Panax ginseng as an adjuvant treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Longevity in medicine can be defined as a long life without mental or physical deficits. This can be prevented by Alzheimer's disease (AD). Current conventional AD treatments only alleviate the symptoms without reversing AD progression. Recent studies demonstrated that Panax ginseng extract improves AD symptoms in patients with AD, and the two main components of ginseng might contribute to AD amelioration. Ginsenosides show various AD-related neuroprotective effects. Gintonin is a newly identified ginseng constituent that contains lysophosphatidic acids and attenuates AD-related brain neuropathies. Ginsenosides decrease amyloid β-protein (Aβ) formation by inhibiting β- and γ-secretase activity or by activating the nonamyloidogenic pathway, inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity and Aβ-induced neurotoxicity, and decrease Aβ-induced production of reactive oxygen species and neuroinflammatory reactions. Oral administration of ginsenosides increases the expression levels of enzymes involved in acetylcholine synthesis in the brain and alleviates Aβ-induced cholinergic deficits in AD models. Similarly, gintonin inhibits Aβ-induced neurotoxicity and activates the nonamyloidogenic pathway to reduce Aβ formation and to increase acetylcholine and choline acetyltransferase expression in the brain through lysophosphatidic acid receptors. Oral administration of gintonin attenuates brain amyloid plaque deposits, boosting hippocampal cholinergic systems and neurogenesis, thereby ameliorating learning and memory impairments. It also improves cognitive functions in patients with AD. Ginsenosides and gintonin attenuate AD-related neuropathology through multiple routes. This review focuses research demonstrating that ginseng constituents could be a candidate as an adjuvant for AD treatment. However, clinical investigations including efficacy and tolerability analyses may be necessary for the clinical acceptance of ginseng components in combination with conventional AD drugs.

Identification and Analysis of Components in Yizhi Granule and Cynomolgus Monkey Plasma after Oral Administration by UPLC/ESI-Q-TOF MS and Their Protective Effects on PC12 Cells

“…e related effects of these six herbs in YZG have also been reported. Ginsenosides can reduce the formation of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) through inhibiting β-and c-secretase activity or by activating the nonamyloidogenic pathway, inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity and induced neurotoxicity, and reduce the generation of reactive oxygen species and neuroinflammatory response by Aβ [44,45]. Panax notoginseng can regulate the expression of AD-related circRNAs to achieve the therapeutic effect on AD [46].…”

Nature’s Derivative(s) as Alternative Anti-Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments

“…The neuroprotective effect was due to the autophagy-based elimination of A␤ due to the activation of transcription factor EB responsible for lysosome biogenesis [100]. It is useful in the inhibition of formation of A␤, stimulation of soluble A␤PP␣ formation, anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, decreasing oxidation stress, and enhancing CNS cholinergic function to counter impairments and implications associated with AD [101,102]. Its combination with Ginkgo is expected to give better results [103].…”

A Review on the Potential Properties of Ginseng

“…It was established that lonesome administration of ginseng didn't have a major effect on AD progression. Although when combined with other AD drugs it may improve the cognitive functions in AD patients (13). Gintonin which is relatively a new component of ginseng was found to improve memory formation in mice when administered systemically (14).…”