Ginseng is one of the most widely used herbal medicines and is reported to have a wide range of therapeutic and pharmacological applications. Ginsenosides, the major pharmacologically active ingredients of ginseng, appear to be responsible for most of the activities of ginseng including vasorelaxation, antioxidation, anti-inflammation and anti-cancer. Approximately 40 ginsenoside compounds have been identified. Researchers are now focused on using purified individual ginsenoside to reveal the specific mechanism of functions of ginseng instead of using whole ginseng root extracts. Each ginsenoside may have different effects in pharmacology and mechanisms due to their different chemical structures. Among them the most commonly studied ginsenosides are Rb1, Rg1, Rg3, Re, Rd and Rh1. The molecular mechanisms and medical applications of ginsenosides have attracted much attention and hundreds of papers have been published in the last few years. The general purpose of this update is to provide current information on recently described effects of ginsenosides on antioxidation, vascular system, signal transduction pathways and interaction with receptors. Their therapeutic applications in animal models and humans as well as the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of ginsenosides are also discussed in this review. This review concludes with some thoughts for future directions in the further development of ginseng compounds as effective therapeutic agents.
Ginseng is believed to be the most traditional medical herb contains many active constituent ginsenosides. It has extensive pharmacological effects and specific mechanisms of action in Chinese herb medicine. Ginsenosides can inhibit ROS production, stimulate NO production, increase immune function, enhance central nervous system function, and prevent cardiovascular or other diseases. Animal studies indicate that ginsenosides have different activities in both physiological and pathologic conditions. How these effects relate to the ginsenoside structures are not yet fully elucidated. Future research involving each ginsenoside should include the mechanisms of action, specificity, structure and function relationship, detailed pharmacokinetics and toxicity studies, and therapeutic studies in both animal models and human trials.
This paper attempts to discuss about the ginsenoside identified so far to provide an idea of how this very important part of ginseng give it its panacea effects. While technical, it is worth a read if you are curious.
For details, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2928028/.
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