Biomaterial Database

The genus Cordyceps: a chemical and pharmacological review. 2013

Kai Yue, and Meng Ye, and Zuji Zhou, and Wen Sun, and Xiao Lin

College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, China.

OBJECTIVE Natural remedies are becoming increasingly popular and important in the public and scientific communities. Historically, natural remedies have been shown to present interesting biological and pharmacological activity and are used as chemotherapeutic agents. For centuries Cordyceps, which is a genus of more than 400 species in the family Clavicipitaceae, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine. This study highlights the chemistry and pharmacology of Cordyceps, especially Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc. and C. militaris (Fr.) L. Information was obtained from Google Scholar and the journal databases PubMed and Scopus. RESULTS Many bioactive components of Cordyceps have been extracted, such as cordycepin, cordycepic acid, ergosterol, polysaccharides, nucleosides and peptides. Studies show that Cordyceps and its active principles possess a wide range of pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumour, antihyperglycaemic, antiapoptosis, immunomodulatory, nephroprotective, and hepatoprotective. CONCLUSIONS More research is required to discover the full extent of the activity of Cordyceps.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008516	Medicine, Chinese Traditional	A system of traditional medicine which is based on the beliefs and practices of the Chinese culture.	Chinese Medicine, Traditional,Chung I Hsueh,Traditional Medicine, Chinese,Zhong Yi Xue,Chinese Traditional Medicine,Traditional Chinese Medicine,Traditional Tongue Assessment,Traditional Tongue Diagnosis,Hsueh, Chung I,Tongue Assessment, Traditional,Tongue Diagnoses, Traditional,Tongue Diagnosis, Traditional,Traditional Tongue Assessments,Traditional Tongue Diagnoses
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D055808	Drug Discovery	The process of finding chemicals for potential therapeutic use.	Drug Prospecting,Discovery, Drug,Prospecting, Drug
D020834	Ethnopharmacology	The study of the actions and properties of medicinal agents, often derived from PLANTS, indigenous to populations or ETHNICITY.
D032661	Cordyceps	A genus of ascomycetous fungi (ASCOMYCOTA), family Clavicipitaceae, order HYPOCREALES, that grows by infecting insect larvae or mature insects with spores that germinate often before the cocoon is formed.	Caterpillar Fungus,Ophiocordyceps sinensis,Sphaeria sinensis,Cordyceps militaris,Cordyceps sinensis,Fungus, Caterpillar