Abstract: Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.F.(TWHF), known as Lei gong teng,is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine.Triptolide, a diterpene tri-epoxide,is isolated from TWHF and it has been shown to possess a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities including antitumor, anti-inflammatory and immuno-suppressive and so on. However, the high side effect and poor water-solubility limit its clinical use.Therefore, many scientists do a lot of researches to modify its structure and test its pharmacological activity.This paper mainly reviewed the research progress of the structural modification on the C14 hydroxyl of triptolide and the antitumor activity in recent decades.

Key words: triptolide, C14 hydroxyl, structure modification, antitumor activity