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Scutellarin: Bioactivities, Pharmacology, and Development as Promising Therapeutic Agents and Nutraceuticals

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Handbook of Dietary Flavonoids

Abstract

Scutellarin is a polyphenolic flavone with a characteristic C7-glucuronide substituent. It is widely distributed in nature, particularly in the mint plants, in herbs such as Mexican oregano, sweet basil, and psyllium. Scutellarin-rich extracts from medicinal plants have gained popular use in traditional Chinese medicine for remedies against cardiovascular, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes, attributed to the wide range of activities of scutellarin such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardioprotective, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, anticancer, and antimicrobial effects. Various clinical trials supported the use of scutellarin-rich medicinal extracts while many in vitro and in vivo studies highlighted the therapeutic potential of the pure compound against various diseases. Additionally, scutellarin showed great potential as an adjuvant to existing drugs due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms via the modulation of inflammatory signaling pathways, cytokine expression, inhibition of reactive oxygen species, and many more. Despite the many studies done on scutellarin, investigations on its anticancer, antiviral, and organ protective activities have yet to be fully explored, hinting future studies to be focused in these areas. Besides that, the pharmacokinetic and toxicology profiles of scutellarin have been well characterized and showed acceptable margins of safety without any occurrences of adverse effects in clinical trials. In addition to its great potential for therapeutic use, scutellarin is valuable in the food industry as dietary antioxidants, functional food additives, or beneficial nutraceuticals. More robust clinical studies and cross-border collaborations are thus highly recommended to validate its therapeutic potential and promote its global applications.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) (FRGS/1/2020/STG02/TAYLOR/01/1) from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).

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Correspondence to Siau Hui Mah .

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Gunter, N.V., Mah, S.H. (2023). Scutellarin: Bioactivities, Pharmacology, and Development as Promising Therapeutic Agents and Nutraceuticals. In: Xiao, J. (eds) Handbook of Dietary Flavonoids. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94753-8_8-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94753-8_8-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-94753-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-94753-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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