Diosgenin (DG), a well-known steroidal sapogenin, is present abundantly in medicinal herbs such as Dioscorea rhizome, Dioscorea villosa, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Smilax China, and Rhizoma polgonati. DG is utilized as a major starting material for the production of steroidal drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. Due to its wide range of pharmacological activities and medicinal properties, it has been used in the treatment of cancers, hyperlipidemia, inflammation, and infections. Numerous studies have reported that DG is useful in the prevention and treatment of neurological diseases. Its therapeutic mechanisms are based on the mediation of different signaling pathways, and targeting these pathways might lead to the development of effective therapeutic agents for neurological diseases. The present review mainly summarizes recent progress using DG and its derivatives as therapeutic agents for multiple neurological disorders along with their various mechanisms in the central nervous system. In particular, those related to therapeutic efficacy for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury, neuroinflammation, and ischemia are discussed. This review article also critically evaluates existing limitations associated with the solubility and bioavailability of DG and discusses imperatives for translational clinical research. It briefly recapitulates recent advances in structural modification and novel formulations to increase the therapeutic efficacy and brain levels of DG. In the present review, databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were used for studies of DG and its derivatives in the treatment of central nervous system diseases published in English until December 10, 2019. Three independent researchers examined articles for eligibility. A total of 150 articles were screened from the above scientific literature databases. Finally, a total of 46 articles were extracted and included in this review. Keywords related to glioma, ischemia, memory, aging, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer, Parkinson, and neurodegenerative disorders were searched in the databases based on DG and its derivatives.

These results indicate that CLIC1 could regulate prostate cancer cell proliferation and migration by regulating the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ERK pathway and offers a candidate molecular target for prostate cancer prevention and therapy.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of pluronic P123 (P123) and pluronic F127 (F127) on intestinal P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and cytochrome P450 3A using the specific substrates rhodamine-123 (R-123) and midazolam, respectively. Caco-2 cells and everted gut sacs were used as models of intestinal mucosa to assess intestinal absorption of R-123, while rat intestinal microsomes were utilized to examine the effect of P123 and F127 on in vitro midazolam metabolism. P123 and F127 were observed to increase the intracellular accumulation of R-123 in Caco-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. P123 significantly lowered the efflux ratio of R-123 at two concentrations in Caco-2 monolayers, whereas F127 lowered the efflux ratio only at 1%. Moreover, both pluronics markedly enhanced mucosal to serosal absorption of R-123 in excised ileum of rats. However, no significant difference in relative enzyme activity were observed between P123- or F127-treated and control groups, regardless of the concentrations of P123 and F127 studied. Collectively, these results obtained from the present study demonstrated that P123 and F127 were capable of inhibiting the intestinal P-gp activity, but had little or no effect on intestinal cytochrome P450 3A activity, indicating that P123 and F127 can potentially be used as pharmaceutical ingredients to improve the oral bioavailability of coadministered P-gp substrates via P-gp efflux pump inhibition.

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The therapeutic potential of curcumin (Cur) is hampered by its poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability. The aim of this study was to determine whether Cur nanoemulsions enhance the efficacy of Cur against prostate cancer cells and increase the oral absorption of Cur. Cur nanoemulsions were developed using the self-microemulsifying method and characterized by their morphology, droplet size and zeta potential. The results showed that the cytotoxicity and cell uptake were considerably increased with Cur nanoemulsions compared to free Cur. Cur nanoemulsions exhibited a significantly prolonged biological activity and demonstrated better therapeutic efficacy than free Cur, as assessed by apoptosis and cell cycle studies. In situ single-pass perfusion studies demonstrated higher effective permeability coefficient and absorption rate constant for Cur nanoemulsions than for free Cur. Our study suggested that Cur nanoemulsions can be used as an effective drug delivery system to enhance the anticancer effect and oral bioavailability of Cur.