Betulinic acid

Ecology

Biology

Antimicrobial

Betulin

Natural product

Biological activity

Biochemistry

Stereochemistry

Cytotoxicity

Alternative medicine

Genetics

Terpene

Organic chemistry

In vitro

Triterpene

Bark (sound)

Medicine

Chemistry

Pathology

European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Betulin (lup-20(29)-ene-3β,28-diol) is an abundant naturally occurring triterpene and it is found predominantly in bushes and trees forming the principal extractive (up to 30% of dry weight) of the bark of birch trees. Presently, there is no significant use for this easily isolable compound, which makes it a potentially important raw material for polymers and a precursor of biologically active compounds. Betulin can be easily converted to betulinic acid, which possesses a wide spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities. Betulinic acid has antimalarial and anti-inflammatory activities. Betulinic acid and its derivatives have especially shown anti-HIV activity and cytotoxicity against a variety of tumor cell lines comparable to some clinically used drugs. A new mechanism of action has been confirmed for some of the most promising anti-HIV derivatives, which makes them potentially useful additives to the current anti-HIV therapy. Betulinic acid is specifically cytotoxic to several tumor cell lines by inducing apoptosis in cells. Moreover, it is non-toxic up to 500 mg/kg body weight in mice. The literature concerning derivatization of betulin for structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies and its pharmacological properties is reviewed.

Pharmacological properties of the ubiquitous natural product betulin