The Current Status of the Pharmaceutical Potential of Juniperus L. Metabolites

The document from 2018 reviews the pharmaceutical potential of secondary metabolites from Juniperus species, emphasizing their diverse biological activities, particularly antitumor, antibacterial, and antiviral effects. Compounds such as deoxypodophyllotoxin and a dehydroabietic acid derivative are identified as promising leads for drug development. The review also discusses the neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic properties of various Juniperus compounds, including ferruginol, hinokiol, sugiol, and totarol. Amentoflavone is mentioned for its potential use in hair loss treatment and as an aromatase inhibitor for breast cancer therapy. Rutin is noted for its antioxidant and cardioprotective effects, and deoxypodophyllotoxin is highlighted for its cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines and potential to overcome multi-drug resistance. The document concludes that Juniperus species are valuable sources of bioactive compounds with significant pharmaceutical applications, though further in vivo studies and comparisons with reference compounds are needed to advance these findings. Specific numbers of study participants or subjects were not provided in the summary.