Betulinic acid is a known natural product which has gained a lot of attention in the recent years since it exhibits a variety of biological and medicinal properties. This review provides the most important biological properties of betulinic acid.

Activity-guided fractionation of a MeOH extract of the roots of Saussurea lappa C.B.Clarke (Compositae), using an in vitro protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibition assay, led to the isolation of four active constituents: betulinic acid (1), betulinic acid methyl ester (2), mokko lactone (3) and dehydrocostuslactone (4), along with nine inactive compounds. Our findings indicate that be...

Nitric oxide (NO) produced by endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) is a protective principle in the vasculature. Many cardiovascular diseases are associated with reduced NO bioactivity and eNOS uncoupling due to oxidative stress. Compounds that reverse eNOS uncoupling and increase eNOS expression are of therapeutic interest. Zizyphi Spinosi semen (ZSS) is one of the most widely used traditional Chine...

Betulinic acid is a widely available plant-derived triterpene which is reported to possess selective cytotoxic activity against cancer cells of neuroectodermal origin and leukemia. However, the potential of betulinic acid as an antiproliferative and cytotoxic agent on vascular smooth muscle (VSMC) is still unclear. This study was carried out to demonstrate the antiproliferative and cytotoxic ef...

the ethyl acetate partition of dried methanolic extract of aerial parts of euphorbia microsciadia (euphorbiaceae) afforded three pentacyclic triterpenes, betulinic acid (1) from lupane type, oleanolic acid (2) from oleane type and ursolic acid (3) from ursane type triterpenes that are reported for the first time in this plant. these three compounds were structurally compared through their mass ...

Betulin and betulinic acid are naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenes showing cytotoxicity towards a number of cancer cell lines. These compounds can be found in the bark of the many plants. In this report we have compared the cytotoxic activity of crude birch bark extract and purified betulin and betulinic acid towards human gastric carcinoma (EPG85-257) and human pancreatic carcinoma (EP...

Purpose: Betulinic acid, a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid, exhibits potent antitumor activities, whereas the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the current study, we sought to determine the role and regulation of lamin B1 expression in human pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and betulinic acid–based therapy. Experimental Design:We used cDNA microarray to identify betulinic acid...

Betulinic acid is a natural product with a range of biological effects, for example potent antitumor activity. This anticancer property is linked to its ability to induce apoptotic cell death in cancer cells by triggering the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. In contrast to the cytotoxicity of betulinic acid against a variety of cancer types, normal cells and tissue are relatively resistant t...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of betulinic acid on inducing apoptosis of human multiple myeloma RPMI-8226 cell line. The inhibitory effect of betulinic acid on proliferation and its inducing apoptosis effect, influence on cell cycle and induced morphological changes of RPMI-8226 were evaluated by MTT, flow cytometry Annexin-V/PI double staining, flow cytometry with PI stai...

The ethyl acetate partition of dried methanolic extract of aerial parts of Euphorbia microsciadia (Euphorbiaceae) afforded three pentacyclic triterpenes, betulinic acid (1) from lupane type, oleanolic acid (2) from oleane type and ursolic acid (3) from ursane type triterpenes that are reported for the first time in this plant. These three compounds were structurally compared through their mass ...