Research Status of Golden Lotus Glycosides
Anoectochilus roxburghii, belonging to the Orchidaceae family, is a perennial medicinal plant widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. The plants of the Orchid genus are known as medicinal orchids and have various therapeutic effects in traditional medicine. Anoectoside is a biologically active compound isolated from Anoectoside. Its therapeutic effect has been confirmed in many diseases, including diabetes, hepatitis, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia, osteoporosis, acute lung injury and endotoxin shock. A comprehensive understanding of the research status of salidroside can lay a solid foundation for its application in clinical practice.
The earliest literature that can be traced back to salidroside is a glycoside isolated from Anoectochilus koshunensis and its chemical structure reported in 1993. But in the following decade, the compound did not receive further in-depth research. It was not until the 21st century that the potential of salidroside in treating diseases was gradually explored, and it was only then that pharmacologists and botanists paid attention to it. As a precious and rare medicinal plant, the audience of lotus root is relatively limited at present, but due to its gradually developed medicinal value, the market demand is constantly expanding. As the main bioactive compound of Rhodiola rosea, the research progress on its therapeutic application and pharmacological properties in anti-inflammatory and oxidative stress-induced diseases such as myocarditis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, etc. is relatively mature.
In 2015, Wang et al. published a research progress report on salidroside by reviewing, organizing, and analyzing relevant literature. However, the comprehensive research progress analysis of salidroside in the past eight years has not been updated, and only one article on the therapeutic application and pharmacological research progress of salidroside in inflammation and oxidative stress-induced diseases was published in 2022. Therefore, this review will comprehensively review the basic information, extraction and synthesis methods, and pharmacological effects of salidroside, and provide prospects for the current research directions and ideas on salidroside at home and abroad.

 

Golden lotus glycosides have a wide range of pharmacological effects, including high levels of lipid-lowering, hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and immune enhancing pharmacological activities. However, artificial synthesis of golden lotus glycosides is expensive due to cost issues. Therefore, the development of isomers and derivatives of salidroside lays the foundation for further research on more promising salidroside analogs as candidate drugs. At the same time, utilizing modern science and technology to improve the cultivation efficiency of lotus plants and the extraction rate of lotus glycosides is the fundamental method to solve the shortage of lotus glycosides in the market from a production perspective. In addition, studying the biosynthesis pathway of salidroside, exploring the genes involved in the synthesis pathway, and clarifying the mechanism of action of a series of key enzymes are effective measures to improve the content of salidroside through genetic engineering.
The beneficial effects of salidroside on reducing inflammation and oxidative damage have been confirmed, but several issues should be addressed before applying it in clinical practice. Firstly, the difference between the effective dose and toxic dose of salidroside in vivo is not yet clear, so it is necessary to conduct dose toxicity tests on rodents and large primates in sequence; Secondly, the current treatment methods lack the necessary targeting function. Whether through intravenous infusion, intraperitoneal injection, or gastric perfusion, combining salidroside with targeted peptides and encapsulating them in extracellular vesicles or nanoparticles is an effective engineering strategy to improve treatment accuracy, reduce dosage, and improve off target effects; In addition, the selection of intervention time points is a key challenge for the application of salidroside, and determining the precise role and duration of salidroside at different stages of disease development will help guide its use.