OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effects of vitamin B(12), ginseng saponin, and folic acid on mouse embryos subjected to high heat.

METHODSMice were used for the experiment.

RESULTSAfter exposure of pregnant mice to high heat, the rates of teratism, stillbirth, and fetal absorption were markedly lower in mice treated with ginseng saponin and folic acid following heat exposure than in untreated mice. There were no significant differences in these rates when comparing mice treated with vitamin B(12) with the untreated mice.

CONCLUSIONSGinseng saponin and folic acid can lessen injuries to murine embryos caused by high heat, while vitamin B(12) has little protective effect against high temperature except for promoting overall embryonic growth.

Animals ; Congenital Abnormalities ; prevention & control ; Fetal Diseases ; Fever ; complications ; Folic Acid ; therapeutic use ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Mice ; Panax ; Saponins ; therapeutic use ; Vitamin B 12 ; therapeutic use

Animals ; Dexamethasone ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Hepatic Artery ; pathology ; Ischemia ; therapy ; Liver Diseases ; therapy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pills (QSYQ) is a compound of Chinese medicine, which has been used to treat coronary heart disease and cardiac dysfunction. Its natural components include astragaloside IV, flavonoids, danshensu, protocatechualdehyde, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, ginsenosides Rg1, ginsenosides Rb1, and essential oils, etc. It exerts effects of nourishing qi and promoting blood circulation to relieve pain. In this review, the bioactive components of QSYQ and its effects for treating cardiovascular diseases and possible mechanism were summarized, providing references for further study and clinical application of QSYQ.
Humans ; Ginsenosides/therapeutic use* ; Cardiovascular Diseases/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Coronary Disease/drug therapy*

Shenling Baizhu San is a classic prescription for replenishing Qi to invigorate the spleen and dispelling dampness to check diarrhea, which mainly treats the syndrome of spleen deficiency and heavy dampness. With the pharmacological effects of regulating immune system, improving lung function and gastrointestinal function, and resisting oxygen, tumor, and inflammation, Shenling Baizhu San is commonly used in modern clinical practice to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, bronchial asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, chronic diarrhea, and diabetic, etc. This paper summarized the chemical constituents, pharmacological effects, and clinical application of Shenling Baizhu San in recent years, and predictively analyzed the quality markers of Shenling Baizhu San according to the "five principles" of Q-marker. The Q-markers of Shenling Baizhu San involved ginsenoside Rg_1, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb_1, pachymic acid, dehydrotumulosic acid, batatasin Ⅰ, batatasin Ⅲ, diosgenin, liensinine, neferine, luteolin, quercetin, glycerol trioleate, β-sitosterol, platycodin D, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, liquiritin, pipecolinic acid, atractylenolide Ⅰ, atractylenolide Ⅲ, and bornyl acetate, which provided references for the quality control and follow-up research of Shenling Baizhu San.
Humans ; Ginsenosides/therapeutic use* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy* ; Diarrhea/drug therapy*

In order to advance the treatment of Alzheimer's disease with active ingredients of Chinese herbal medicines and the research on these ingredients and their effective targets in treating the disease, the relative representative literatures published in recent years were reviewed and summarized in this paper.
Alkaloids ; Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; methods ; trends ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; Sesquiterpenes ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of angiogenesis inhibitor Rg3 on the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer in SCID mice.

METHODSMetastatic model simulating human gastric cancer was established by orthotopic implantation of histologically intact human tumor tissue into the gastric wall of SCID mice. Rg3 was administered by gastric perfusion at doses of 0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 mg/kg every day for 6 weeks 1 week after tumor implantation. One week after last administration, the mice were killed and their tumor weight was measured and the presence of metastasis recorded. Intratumoral microvessel density was examined by immunohistochemical staining with anti-CD31 monoclonal antibody.

RESULTSCompared to the untreated controls, the growth of the orthotopically implanted tumor was significantly reduced in weight in mice treated with Rg3 with an inhibition rate of 52.3%, 63.3% and 71.6% at doses of 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 mg/kg, respectively. Tumor metastasis to the liver and peritoneum was also significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. Decreased intratumoral microvessel density was noted in the treated mice.

CONCLUSIONAngiogenesis inhibitor Rg3 has strong inhibitory effect on tumor growth and metastasis of human gastric cancer in SCID mice.

Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, SCID ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Stomach Neoplasms ; blood supply ; drug therapy ; pathology

Ginseng is one of traditional Chinese medicines widely used worldwide according to the theory that "food and medicine share the same origin". Its main active ingredients are believed to be ginsenoside. In the past decades, studies on their chemical structure and pharmacological activity have made significant progress. So far, however, there is not a specific describtion on ginseng preparation and in vivo conversion process as well as an explanation on why rare ginsenoside can enhance anticancer activity. Therefore, this essay first describes the diversity of ginsenoside contained in ginseng, including natural ginsenoside, special ginsenoside generated from preparation and bioconversion processes. Subsequently, it summarizes the preparation and in vitro conversion processes, and discusses the potential structure-activity relationship between rare ginsenoside and its pharmacological activity. The study on the correlation between these chemical changes and their pharmacological activity help bring forth new ideas to the enhancement of anticancer activity of ginsenoside, and facilitate the development of new anticancer drugs.
Ginsenosides ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Models, Chemical ; Molecular Structure ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Panax ; chemistry ; Phytotherapy ; Structure-Activity Relationship

