Magnolol is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The s ...

that is classified as

lignan The lignans are a large group of low molecular weight polyphenols found in plants, particularly seeds, whole grains, and vegetables. The name derives from the Latin word for "wood". Lignans are precursors to phytoestrogens. They may play a ro ...

. It is a

bioactive compound A bioactive compound is a compound that has an effect on a living organism, tissue or cell, usually demonstrated by basic research in vitro or in vivo in the laboratory. While dietary nutrients are essential to life, bioactive compounds have not ...

found in the bark of the Houpu magnolia (''

Magnolia officinalis ''Magnolia officinalis'' (commonly called houpu magnolia or magnolia-bark) is a species of ''Magnolia'' native to the mountains and valleys of China at altitudes of 300–1500 m. Identification It is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m in height ...

'') or in '' M. grandiflora''. The compound exists at the level of a few percent in the bark of species of magnolia, the extracts of which have been used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. In addition to magnolol, related lignans occur in the extracts including

honokiol Honokiol is a lignan isolated from the bark, seed cones, and leaves of trees belonging to the genus '' Magnolia''. It has been identified as one of the chemical compounds in some traditional eastern herbal medicines along with magnolol, 4-O-met ...

, which is an isomer of magnolol.

Bioactivity

It is known to act on the GABA_A receptors in rat cells in vitro as well as having antifungal properties. Magnolol has a number of osteoblast-stimulating and osteoclast-inhibiting activities in cell culture and has been suggested as a candidate for screening for anti-osteoporosis activity. It has anti-periodontal disease activity in a rat model. Structural analogues have been studied and found to be strong allosteric modulators of GABA_A_. Magnolol is also binding in dimeric mode to

PPARγ Peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ or PPARG), also known as the glitazone reverse insulin resistance receptor, or NR1C3 (nuclear receptor subfamily 1, group C, member 3) is a type II nuclear receptor functioning as a tr ...

, acting as an agonist of this nuclear receptor.Dreier D, Latkolik S, Rycek L, Schnürch M, Dymáková A, Atanasov AG, Ladurner A, Heiss EH, Stuppner H, Schuster D, Mihovilovic MD, Dirsch VM
Linked magnolol dimer as a selective PPARγ agonist - Structure-based rational design, synthesis, and bioactivity evaluation.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 20;7(1):13002
doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12628-5.
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Bioactivity

References

Further reading