Anti-Tumor Activity of Oleanolic, Ursolic and Glycyrrhetinic Acid

摘要

Over last few years, there has been great interest on the anti-tumor properties of the triterpenoids, oleanolic, ursolicand glycyrrhetinic acid in presence of many plants such as Olea europeae L., Actostaphylos uva-ursi and Glycyrrhizauralensis. The three acids and their derivatives show potential anti-tumor promoting and cytotoxic activities, inhibitingproliferation, inducing apotosis and preventing invasion, which suggested that they could be developed as anti-cancerand cancer chemopreventive agents. The mechanisms of the anti-tumor effects by triterpenoids need further investigation.A brief review is attempted here for their anti-tumor activities and chemical modification research.