Lesson 34: Oleanolic Acid

Oleanolic acid is a biologically active pentacyclictriterpenoid compound with several promising pharmacological activities, such as hepatoprotective effects, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor activities via activation of the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway.

Oleanolic acid is a constituent of the leaves of Olea europaea and Viscum album L. Oleanolic acid is used in Chinese medicine for the treatment of liver disorders, such as viral hepatitis, and has been shown to protect from various hepatotoxicants that cause oxidative and electrophilic stresses, including carbon tetrachloride, acetaminophen, bromobenzene, and thioacetamide. Oleanolic acid induces expression levels of NRF2 and its target genes in liver, and administration of oleanolic acid exerts hypoglycemic effects in diabetes. Importantly, synthetic derivatives of oleanolic acid are shown to exert potent NRF2-inducing activity and have been developed as candidates for NRF2-targeting drugs which have been shown to successfully increase estimated glomerular filtration rate in patients with the nephropathy. Best to get directly from the following foods.