Arctigenin

Arctigenin is a lignan found in plants of the Asteraceae family such as burdock.  

Links to Plants Containing Arctigenin

RESEARCH

The listings of research below represents a compilation of scientific articles found on the topic, with a very brief overview description of each article/study.  This compilation of research articles does not necessarily imply that there are adequate results to demonstrate safe and/or effective human use of any herb listed.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

• Arctigenin was the active constituent in burdock, suppressing inflammation in vitro.  From:  Zhao, F., Wang, L., & Liu, K. (2009). In vitro anti-inflammatory effects of arctigenin, a lignan from Arctium lappa L., through inhibition on iNOS pathway. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 122(3), 457-462.  Link  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.01.038
• Lignans extracted from burdock inhibited inflammation.  From:  Park, S. Y., Hong, S. S., Han, X. H., Hwang, J. S., Lee, D., Ro, J. S., & Hwang, B. Y. (2007). Lignans from Arctium lappa and their inhibition of LPS-induced nitric oxide production. Chemical and pharmaceutical bulletin, 55(1), 150-152.
• Diarctigenin from burdock seeds reduced inflammation gene expression. From:  Kim, B. H., Hong, S. S., Kwon, S. W., Lee, H. Y., Sung, H., Lee, I. J., … & Ahn, B. (2008). Diarctigenin, a lignan constituent from Arctium lappa, down-regulated zymosan-induced transcription of inflammatory genes through suppression of DNA binding ability of nuclear factor-κB in macrophages. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 327(2), 393-401.
• Arctigenin inhibited activation of MAP kinases. From:  Cho, M. K., Jang, Y. P., Kim, Y. C., & Kim, S. G. (2004). Arctigenin, a phenylpropanoid dibenzylbutyrolactone lignan, inhibits MAP kinases and AP-1 activation via potent MKK inhibition: the role in TNF-α inhibition. International immunopharmacology, 4(10), 1419-1429.  Link:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intimp.2004.06.011

ANTI-TUMOR / ANTI-CANCER

• Arctigenin, a constituent of burdock, showed anti-tumor activity in bladder cancer.  From:  Yang, S., Ma, J., Xiao, J., Lv, X., Li, X., Yang, H., … & Zhang, Y. (2012). Arctigenin Anti‐Tumor Activity in Bladder Cancer T24 Cell Line Through Induction of Cell‐Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis. The Anatomical Record, 295(8), 1260-1266.
• Arctigenin and matairesinol isolated from Arctium lappa showed antiproliferative activity against leukemia cells.  From:  Matsumoto, T., Hosono-Nishiyama, K., & Yamada, H. (2006). Antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of butyrolactone lignans from Arctium lappa on leukemic cells. Planta medica, 72(03), 276-278.
• Arctigenin from burdock showed antitumor activity by glucose starvation.  From:  Awale, S., Lu, J., Kalauni, S. K., Kurashima, Y., Tezuka, Y., Kadota, S., & Esumi, H. (2006). Identification of arctigenin as an antitumor agent having the ability to eliminate the tolerance of cancer cells to nutrient starvation. Cancer research, 66(3), 1751-1757.

ANTIVIRAL

• Arctigenin from the burdock plant showed in vitro antiviral activity against the influenza virus.  From:  Hayashi, K., Narutaki, K., Nagaoka, Y., Hayashi, T., & Uesato, S. (2010). Therapeutic effect of arctiin and arctigenin in immunocompetent and immunocompromised mice infected with influenza A virus. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 33(7), 1199-1205.  Link:  http://doi.org/10.1248/bpb.33.1199

By: Kathy Sadowski

Updated: 1/11/19