牡丹皮俗称牡丹根皮，是指牡丹(Paeonia x suffruticosa Andrews)的干燥根皮，被广泛用作传统草药在中国、日本和韩国。它已经被用于治疗女性生殖、淤血、心血管和瘀血等疾病已有数千年的历史。本综述的目的是总结MC传统用途、植物化学、药理学和药代动力学的信息，同时概述新药开发和传统用途与药理学效应之间的关联的进一步研究方向。研究所涉及的信息来源于各种电子资源，包括PubMed、Web of Science、ScienceDirect、SciFinder、中国知识资源综合数据库和Google Scholar等。数据范围是1992年至2022年。 已从MC中提取和鉴定了约163种化合物，包括单萜、单萜苷、三萜、酚类、类黄酮、挥发油、生物碱等。其中单萜苷和酚类是最常见的。MC粗提取物和活性分子有很多药理作用，如抗氧化、抗炎、抗菌和抗病毒、抗肿瘤、降糖、保护器官和神经保护作用，以及治疗心血管疾病。药代动力学也被用于研究MC及其粗提取物或化学成分，以探索治疗机制的直接临床应用，并为创新药物的开发提供新想法。 现代药理学研究表明，MC作为一个重要的治疗资源，具有治愈多种疾病的能力，特别是女性生殖和心血管问题。这些研究提出了新药开发的治疗思路。此外，临床和预临床研究已经验证了与MC传统用途相关的多种药理特性。版权所有©2023 Elsevier B.V.出版。

Moutan Cortex (MC), commonly known as "Mu dan pi", refers to the dried root bark of Paeonia x suffruticosa Andrews and is broadly used as a traditional herbal medication in China, Japan, and Korea. For thousands of years, it has been utilized to treat female genital, extravasated blood, cardiovascular, and stagnant blood disorders.The purpose of this review article was to summarize information on the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of MC, as well as to outline the further research directions for the development of new drugs and the associations between traditional uses and pharmacological effects.The information involved in the study was gathered from a variety of electronic resources, including PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, SciFinder, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, and Google Scholar. The date was from 1992 to 2022.Approximately 163 chemical compounds have been extracted and identified from MC, including monoterpenes, monoterpene glycosides, triterpenes, phenolics, flavonoids, volatile oils, alkaloids, and others. In these categories, the monoterpene glycosides and phenols being the most common. A wide variety of pharmacological effects have been described for MC crude extracts and active molecules, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral, antitumor, antidiabetic, organ protection, and neuroprotective activities, as well as treating cardiovascular diseases. Pharmacokinetics has been also used in the study of MC, including its crude extracts or chemical constituents, in order to explore the therapeutic mechanism, direct clinically appropriate application and provide new ideas for the exploitation of innovative medicines.Modern pharmacological research has demonstrated that MC, as a significant therapeutic resource, has the ability to heal a wide range of diseases, particularly female genital and cardiovascular problems. These researches propose therapeutic ideas for the development of novel MC medicines. Furthermore, preclinical and clinical study have verified several observed pharmacological properties related with the traditional usages of MC.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.