Anti-Inflammatory - Within the plant of the Purple Gromwell is a chemical known as Shikonin. This chemical was used and tested to show anti-inflammatory properties. Our study suggests shikonin may be a target for the future design of more potent, highly selective therapeutics that could be useful antiinflammatory agents for selectively blocking the binding of CCR1 ligands.

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In summary, this study demonstrated that shikonin possesses anti-inflammatory activity, which involved the down-regulation of NO, PGE₂, and TNF-α, as well as their major regulatory genes, via the suppression of crosstalk between LPS-induced NF-κB activation and ROS production

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Anti-Cancer - Lithospermum erythrorhizon has long been used in traditional Asian medicine for the treatment of diseases including skin cancer. The in vitro anticancer studies viz. cell growth, cell cycle and apoptosis, and the expression of tumor regulating proteins were analyzed against B16F10 melanoma cells. LEH induced apoptosis in B16F10 cells by activation of caspase 3 and inducing sub-G1 cell cycle arrest. LEH exhibited both in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity. Shikonin derivatives in the LEH are responsible for the anticancer activity.

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Shikonin (SK) has been isolated and identified as a key bioactive component in an herbal plant, Shikon (gromwell). In human breast cancer cells, we observed that treatment with SK inhibits tumor cell growth in estrogen receptor α (ERα)-positive, but not ERα-negative breast cancer cells. Finally, co-treatment with SK enhanced sensitivity of breast cancer cells to endocrine therapy. Collectively, our studies suggested that SK has a potential for antihormone therapy in ERα-positive breast cancer cells, and should serve as a target for new drug developments.

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This study was aimed to investigate whether this chemical could also inhibit cell growth of lung cancer cells and, if so, works via what molecular mechanism. hese results indicate the potential and dose-related cytotoxic actions of shikonin on A549 lung cancer cells via p53-mediated cell fate pathways and raise shikonin a promising adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of lung cancer in clinical practice.

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Apoptosis in Tumor Cells - Shikonin, isolated from the plant Lithospermum erythrorhizon Sieb. Et Zucc, has been reported to induce apoptosis in several tumor cells. However, such effect of shikonin on human breast cancer cells has not been reported. Flow cytometric analysis of shikonin-treated MCF-7 cells showed that the ratio of the apoptotic DNA fragmentation increased in a dose-dependent manner. The present study demonstrated for the first time that the cytotoxic effect of shikonin on MCF-7 cells underwent apoptosis process.

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Anti - Tumor - When these mice were orally treated with extracts of Shi-ka-ron or each Chinese herbs mentioned above, it showed protective effects to immunosuppressive mice on all 5 items studied. The number of macrophages, and the functions of macrophages and lymphocytes maintained the same or more than normal levels in MMC plus each group of these extracts treated mice. These results suggest that the Shi-Ka-Ron and Chinese herbs could resist immunosuppression induced by antitumor agent MMC, and its mechanisms might be correlated with stimulation of the RES (reticuloendothelial system), activation of T cell blastogenesis and NK cell cytotoxicity.

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Anti-Obesity - This study aimed to evaluate the antiobesity effects of Lithospermum erythrorhizon ethanol extract (LE) and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Mice were fed a normal or high-fat diet with or without LE supplementation for 8 weeks. These findings suggest that Lithospermum erythrorhizon prevents obesity by inhibiting adipogenesis through downregulation of genes involved in the adipogenesis pathway and may be a useful dietary supplement for the prevention of obesity.

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Anti-Bacterial - The objective of this study is to isolate and identify antibacterial compounds from Lithospermum erythrorhizon (L. erythrorhizon). Initially, the extracts of 44 different Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) were screened for their antimicrobial sensitivity by using broth micro-dilution methods on 96-microwell plate towards four different species of oral bacteria, which includes Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Among the 44 TCMs, the extracts from L. erythrorhizon have proved to be most effective against these bacteria and were taken up for further study. Antibacterial effects of the compounds (Acetylshikonin, shikonin, deoxyshikonin, β-sitosterol, and β, β- dimethylacrylshikonin) obtained from the extract, showed that acetylshikonin has the best antibacterial effects. Our study concludes that acetylshikonin of L. erythrorhizon could be a potential antimicrobial agent for the treatment of oral diseases.

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