Plants belonging to the genus Leonurus, also named motherwort, are traditionally used for anti-gynecological disorder in East Asia, and for sedative in Europe. Chemical investigation of the genus Leonurus not only enriched the natural products library, but also enlarged the pharmacological application of this traditional herb. In this review, we systematically summarized the structures of 259 compounds isolated from the genus Leonurus, featured with 147 labdane diterpenoids. The reported bioactivity studies up to 2017 are presented in the second part, with the main focus on the isolated compounds and also concerning the extracts. In addition to the traditional uterine contraction and sedative activity, recently the cardiovascular protection effect of leonurine has drawn most attention. Other than that, neuroprotection, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, anti-platelet aggregation and many other activities have been assigned to various compounds from the genus Leonurus. Among 70 bioactivity references cited in this review, 57% of them were concentrated on two alkaloids (leonurine and stachydrine), whereas only 20% are about the 147 diterpenoids. Anti-inflammation is the major bioactivity discovered so far for the labdane diterpenoids from the genus Leonurus, whose further therapeutic potential still remains for exploration.

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益母草属的植物化学和药理学：有益于母亲等的草药

益母草属植物，也称为益母草，传统上用于东亚的抗妇科疾病和欧洲的镇静剂。益母草属的化学研究不仅丰富了天然产物库，而且扩大了这种传统草药的药理应用。在这篇综述中，我们系统地总结了从益母草属中分离出的 259 种化合物的结构，其中包含 147 种拉丹烷二萜类化合物。第二部分介绍了截至 2017 年报告的生物活性研究，主要关注分离的化合物和提取物。除了传统的子宫收缩和镇静作用外，近来益母草对心血管的保护作用备受关注。除此之外，还有神经保护、抗炎、益母草属的各种化合物具有抗癌、抗血小板聚集和许多其他活性。在本综述引用的 70 篇生物活性参考文献中，其中 57% 集中在两种生物碱（leonurine 和水苏碱）上，而只有 20% 集中在 147 种二萜类化合物上。抗炎是迄今为止发现的益母草属二萜类化合物的主要生物活性，其进一步的治疗潜力仍有待探索。