Bryonolic acid: A review on its phytochemistry and biological activities

Bryonolic acid, pentacyclic triterpenoid, is found in Cucurbitaceae, Tetramelaceae, Meliaceae and Anisophylleaceae plant families. There were several previous studies reported some biological properties of bryonolic acid, such as anti-allergic effect in three types of allergy in mice. Moreover, it shown to inhibit growth of several cancer cell lines including melanoma, choriocarcinoma, hepatoma, epithelial carcinoma, fetal lung fibroblast, lymphosarcoma, lung cancer and breast cancer with acyl-coA: cholesterol acyl transferase (ACAT) inhibitory activity. Bryonolic acid was also proven to provide anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidation properties via activation of heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and reduction of nitric oxide level. Furthermore, bryonolic acid inhibited NMDA-induced exitotoxicity by decreasing intracellular Ca2+ concentration. Based on these properties, bryonolic acid could become an interesting compound for new drug development.