[Progressive studies of paeoniflorin].

Paeoniflorin is one of the bioactive components of Paeonia lactiflora, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. It is the main monoterpene glucoside isolated from the P. lactiflora in 1963. Since then, researchers have found that paeoniflorin has multifold pharmacological effects. In this review, based on the recent available papers published in PubMed and National Knowledge Infrastructure Data Base, we present the major current approaches in understanding the detection methodology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology, and toxicology of paeoniflorin.