - resolution nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry to further clarify its chemical structure, deeply study the relationship between the structure and biological activity of CDPS, explore chemical modification methods, and establish a quality control system to better exploit its application potential in the pharmaceutical and food fields.
III. The Influence of Processing on the Components of Cistanche
In 2024, researchers from the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine established a high - performance liquid chromatography - tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method (HPLC - QQQ - MS) to explore the impact of processing on the components of Cistanche. They extracted the drug powder with a 50% methanol solution, performed gradient elution on a specific chromatographic column with 0.1% formic acid water (A) - acetonitrile (B) as the mobile phase, selected the negative ion multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, and used aristolochic acid glucoside as the internal standard component to determine the contents of five components in Cistanche before and after processing, namely cistanoside F, verbascoside, isoverbascoside, 2'-acetylverbascoside, and echinacoside.
The research results show that the five components have a good linear relationship within their respective ranges, with an average sample addition recovery rate of 98.15% - 100.2%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) is less than 4.6%. The method established in this study is simple and accurate, and can be used for the quality control of Cistanche and to evaluate the impact of processing on the content and efficacy of Cistanche. This provides an important methodological reference for the further research and application of Cistanche in the field of traditional Chinese medicine processing, facilitating the standardization of the processing technology of Cistanche and improving the safety and effectiveness of its clinical application.
IV. Research Progress of Cistanche in Central Nervous System Diseases
Related research indicates that Cistanche has a favorable therapeutic effect on central nervous system diseases. In the research conducted in 2024, it was found that the total glycosides of Cistanche, an extract of Cistanche, can inhibit nerve cell inflammation and apoptosis, reduce the area of cerebral infarction, and exert a neuroprotective effect on rats with a cerebral ischemia - reperfusion injury (CIRI) model. When cerebral ischemia - reperfusion injury occurs, it is often accompanied by problems such as cerebral edema, the disruption of the blood - brain barrier, neuroinflammation, and neuronal apoptosis, and the total glycosides of Cistanche can effectively address these issues.
Simultaneously, Cistanche can enhance the learning and memory abilities of rats with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) models by reducing free radical accumulation, inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. In the Parkinson's disease (PD) mouse model, Cistanche can improve its abnormal motor behavior and play a neuroprotective role. Additionally, Cistanche can also inhibit the level of excitatory amino acids in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), reduce neurotoxicity, alter the function of astrocytes, and increase the survival rate of nerve cells. With the continuous deepening of research on Cistanche in central nervous system diseases, its application prospects in this field will become broader, and it is expected to offer new ideas and methods for the treatment of related diseases.
The research achievements of Cistanche during the period from 2024 to 2025 are abundant. From the biosynthesis of its pharmacodynamic components to the characteristics of polysaccharide components, from the impact of processing on its components to its application in central nervous system diseases, important progress has been made in all aspects. These studies not only deepen our understanding of the medicinal value of Cistanche but also provide a robust scientific basis for its further development and utilization in the fields of medicine and healthcare.
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