Research advances in chemical constituents and hepatoprotective effect of Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus and Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus

Schisandrae has a long history of medicinal use in China. Domestic and foreign scholars have isolated a variety of chemical constituents from Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus and Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus, including lignans, volatile oils, polysaccharides, triterpenoids, organic acids, amino acids and so on. Pharmacological studies have shown that their alcohol extracts, water extracts, lignan monomers and polysaccharides could protect liver injury and reduce enzyme ability by a variety of hepatoprotective effects such as enzyme reducing, liver protecting, and antioxidant effect. In this paper, the researches on the chemical composition, hepatoprotective effect and pharmacokinetics of Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus and Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus in the past forty years were systematically collated, in order to provide useful enlightenment for the clinical application and new drug development of Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus and Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus in liver protection.