Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Drugs. 2011 Oct 22;71(15):1989-2008. doi: 10.2165/11594300-000000000-00000.
Although employed in Asian societies for thousands of years, the use of ginseng as an herbal medication for a variety of disorders has increased tremendously worldwide in recent years. Ginseng belongs to the genus Panax, of which there exists a variety, generally reflecting their geographic origin. North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) are two such varieties possessing a plethora of pharmacological properties, which are attributed primarily to the presence of different ginsenosides that bestow these ginsengs with distinct pharmacodynamic profiles. The many cardiovascular benefits attributed to ginseng include cardioprotection, antihypertensive effects, and attenuation of myocardial hypertrophy and heart failure. Experimental studies have revealed a number of beneficial properties of ginseng, particularly in the area of cardiac protection, where ginseng and ginsenosides have been shown to protect the ischaemic and reperfused heart in a variety of experimental models. Emerging evidence also suggests that ginseng attenuates myocardial hypertrophy, thus blunting the remodelling and heart failure processes. However, clinical evidence of efficacy is not convincing, likely owing primarily to the paucity of well designed, randomized, controlled clinical trials. Adding to the complexity in understanding the cardiovascular effects of ginseng is the fact that each of the different ginseng varieties possesses distinct cardiovascular properties, as a result of their respective ginsenoside composition, rendering it difficult to assign a general, common cardiovascular effect to ginseng. Additional challenges include the identification of mechanisms (likely multifaceted) that account for the effects of ginseng and determining which ginsenoside(s) mediate these cardiovascular properties. These concerns notwithstanding, the potential cardiovascular benefit of ginseng is worthy of further studies in view of its possible development as a cardiovascular therapeutic agent, particularly as adjunctive therapy to existing medications.
虽然人参作为一种草药用于治疗各种疾病在亚洲社会已经有几千年的历史了，但近年来，它在世界范围内的使用量却急剧增加。人参属于人参属，有许多种，通常反映了它们的地理起源。西洋参（Panax quinquefolius）和亚洲人参（Panax ginseng）是两种具有多种药理特性的品种，这主要归因于存在不同的人参皂苷，这些皂苷赋予这些人参独特的药效特征。人参具有许多心血管益处，包括心脏保护、降压作用以及减弱心肌肥大和心力衰竭。实验研究揭示了人参的许多有益特性，特别是在心脏保护方面，人参和人参皂苷已被证明在多种实验模型中保护缺血和再灌注心脏。新出现的证据还表明，人参减弱心肌肥大，从而减轻重构和心力衰竭过程。然而，临床疗效证据并不令人信服，这主要是由于缺乏精心设计的、随机的、对照的临床试验。增加理解人参心血管作用复杂性的因素是，由于各自的人参皂苷组成，不同的人参品种具有不同的心血管特性，因此很难将一般的、共同的心血管作用归因于人参。其他挑战包括确定人参作用的机制（可能是多方面的）以及确定哪种人参皂苷介导这些心血管特性。尽管存在这些担忧，但鉴于人参作为心血管治疗剂的潜在益处，特别是作为现有药物的辅助治疗，进一步研究其心血管益处是值得的。
