Protective effects of ginseng on neurological disorders

Abstract

Ginseng (Order: Apiales, Family: Araliaceae, Genus: Panax) has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for over 2000 years, and is recorded to have antianxiety, antidepressant and cognition enhancing properties. The protective effects of ginseng on neurological disorders are discussed in this review. Ginseng species and ginsenosides, and their intestinal metabolism and bioavailability are briefly introduced. This is followed by molecular mechanisms of effects of ginseng on the brain, including glutamatergic transmission, monoamine transmission, estrogen signaling, nitric oxide (NO) production, the Keap1/Nrf2 adaptive cellular stress pathway, neuronal survival, apoptosis, neural stem cells and neuroregeneration, microglia, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and cerebral microvessels. The molecular mechanisms of the neuroprotective effects of ginseng in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) including β-amyloid (Aβ) formation, tau hyperphosphorylation and oxidative stress, major depression, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis are presented. It is hoped that this discussion will stimulate more studies on the use of ginseng in neurological disorders.

Ginsenoside Rg1 Protects against Oxidative Stress-induced Neuronal Apoptosis through Myosin IIA-actin Related Cytoskeletal Reorganization

“…Ginseng, the root of Panax ginseng, is one of the well-known traditional Chinese medicine which has been used as both tonic and haemostatic medicine for thousands of years 25. Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1, structure shown in Figure 1A), one of major active components of Ginseng, has been widely reported to possess neurotrophic and neuroprotective activities against injuries and cytotoxicity through various mechanisms, including cell proliferation, oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation 26-29.…”

Protective Effects of Loofah Leaf-extract on Nerve Cell Injury

“…The pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is senile plaque (SP) (Ong et al, 2015), whose core is β-amyloid (Aβ). In normal physiological conditions, Aβ has the function of nutritional factor, but high concentration of long chain Aβ tends to be neurotoxic (Bagheri et al, 2011;Zhu et al, 2009).…”

Mechanisms of Panax ginseng action as an antidepressant

“…Panax notoginseng is only grown in parts of China, including Jilin, Guangxi and Yunnan. 18 In addition, according to the different processing methods, ginseng can also be divided into white ginseng, sugar ginseng and red ginseng ( Table 1). Ginseng has attracted the attention of many researchers all over the world because of its wide range of pharmacological effects and medical application efficacy.…”