There are four species from the genus Hosta in China

and they have been used as traditional folk medicines by Han

Mongolian

Thai

Naxi and many other nationalities for a long history. With the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials

and relieving cough and sore throat

they were collected in Great Dictionary of Chinese Medicine

Chinese Materia Medica

Zhongguo Minzuyao Zhiyao

Chinese Materia Medica-Mongolian Medicine

Inner Mongolia Medicinal Standard and other books. The commercially available Mongolian medicines with flowers of Hosta plantaginea(Lam.) Aschers as the main medicinal material include Yuzan Qingyan Shiwuwei Wan

Yuzan Qingyan Shiwuwei San

and Qingyan Liuwei San

mainly used for swollen and sore throats

asthma

hoarseness

and sternocostal tingling. Comprehensive analysis of the literature from CNKI

Wanfang

Web of Science

SciFinder

Pubmed and other databases showed that steroidal compounds were the major and representative constituents in the plant of Hosta

displaying anti-inflammatory

anti-tumor

and antimicrobial activities. However

the medicinal effectiveness and action mechanisms for the above pharmacological actions are still unknown. The studies showed that steroidal saponins isolated from Chinese herbal medicine had anti-inflammatory effect relying on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis

similar to the glucocorticoids. Therefore

study on the steroids from the genus Hosta and their anti-inflammatory activities is very import for elucidating the medicinal effectiveness and mechanism of anti-inflammatory effect of genus Hosta. However

there are few studies on the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of genus Hosta in China. This review aims to provide reference for the quality control

clinical application and reasonable development of Hosta plants by sorting

analyzing and summarizing the researches both at home and abroad on steroids constituents from genus Hosta and their biological activities.