Matrine

Matrine (MT) or Sophocarpidine is a naturally occurring bioactive compound, extracted from traditional Chinese herbs like Sophora flavescens and Radix Sophorae tonkinensis.

Matrine has been used:

• to study its antioxidant and protective effect on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity in mice model and H9C2 cells
• as a chemotherapeutic agent to test its inhibitory effect on the growth of human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells, and ovarian cancer cells
• to study its effect on mitochondrial fission and its anti-tumor functionality in HepG2 cells
• as a necroptosis inducer in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell lines

Matrine is a potent therapeutic agent with various pharmacological like anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory properties. It is a macropinocytosis inducer and decreases the cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level. Matrine may also serve as an effective sedative agent. It serves as an anti-inflammatory agent in 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced intestinal inflammation in mice. It functions to reverse the Warburg effect and suppress the growth of human colon cancer cells.

Matrine is an alkaloid that is one of the major components in the root of the saphoro plant. Matrine has been studied for possible antiviral efficacy against hepatitis B and C, as well as impact against some skin diseases and forms of cancer.