SANTAMARINE: Mechanistic Studies on Multiple Diseases.

Medicinal plants are vital sources of modern and traditional Chinese medicines. Sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) consist of a large group of plant secondary metabolites, and belong to C15 terpenoids group. SLs have shown various biological activities including antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities. Santamarine (STM), C₁₅ H₂₀ O₃ , is a kind of Sesquiterpene lactone, whose molecular weight is 248.322 g/mol_. Santamarine has been isolated from several plants species, and has shown eminent biological activities, such as anticancer activity, anti-inflammatory activity, and so on. In this mini review we summarize the studies on the effects and the mechanisms of STM, and explore the avenues of application.