Senkyunolide A is one of the major ingredients in a traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM) herb Rhizoma Chuanxiong. This herb is derived from the dried rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort (Umbelliferae) and is one of the most commonly used TCM herbs for the treatment of cardio and cerebrovascular diseases in China. Senkyunolide A has a low oral bioavailability. It has anti-cancer potential. Senkyunolide A may be considered as potential drug candidate for treating inflammatory processes associated with cerebrovascular diseases and related disorders based on their inhibitory activity on TNF-alpha production and TNF-alpha bioactivity.

Sclareol isolated from Salvia officinalis is widely used as a fragrance material. Sclareol is known to exert various biological activities. Sclareol possesses high lipophilicity, that precluded the evaluation of its anticancer effect in vivo. To overcome high toxicity and high lipophilicity of clareol, it was incorporated in liposomes. It demonstrated significant cytotoxic activity against human leukemic cell lines, but no cytotoxicity towards normal cells at concentration as high as 100 uM. Thus, sclareol possesses chemotherapeutic potential for the treatment of colorectal and other types of human cancer. Also was found, that sclareol-containing cream improved wrinkles in a clinical trial. It alleviates facial wrinkle formation via an antiphotoaging mechanism and may be an effective candidate ingredient. The anti-inflammatory mechanisms of sclareol might be related to a decrease of inflammatory cytokines and an increase of antioxidant enzyme activity.

Levistolide A is a naturally occurring compound isolated from Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat cancer. Levistolide has been studied in vitro against cell models for colon cancer and breast cancer. It was effective at inducing ER programmed apoptosis in colon cancer cells. In a cell model for breast cancer, levistolide was shown to enhance the apoptotic effects of adriamycin and vincristine. The effect of levistomide is correlated with cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase PARP and up-regulation of caspase-3.

Grindelic acid is a labdane-type diterpene that was reported as the main secondary metabolite from Grindelia chiloensis Cabr and G. pulchella Dunal var. pulchella (Asteraceae). Recent studies demonstrated potential pharmaceutical applications for grindelic acid and its synthetic derivatives. Grindelic acid is a NOX4 inhibitor (IC50 2 uM). Grindelic acid’s mechanism of action is unknown, but it inhibited neither ROS in a cell-free membrane-based NOX4 assay nor from the purified NOX4 dehydrogenase domain. Grindelic acid demonstrates in vitro antitumor activity against human breast, cervix, lung,colon cancer.

Dihydrotanshinone I (DHI), a diterpenoid first isolated from the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a relatively high affinity inhibitor of human AChE. Dihydrotanshinone I (10 and 25 mg/kg) significantly attenuates atherosclerotic plaque formation, alteres serum lipid profile, decreases oxidative stress and shrinks necrotic core areas in ApoE-/- mice. Dihydrotanshinone I dramatically inhibits the enhanced expression of LOX-1, NOX4, and NF-κB in aorta. Dihydrotanshinone I treatment can improve cardiac function, reduce infarct size, ameliorate the variations in myocardial zymogram and histopathological disorders, decrease 20-HETE generation, and regulate apoptosis-related protein in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion rats.

VER-50589 is an isoxazole compound that inhibits a heat shock protein Hsp90. Mean cellular antiproliferative GI(50) value for VER-50589 for a human cancer cell line panel were 78 nM/L, showing a 9-fold potency gain for the isoxazole. VER-50589 shows favorable pharmacokinetics and impairs tumor growth (colon cancer) in animal model. Glioblastoma cells do not acquire resistance to VER-50589 and resistance to other Hsp90 inhibitors does not produce cross-resistance to VER-50589.

Limonin is a limonoid, and a bitter, white, crystalline substance found in citrus and other plants. In vitro experiments shows that limonin possess anti-HIV-1, and anti-cancer properties.

Meso-astaxanthin is one of three naturally occurring optical isomers of astaxanthin. Astaxanthins are a group of compounds providing red pigmentation in trout, salmon, lobster, shrimp and other sea creatures. Synthetic astraxanthins and biomass containing astraxanthins are used as feed additives in commercial fishing operations to ensure redness of the flesh. Astaxanthins as a group also exhibit antioxidant properties and are marketed in a number of nutriceutical products for human consumption. Isomers astaxanthin including meso-astaxanthin has demonstrated the ability to slow the growth of colon cancer cells in vitro.

(R, R)-astaxanthin is the naturally occurring enantiomer of astaxanthin and can be isolated from the yeast Phaffia rhodozyma and from Antarctic krill. Biomass of killed dead Phaffia rhodozyma is fed to salmon and trout to ensure red flesh pigmentation due to its high content of assorted astaxanthins. Astaxanthin and its stereoisomers have demonstrated the ability to inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells in-vitro.

Epipinoresinol is an important component of the medicinal herb Eucommia ulmoides, which has a substantial reputation as an effective antihypertensive remedy. Epipinoresinol (EPR) belongs to the group of furofuran-type lignans consisting of two phenylpropane units. (+)-epipinoresinol exhibited antiplatelet aggregation activity. It also exhibited inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production. Epipinoresinol possess antiproliferative activity.