Table 1.

The overview of biological activity of cryptotanshinone

Biological activity	Targets	Possible application in diseases
Cardiovascular effect
Vasorelaxation	Ca2+ Endothelin-1	Coronary artery disease Acute ischemic stroke Chronic renal failure
Cerebrovascular effect
Neuroprotection	ACHE* BuCHE*	Alzheimer’s disease
Antibacterial activity	Superoxide radicals	G+ & G− bacterial infection
Anti-inflammatory activity	NF-κB, COX-1, IL-1, IL-2 TLR4*, TAK1*	Inflammation
Antioxidant activity	Superoxide radicals SOD, CAT, GPx	Aging; Cancer; Obesity Alzheimer’s disease
Antidiabetes	AMPK, PPARγ	Diabete; Obesity Hyperlipidemia
Anti-fibrosis	MMPs, JNK	Liver, lung, heart, kidney fibrosis
Anticancer	Detailedly discussed below

ACHE: Acetylcholinesterase; BuCHE: Butyrylcholinesterase; TLR4: Toll-like receptor 4; TAK1: TGF-β-activated kinase 1;