A review of pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties of Forsythiaside A

Traditional Chinese medicine plays a significant role in the treatment of various diseases and has attracted increasing attention for clinical applications. Forsythiae Fructus, the dried fruit of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl, is a widely used Chinese medicinal herb in clinic for its extensive pharmacological activities. Forsythiaside A is the main active index component isolated from Forsythiae Fructus and possesses prominent bioactivities. Modern pharmacological studies have confirmed that Forsythiaside A exhibits significant activities in treating various diseases, including inflammation, virus infection, neurodegeneration, oxidative stress, liver injury, and bacterial infection. In this review, the pharmacological activities of Forsythiaside A have been comprehensively reviewed and summarized. According to the data, Forsythiaside A shows remarkable anti-inflammation, antivirus, neuroprotection, antioxidant, hepatoprotection, and antibacterial activities through regulating multiple signaling transduction pathways such as NF-κB, MAPK, JAK/STAT, Nrf2, RLRs, TRAF, TLR7, and ER stress. In addition, the toxicity and pharmacokinetic properties of Forsythiaside A are also discussed in this review, thus providing a solid foundation and evidence for further studies to explore novel effective drugs from Chinese medicine monomers.