Table 2.

An Overview of the Underlying Molecular Mechanisms for Different Pharmacological Properties of Swertiamarin

Pharmacological Property	Mechanism	Reference
Anti-inflammatory and antiarthritis	↓ TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8 ↑ IL-4 and IL-10 Inhibition of p38 and MAPK ↑ mRNA of caspase-3 ↑ Protein levels of Th2-mediated cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) ↓ Proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6)	Zhang et al;54 Saravanan et al;55 Saravanan et al;56 Saravanan et al57
Analgesic	Not identified	Jaishree et al (2009)
Hepatoprotective	Upregulation of Nrf2 ↓ SREBP-1, FAS and acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 Regulation of Bax, cleaved caspase-3 proteins, TGF-β1, collagen I, collagen III, CTGF and fibronectin mRNA Regulation of Bcl-2 levels Regulation of hepatic PI3K/Akt pathway ↓ MDA ↓ Inflammatory cytokines (iNOS and IL-1β) Upregulation of AT1R Inhibit Ang II–induced ERK	Yang et al;60 Zhang et al;61 Wu et al62
Antidiabetic	↑ PPARγ/GLUT-4 and adiponectin mRNA ↓ Oxidative stress ↓ Insulin resistance Upregulation of GLUT-2 ↓ PEPCK α-Glucosidase inhibitor	Vaidya et al;66 Patel et al;70 Ahamad et al72
Antioxidant	↓ Cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP1 ↓ PEPCK; regulates AMPK ↓ Oxidative stress ↓ IR, PI3K, AKT in Ser (P)307 IRS-1	Patel et al73
Gastroprotective	Inhibition of dopamine D2 receptor	Kimura and Sumiyoshi74
Lung protection	↑ Arterial oxygen partial pressure/fractional inspired oxygen ratio ↑ Superoxide dismutase and GSH-Px, the levels of IL-10, glutathione and IκBα ↓ Neutrophils and lymphocytes, activity of MPO ↓ TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, MDA, NF-κB p65 and p-IKK α/β (Ser 180/Ser 181)	Yao et al75
Neuroprotection	Upregulation of SOD-3 and GST-4 Downregulation of DAF-16 and SKN-1 ↑ IL-10 ↓ TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β Upregulation of DAF-16 possibly via upregulation of unc-17	Pandey et al;76 Deng et al;77 Wang et al84
Anticancer	Not identified	–

Note: The upward arrow (↑) indicates an increased response, and the downward arrow (↓) indicates a decreased response.