A natural steroid glycoside with diverse effects; inhibits LPS-stimulated increases in VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression; reverses LPS-stimulated decreases in the expression of IκBα in HUVECs in a dose-dependent manner; reduces UVB-induced cytotoxicity and apoptotic nuclear fragmentation in HaCaT cells; lowers total cholesterol and triacylglycerol in 3T3-L1 adipocytes cultured under high fatty acid conditions to levels comparable to lovastatin ,