Description
β-Boswellic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene originally isolated from
Boswellia that has diverse bioactivities. It inhibits 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) with an IC
50 value of approximately 5 μM but is less potent than its derivative 3-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid . It inhibits cell proliferation in HL-60 cells with IC
50 values of 3.7, 7.1, and 6.3 μM for DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, respectively. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) transiently deprived of oxygen and glucose, β-boswellic acid increases nitric oxide and increases phosphorylation of enzyme nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). It also increases calcium mobilization in platelets at concentrations ≥3 μM and induces platelet aggregation (EC
50 = 8 μM).
Chemical Properties
BETA-BOSWELLIC ACID is Off-White Solid
Uses
The principal constitutents of frankincense (olibanum). A specific, nonredox inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase used to treat inflammation.
Definition
ChEBI: Boswellic acid is a triterpenoid.
Anticancer Research
It is a natural pentacyclic triterpenediol and occurs in Boswellia serrata plants as anisomeric blend of 3α, 24-dihydroxyolean-12-ene and 3α, 24-dihydroxyurs-12-ene.It induces apoptosis in various cancer cells. The events involved in this process areexcessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO) formation, DNA ladderformation, and increased sub-G0 phase in cell cycle. This ultimately results incleavage of Bcl-2 and translocation of Bax to mitochondria, which lead to the lossof mitochondrial potential and release of cyt-c and other factors into cytosol. All these events are linked with reduced expression of survivin and inhibitor of caspase-activatedDNases (ICAD) that leads to the activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase(PARP). The triterpene upregulates the expression of cell death receptor-4(DR-4) and tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNF-R1), where both lead to activationof caspase-8 (Huang et al. 2000; Desai et al. 2008; Lu et al. 2008).
