Mechanistic Perspectives of Maslinic Acid in Targeting Inflammation

Figure 2

Biosynthesis of maslinic acid. Epoxidation of squalene (1) produces 2,3-oxidosqualene (2) which undergoes further cyclization into the dammarenyl cation (3). Dammarenyl cation undergoes D-ring expansion and additional cyclization to form products, such as lupeol (4), α-amyrin (5), and β-amyrin (6). Further oxidation steps convert β-amyrin to erythrodiol (7), followed by oleanolic acid (8) and finally maslinic acid (9).