Scutellarin is a

flavone Flavone is an organic compound with the formula . A white solid, flavone is a derivative of chromone with a phenyl (Ph) substituent adjacent to the ether group. The compound is of little direct practical importance, but substituted derivatives, ...

, a type of phenolic chemical compound. It can be found in the Asian "barbed skullcap" '' Scutellaria barbata'' and the north American plant '' S. lateriflora'' both of which have been used in traditional medicine. The compound is found only in trace amounts in the "Chinese skullcap" '' Scutellaria baicalensis'', another plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. The determination of the structure of scutellarin took Guido Goldschmiedt many years: after the first publication on that topic in 1901, only in 1910 he managed to obtain enough starting material for more detailed studies. Scutellarin has anticancer properties. It has been found to induce

apoptosis Apoptosis (from ) is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms and in some eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms such as yeast. Biochemistry, Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (Morphology (biol ...

of ovarian and breast tumor cells ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

''. One mechanism of scutellarin's antitumor action is to bind to TNF receptor II (TNFR2) in tumor-associated CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. These tumor "helper" cells show high expression of TNFR2 and are inhibited when it is blocked by scutellarin. Scutellarin also shows protective effects for nerve cells that are affected by estrogen. Scutellarin has been shown as a potential treatment for

diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease) is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries and one of the lead causes of sight loss in the wor ...

, which could prevent diabetic blindness. In laboratory studies, scutellarin inhibits hypoxia-induced and moderately high glucose-induced proliferation and

vascular endothelial growth factor Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, ), originally known as vascular permeability factor (VPF), is a signal protein produced by many cells that stimulates the formation of blood vessels. To be specific, VEGF is a sub-family of growth factors ...

(VEGF) expression in human retinal endothelial cells; thus, it could be a potential therapy for diabetic retinopathy. However, how scutellarin inhibits VEGF is unknown. Scutellarin has anti-

HIV-1 The subtypes of HIV include two main subtypes, known as HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV type 2 (HIV-2). These subtypes have distinct genetic differences and are associated with different epidemiological patterns and clinical characteristics. HIV-1 e ...

effects as well. In laboratory studies, a drug-resistant type HIV-1 cell-to-cell infection was inhibited with significant potency. The scutellarin compound was found to inhibit several strains of HIV-1 replication with different potencies, by preventing HIV-1 particle attachment and cell fusion, as well as inhibiting HIV-1 retransmission.

References

Flavone glycosides Flavonoid glucuronides Glucuronide esters {{Aromatic-stub