柴胡皂苷是柴胡中具有生物活性的一類五環(huán)三萜類齊墩果烷型衍生物，但因其口服時胃腸道的吸收能力差，生物利用度極低。主要通過對柴胡皂苷類化合物代謝途徑及其相關(guān)代謝產(chǎn)物進行綜述，探討柴胡皂苷類化合物生物利用度低的原因，并提出柴胡皂苷類化合物發(fā)揮藥理活性的物質(zhì)基礎(chǔ)可能與其胃腸道轉(zhuǎn)化和催化氧化過程產(chǎn)生的皂苷元結(jié)構(gòu)有關(guān)。因此對柴胡皂苷類化合物代謝途徑的相關(guān)研究，尤其是胃腸道菌群對其的代謝作用研究，能夠為臨床應(yīng)用提供更為關(guān)鍵的基礎(chǔ)性數(shù)據(jù)，也具有更為重要的研究價值。

Saikosaponin is a kind of pentacyclic triterpenes oleanolic derivatives with biological activity in Bupleurum chinense. However, saikosaponin has very low bioavailability because of its poor absorption ability and unstable structure when taken orally. The metabolic pathways in vivo and their the metabolic pathways and related metabolites of saikosaponin are reviewed to make clear the reason of low bioavailability. And it was inferred that the material basis of the pharmacological activity of saikosaponin might be related to the structure of saponins generated through gastrointestinal transformation and catalytic oxidation. Therefore, relevant studies on the metabolic pathways of saponin, especially the study on the metabolic effects of gastrointestinal flora, can provide more critical basic data for clinical application and have more important research value.