Chen Feng, Eckman Elizabeth A, Eckman Christopher B
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Birdsall Bldg. Rm. 327, 4500 San Pablo Rd., Jacksonville, Florida 32224, USA.
FASEB J. 2006 Jun;20(8):1269-71. doi: 10.1096/fj.05-5530fje. Epub 2006 Apr 24.
For millennia, ginseng and some of its components have been used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions, including age-related memory impairment. Because of its purported effects and apparently low rate of side effects, ginseng remains one of the top selling natural product remedies in the United States. Given its potential role for improving age-related memory impairments and its common use in China for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease-like symptoms, we analyzed the effects of commercially available preparations of ginseng on the accumulation of the Alzheimer's amyloid beta peptide (Abeta) in a cell-based model system. In this model system, ginseng treatment resulted in a significant reduction in the levels of Abeta in the conditioned medium. We next examined the effects of several compounds isolated from ginseng and found that certain ginsenosides lowered Abeta concentration in a dose-dependent manner with ginsenoside Rg3 having an approximate IC50 of under 25 microM against Abeta42. Furthermore, we found that three of these isolated components, ginsenoside Rg1, Rg3, and RE, resulted in significant reductions in the amount of Abeta detected in the brains of animals after single oral doses of these agents. The results indicate that ginseng itself, or purified ginsenosides, may have similarly useful effects in human disease.
数千年来，人参及其一些成分一直被用于治疗多种病症，包括与年龄相关的记忆障碍。由于其据称的功效以及明显较低的副作用发生率，人参在美国仍然是最畅销的天然产品药物之一。鉴于其在改善与年龄相关的记忆障碍方面的潜在作用以及在中国用于治疗类似阿尔茨海默病症状的普遍应用，我们在基于细胞的模型系统中分析了市售人参制剂对阿尔茨海默病淀粉样β肽（Aβ）积累的影响。在该模型系统中，人参处理导致条件培养基中Aβ水平显著降低。接下来，我们研究了从人参中分离出的几种化合物的作用，发现某些人参皂苷以剂量依赖的方式降低Aβ浓度，人参皂苷Rg3对Aβ42的近似半数抑制浓度（IC50）低于25微摩尔。此外，我们发现这些分离成分中的三种，人参皂苷Rg1、Rg3和Re，在单次口服这些药物后，导致动物大脑中检测到的Aβ量显著减少。结果表明，人参本身或纯化的人参皂苷在人类疾病中可能具有类似的有益作用。
