Abstract: Yuanhuacine is a daphne-type diterpene isolated from Daphne genkwa. It is also isolated from the plant of Daphne and Euphorbia. With the further research on yuanhuacine, it has been found that yuanhuacine has strong anti-tumor activity, and it also exhibits significant anti-virus, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and anti-fertility activities. Yuanhuacine can enter various tissues with the blood, and pass through the blood-brain barrier. The bioavailability of yuanhuacine is good, which has potential therapeutic significance for the lesions of all tissues. However, the researches on yuanhuacine mainly focus on the preclinical research and yuanhuacine is only used to induce labor clinically. The purpose of this study is to systematically summarize and analyze the pharmacological activity, drug metabolism in vivo, and clinical application of yuanhuacine, so as to provide a theoretical basis for its development and application.

Key words: yuanhuacine, pharmacological activities, clinical application