Therapeutic potential of Polygala saponins in neurological diseases.

Li Zhang, Yuan-Yuan Yong, Lan Deng, Jing Wang, Betty Yuen-Kwan Law, Meng-Ling Hu, Jian-Ming Wu, Lu Yu, Vincent Kam-Wai Wong, Chong-Lin Yu, Da-Lian Qin, Xiao-Gang Zhou, An-Guo Wu

Journal: Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology 2022;108():154483

PMID: 36260972

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

BACKGROUND

There are many types of neurological diseases with complex etiologies. At present, most clinical drugs can only relieve symptoms but cannot cure these diseases. Radix Polygalae, a famous traditional Chinese medicine from the root of plants of the genus Polygala, has the traditional effect of treating insomnia, forgetfulness, and palpitation and improving intelligence and other symptoms of neurological diseases. Saponins are important bioactive components of plants of the genus Polygala and exhibit neuroprotective effects.

PURPOSE

This review aimed to summarize the traditional use of Polygala species and discuss the latest phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological findings, mainly with regard to Polygala saponins in the treatment of neurological disorders.

METHODS

Literature was searched and collected using databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, CNKI, and Google Scholar. The search terms used included "Polygala", "saponins", "neurological diseases", "Alzheimer's disease", "toxicity", etc., and combinations of these keywords. A total of 1202 papers were retrieved until August 2022, and we included 135 of these papers on traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and other fields.

RESULTS

This literature review mainly reports on the traditional use of the Polygala genus and prescriptions containing Radix Polygalae in neurological diseases. Phytochemical studies have shown that plants of the genus Polygala mainly include saponins, flavonoids, oligosaccharide esters, alkaloids, coumarins, lignans, flavonoids, etc. Among them, saponins are the majority. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Polygala saponins have neuroprotective effects on a variety of neurological diseases. Its mechanism of action involves autophagic degradation of misfolded proteins, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, antioxidative stress and so on. Toxicological studies have shown that Polygala saponins trigger gastrointestinal toxicity, and honey processing and glycosyl disruption of Polygala saponins can effectively ameliorate its gastrointestinal side effect.

CONCLUSION

Polygala saponins are the major bioactive components in plants of the genus Polygala that exhibit therapeutic potential in various neurological diseases. This review provides directions for the future study of Polygala saponins and references for the clinical use of prescriptions containing Radix Polygalae for the treatment of neurological diseases.

Address: Sichuan Key Medical Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation, Materia Medica, Luzhou Key Laboratory of Activity Screening and Druggability Evaluation for Chinese Materia Medica, School of Pharmacy, Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, School of Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, PR. China.; State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau SAR 99078, PR. China.; Sichuan Key Medical Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation, Materia Medica, Luzhou Key Laboratory of Activity Screening and Druggability Evaluation for Chinese Materia Medica, School of Pharmacy, Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, School of Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, PR. China. Electronic address: [email protected].; Sichuan Key Medical Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation, Materia Medica, Luzhou Key Laboratory of Activity Screening and Druggability Evaluation for Chinese Materia Medica, School of Pharmacy, Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, School of Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, PR. China. Electronic address: [email protected].; Sichuan Key Medical Laboratory of New Drug Discovery and Druggability Evaluation, Materia Medica, Luzhou Key Laboratory of Activity Screening and Druggability Evaluation for Chinese Materia Medica, School of Pharmacy, Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, School of Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, PR. China. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154483

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Polygala, Saponins, Neuroprotective Agents, Phytochemicals, Nervous System Diseases, Flavonoids, Ethnopharmacology