Active absorption of ginsenoside Rg1 in vitro and in vivo: the role of sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter 1

Ginsenoside Rg1: A bioactive therapeutic agent for diverse liver diseases

Diverse liver diseases are characterised by late diagnosis and rapid progression and have become one of the major threats to human health. To delay the transition from benign tissue lesions to a substantial organ injury, scientists have gradually applied natural compounds derived from plants as a complementary therapy in the field of hepatology. Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) is a tonic traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and natural products, including ginsenoside Rg1 (G-Rg1), which is a kind of 20(S)-protopanaxatriol saponin with a relatively high biological activity, can be isolated from the roots or stems of ginseng. Given these information, this review aimed to summarise and discuss the metabolic mechanisms of G-Rg1 in the regulation of diverse liver diseases and the measures to improve its bioavailability. As a kind of monomer in Chinese medicine with multitarget pharmacological effects, G-Rg1 can provide significant therapeutic benefits in the alleviation of alcoholic liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, viral hepatitis, etc., which mainly rely on the inhibition of apoptosis, strengthening endogenous anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms, activation of immune responses and regulation of efflux transport signals, to improve pathological changes in the liver caused by lipid deposition, inflammation, oxidative stress, accumulation of hepatotoxic product, etc. However, the poor bioavailability of G-Rg1 must be overcome to improve its clinical application value. In summary, focusing on the hepatoprotective benefits of G-Rg1 will provide new insights into the development of natural Chinese medicine resources and their pharmaceutical products to target the treatment of liver diseases.

Preliminary evaluation of the interactions of Panax ginseng and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge with 5-fluorouracil on pharmacokinetics in rats and pharmacodynamics in human cells

An increasing number of cancer patients are using herbs in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic treatment. It is therefore important to study the potential consequences of the interactions between herbs and anticancer drugs. The effects of extracts from Panax ginseng (PGS) and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SMB) on the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were performed in vivo and detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), while, an ATP assay was used to study the pharmacodynamic interactions in vitro. The results of the pharmacokinetic experiments showed a significant increase in the elimination half-life (t1/2(k e )) of 5-FU in the PGS-pretreated group and in the area under the curve (AUC) in the SMB-pretreated group compared with the control group. However, after SMB pretreatment, weight loss was observed in rats. The results of pharmacodynamic experiments showed that neither PGS nor SMB, when used alone, directly inhibited cancer cell growth at 0.1-100 μg/ml. Moreover, PGS had a synergistic cytotoxic effect with 5-FU on human gastric cancer cells but not on normal gastric cells. The results imply that when combined with 5-FU, PGS may be a better candidate for further study. This study might provide insights for the selection of herbal-chemotherapy agent interactions.