Wogonin is an

O-methylated flavone The O-methylated flavonoids or methoxyflavonoids are flavonoids with methylations on hydroxyl groups (methoxy bonds). O-methylation has an effect on the solubility of flavonoids. Enzymes O-methylated flavonoids formation implies the presence of spe ...

, a flavonoid-like chemical compound which is found in ''

Scutellaria baicalensis ''Scutellaria baicalensis'', with the common name Baikal skullcap or Chinese skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution The plant is native to China, Korea, Mongolia, and Russia in the Russian Far East and Si ...

''. The

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycoside ...

s of wogonin are known as wogonosides. For example, oroxindin is a wogonin

glucuronide A glucuronide, also known as glucuronoside, is any substance produced by linking glucuronic acid to another substance via a glycosidic bond. The glucuronides belong to the glycosides. Glucuronidation, the conversion of chemical compounds to glucu ...

isolated from '' Oroxylum indicum''. It is one of the active ingredients of Sho-Saiko-To, a Japanese herbal supplement. Wogonin has been found in one study to have

anxiolytic An anxiolytic (; also antipanic or antianxiety agent) is a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxiet ...

properties in mice at doses of 7.5 to 30 mg/kg, without exhibiting the sedative and muscle-relaxing properties of benzodiazepines. Preliminary ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology ...

'' studies have shown pharmacological effects that indicate wogonin may have anti-tumor properties. Wogonin has also been found to possess anticonvulsant effects. It acts as a

positive allosteric modulator In pharmacology and biochemistry, allosteric modulators are a group of substances that bind to a receptor to change that receptor's response to stimulus. Some of them, like benzodiazepines, are drugs. The site that an allosteric modulator binds to ...

of the

benzodiazepine site The GABAA receptor (GABAAR) is an ionotropic receptor and ligand-gated ion channel. Its endogenous ligand is γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Upon opening, the GABAA receptor o ...

of the GABA_A receptor.

References

O-methylated flavones Resorcinols Anxiolytics Anticonvulsants GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators {{Anticonvulsant-stub