A New Therapeutic Trend: Natural Medicine for Ameliorating Ischemic Stroke via PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

Abstract

Ischemic stroke (IS) is an acute cerebrovascular disease caused by sudden arterial occlusion, which is characterized by a high morbidity, mortality, and disability rate. It is one of the most important causes of nervous system morbidity and mortality in the world. In recent years, the search for new medicine for the treatment of IS has become an attractive research focus. Due to the extremely limited time window of traditional medicine treatment, some side effects may occur, and accompanied by the occurrence of adverse reactions, the frequency of exploration with natural medicine is significantly increased. Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/Protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway is a classical pathway for cell metabolism, growth, apoptosis, and other physiological activities. There is considerable research on medicine that treats various diseases through this pathway. This review focuses on how natural medicines (including herbs and insects) regulate important pathophysiological processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and the role it plays in improving IS. We found that many kinds of herbal medicine and insect medicine can alleviate the damage caused by IS through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Moreover, the prescription after their combination can also achieve certain results. Therefore, this review provides a new candidate category for medicine development in the treatment of IS.

The role of JAK/STAT signaling pathway in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury and the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine: A narrative review

“…One of its important active ingredients for blood activation and anti-inflammation is Angelica polysaccharide. [119] Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., an herb known as Chuan Xiong in Chinese, whose main functions are to move qi and disperse blood, dispel "wind," and relieve pain. Ligustrazine, one of its main components, also has anti-cerebral ischemic effect.…”

“…One of its important active ingredients for blood activation and anti-inflammation is Angelica polysaccharide. [119]…”

Dexpanthenol exhibits antiapoptotic and anti‐inflammatory effects against nicotine‐induced liver damage by modulating Bax/Bcl‐xL, Caspase‐3/9, and Akt/NF‐κB pathways

“…[14] Nicotine-induced Akt activation stimulates the NF-κB pathway, increasing apoptosisrelated proteins and inflammatory responses. [13,15,16] Aberrant expression of these proteins plays a pivotal role in nicotine-induced cell growth, contributing to various diseases. [17] Several natural phenolic and antioxidant compounds have been studied for their potential to reduce liver toxicity and promote regeneration.…”

“…[ 14 ] Nicotine‐induced Akt activation stimulates the NF‐κB pathway, increasing apoptosis‐related proteins and inflammatory responses. [ 13,15,16 ] Aberrant expression of these proteins plays a pivotal role in nicotine‐induced cell growth, contributing to various diseases. [ 17 ]…”

Elabela, a Novel Peptide, Exerts Neuroprotective Effects Against Ischemic Stroke Through the APJ/miR-124-3p/CTDSP1/AKT Pathway

“…Decreased expression of Akt is associated with neurodegeneration, and the activation of Akt is neuroprotective (Zhao et al 2016 ). Importantly, accumulating data have shown that AKT can be activated by phosphorylation at S473 by a large variety of molecules, and activated AKT can relay signals to regulate downstream neuron apoptosis and axon growth (Liu et al 2022 ). Our previous discoveries also showed that ELA could promote anti-apoptosis processes in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) under hypoxic/ischemic conditions by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathways in an APJ-dependent manner (Fu et al 2020 ).…”