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Glycyrrhizin is the active principle of liquorice root, a powerful sweetener about 50 times as potent as sucrose. It has also been used for numerous medical purposes, particularly treatment of peptic ulcer, and as an expectorant. Glycyrrhizin may increase blood pressure.
Chemically speaking, glycyrrhizin is a triterpene glycoside with the systematic name (3-beta,20-beta)-20-Carboxy-11-oxo-30-norolean-12-en-3-yl 2-O-beta-D-glucopyranuronosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranosiduronic acid.
The triterpene derivative of glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, is by itself effective in treatment of peptic ulcer. A synthetic derivative, carbenoxolone, was developed in Britain. Both glycyrrhetinic acid and carbenoxolone have a modulatory effect on neural signaling through gap junction channels.
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