Phytomedicine: Therapeutic potential of Yuanzhi saponins in neurological diseases

Background: Many types of neurological disorders have complex causes, and most current clinical medications can only relieve symptoms, but not cure them
.
Yuanzhi is a well-known Chinese medicine extracted from the roots of the Yuanzhi genus plant and has traditional effects
in treating insomnia, forgetfulness, palpitations, and improving symptoms of intelligence and other neurological diseases.
Saponins are important bioactive components of Yuanzhi plants and have neuroprotective effects
.

Objective: This review aimed to summarize the traditional uses of Yuanzhi plants and discuss the latest phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological research results, mainly related to the application
of Yuanzhi saponins in the treatment of neurological diseases.

Methods: Databases were used to search and collect literature, including PubMed, Science Direct, CNKI, and Google Scholar
.
Search terms used include "Polygala," "saponins," "neurological disorders," "Alzheimer's disease," "toxicity," and combinations of
these.
As of August 2022, a total of 1202 papers had been searched, of which 135 were on traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and other fields
.

Results: This literature mainly reported the traditional usage of Yuanzhi plants in neurological diseases and prescriptions containing Yuanzhi
.
Phytochemical studies have shown that plants of the genus Yuanzhi mainly contain saponins, flavonoids, oligosaccharides, alkaloids, coumarins, lignans, flavonoids, etc
.
Modern pharmacological studies have shown that saponins have neuroprotective effects
on a variety of neurological diseases.
Its mechanism of action involves autophagic degradation of misfolded proteins, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis, antioxidant stress, etc
.
Toxicological studies have shown that Yuanzhi saponin can trigger gastrointestinal toxicity, and honey processing and glycosyl destruction of Yuanzhi saponin can effectively improve its gastrointestinal side effects
.

Conclusion: Yuanzhi saponin is the main bioactive component in Yuanzhi plants, which has therapeutic potential
in various neurological diseases.
This review provides a direction for the future research of Yuanzhi saponins, and provides a reference
for the clinical application of prescriptions containing Yuanzhi for the treatment of neurological diseases.

Literature source:

Zhang L, Yong YY, Deng L, et al.
Therapeutic potential of Polygala saponins in neurological diseases [published online ahead of print, 2022 Sep 29].
Phytomedicine.
2022; 108:154483.
doi:10.
1016/j.
phymed.
2022.
154483