Ginsenoside Rg_3, an active component of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), was used as the substitute for cholesterol as the membrane material to prepare the ginsenoside Rg_3-based liposomes loaded with dihydroartemisinin and paclitaxel. The effect of the prepared drug-loading liposomes on triple-negative breast cancer in vitro was evaluated. Liposomes were prepared with the thin film hydration method, and the preparation process was optimized by single factor experiments. The physicochemical properties(e.g., particle size, Zeta potential, and stability) of the liposomes were characterized. The release behaviors of drugs in different media(pH 5.0 and pH 7.4) were evaluated. The antitumor activities of the liposomes were determined by CCK-8 on MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells. The cell scratch test was carried out to evaluate the effect of the liposomes on the migration of MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells. Further, the targeting ability of liposomes and the mechanism of lysosome escape were investigated. Finally, H9c2 cells were used to evaluate the potential cardiotoxicity of the preparation. The liposomes prepared were spheroid, with uniform particle size distribution, the ave-rage particle size of(107.81±0.01) nm, and the Zeta potential of(2.78±0.66) mV. The encapsulation efficiency of dihydroartemisinin and paclitaxel was 57.76%±1.38% and 99.66%±0.07%, respectively, and the total drug loading was 4.46%±0.71%. The accumulated release of dihydroartemisinin and paclitaxel from the liposomes at pH 5.0 was better than that at pH 7.4, and the liposomes could be stored at low temperature for seven days with good stability. Twenty-four hours after administration, the inhibition rates of the ginsenoside Rg_3-based liposomes loaded with dihydroartemisinin(70 μmol·L~(-1)) and paclitaxel on MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells were higher than those of the positive control(adriamycin) and free drugs(P<0.01). Compared with free drugs, liposomes inhibited the migration of MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells(P<0.05). Liposomes demonstrated active targeting and lysosome escape. In particular, liposomes showed lower toxicity to H9c2 cells than free drugs(P<0.05), which indicated that the preparation had the potential to reduce cardiotoxicity. The findings prove that ginsenoside Rg_3 characterized by the combination of drug and excipient is an ideal substitute for lipids in liposomes and promoted the development of innovative TCM drugs for treating cancer.
Humans ; Paclitaxel/pharmacology* ; Liposomes/chemistry* ; Ginsenosides/therapeutic use* ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Cardiotoxicity/drug therapy* ; Cell Line, Tumor

OBJECTIVETo study the anti-arrhythmic efficacy of ginsenoside Re (GSRe) and its protective effects against myocardial injuries in rabbits with isoproterenol-induced triggered ventricular arrhythmia (TVA).

METHODSTVA model was prepared by intravenous injections of isoproterenol at a constant speed of 5 mg/kg/min. When TVA appeared, rabbits were randomly injected with GSRe (5, 10 or 20 mg/kg), verapamil (0.4 mg/kg) or placebo. The duration of maintaining sinus rhythm was observed. Meanwhile, isoproterenol was continued to be injected at a constant speed of 5 mg/kg/min. After 1 hr of isoproterenol injection, the rabbits were sacrificed. Cardiac muscles in the cuspidate position of the left ventricle were sampled for optical microscopy and electron microscopy.

RESULTSGSRe and verapamil treatment restored sinus rhythm. The duration of sinus rhythm was 177.00+/- 5.66 s within 3 minutes in the verapamil treatment group and was 177.83+/- 5.31, 21.00+/- 2.83 and 4.50+/- 1.64 s, respectively, in the 20, 10 and 5 mg/kg GSRe treatment groups. Histopathologic examination demonstrated that GSRe treatment (20 and 10 mg/kg) alleviated myocardial injuries induced by TVA.

CONCLUSIONSGSRe has anti-arrhythmic efficacies and protective effects against myocardial injuries in rabbits with TVA. It may therefore be a possible therapy for TVA.

Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; chemically induced ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Heart Ventricles ; drug effects ; Isoproterenol ; pharmacology ; Male ; Myocardium ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Rabbits ; Verapamil ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic efficacy of combined therapy with ginsenosides (GS) and prednisone on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

METHODSSixty patients with SLE were assigned to 2 groups randomly by a randomizing digital table, the treated group and the control group, 30 cases in each group. All patients were treated with routine administration of prednisone, but to the treated group GS Capsule (50 mg) was given additionally twice every day, while to the control group placebo capsule of equal dosage was given instead. The total clinical efficacy, and changes of systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), complement 3 (C3) and anti-ds-DNA were observed after 3-month-treatment.

RESULTSThe total clinical efficacy rate was 89.28% in the treated group and 66.67% in the control group, showing a significant difference between them (P<0.05). The improvements of SLEDAI, ESR and C3 in the treated group were more significant than those in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe combined therapy of GS and prednisone could enhance the clinical efficacy, reduce the SLEDAI and promote the recovery of laboratory indices in SLE patients.

Adult ; Double-Blind Method ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Ginsenosides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use