Does Adjuvant Treatment With Ginkgo Biloba to Statins Have Additional Benefits in Patients With Dyslipidemia?

L-carnitine and Ginkgo biloba Supplementation In Vivo Ameliorates HCD-Induced Steatohepatitis and Dyslipidemia by Regulating Hepatic Metabolism

Treatment strategies for steatohepatitis are of special interest given the high prevalence of obesity and fatty liver disease worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the potential therapeutic mechanism of L-carnitine (LC) and Ginkgo biloba leaf extract (GB) supplementation in ameliorating the adverse effects of hyperlipidemia and hepatosteatosis induced by a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) in an animal model. The study involved 50 rats divided into five groups, including a control group, a group receiving only an HCD, and three groups receiving an HCD along with either LC (300 mg LC/kg bw), GB (100 mg GB/kg bw), or both. After eight weeks, various parameters related to lipid and glucose metabolism, antioxidant capacity, histopathology, immune reactivity, and liver ultrastructure were measured. LC + GB supplementation reduced serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, alanine transaminase, and aspartate transaminase levels and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared with those in the HCD group. Additionally, treatment with both supplements improved antioxidant ability and reduced lipid peroxidation. The histological examination confirmed that the combination therapy reduced liver steatosis and fibrosis while also improving the appearance of cell organelles in the ultrastructural hepatocytes. Finally, the immunohistochemical analysis indicated that cotreatment with LC + GB upregulated the immune expression of GLP-1 and β-Cat in liver sections that were similar to those of the control animals. Mono-treatment with LC or GB alone substantially but not completely protected the liver tissue, while the combined use of LC and GB may be more effective in treating liver damage caused by high cholesterol than either supplement alone by regulating hepatic oxidative stress and the protein expression of GLP-1 and β-Cat.

Effect of Brewing Conditions on Antioxidant Properties of Ginkgo biloba Leaves Infusion

Due to the growing awareness of the importance of healthy eating in society, there is an increasing interest in the use of herbs and low-processed, natural products. Ginkgo biloba is a raw material with a high pro-health potential, which is related to the high content of antioxidant compounds. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the antioxidant activity of Ginkgo biloba leaf infusions and the weighted amount of leaves and brewing time. In addition, a sensory analysis of the infusions obtained was carried out. The innovation is to determine the migration of micro- and macroelements to the infusion prepared from Ginkgo biloba depending on the leaves' weight used and the brewing time. The research showed the dependence of the antioxidant activity of the infusions and the migration of microelements on the size of the dried material and the brewing time. In the publication, the main factors influencing the quality of infusions were analysed, their mutual correlations were determined, and combinations showing the highest antioxidant activity and, at the same time, the highest sensory acceptability were selected.

The Potential of Ginkgo biloba as a Source of Biologically Active Compounds-A Review of the Recent Literature and Patents

Ginkgo biloba is a relict tree species showing high resistance to adverse biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Its fruits and leaves have high medicinal value due to the presence of flavonoids, terpene trilactones and phenolic compounds. However, ginkgo seeds contain toxic and allergenic alkylphenols. The publication revises the latest research results (mainly from 2018-2022) regarding the chemical composition of extracts obtained from this plant and provides information on the use of extracts or their selected ingredients in medicine and food production. A very important section of the publication is the part in which the results of the review of patents concerning the use of Ginkgo biloba and its selected ingredients in food production are presented. Despite the constantly growing number of studies on its toxicity and interactions with synthetic drugs, its health-promoting properties are the reason for the interest of scientists and motivation to create new food products.

Effect of Ginkgo biloba extract on pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of atorvastatin in rats with hyperlipidaemia

Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) is a common dietary supplement used by people with dyslipidaemia worldwide to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Many studies have found that GBE itself has a variety of pharmacological activities. However, the role of GBE as an adjunct to conventional therapy with chemical drugs remains controversial. Therefore, this study explored the additional benefits of GBE in the treatment of hyperlipidaemia with statins in terms of both pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. A hyperlipidaemia model was established by feeding rats a high-fat diet for a long time. The animals were treated with atorvastatin only, GBE only, or a combination of atorvastatin and GBE. The results showed that statins combined with GBE could significantly improve the blood lipid parameters, reduce the liver fat content, and reduce the size of adipocytes in abdominal fat. The effect was superior to statin therapy alone. In addition, the combination has shown additional liver protection against possible pathological liver injury or statin-induced liver injury. A lipidomic study showed that GBE could regulate the abnormal lipid metabolism of the liver in hyperlipemia. When statins are combined with GBE, this callback effect introduced by GBE on endogenous metabolism has important implications for resistance to disease progression and statin resistance. Finally, in the presence of GBE, there was a significant increase in plasma statin exposure. These results all confirmed that GBE has incremental benefits as a dietary supplement of statin therapy for dyslipidaemia.

Ginkgo biloba: A Treasure of Functional Phytochemicals with Multimedicinal Applications

Ginkgo biloba is an ancient plant species that is thought to provide a variety of health benefits to living organisms and contains plenty of bioactive components, making it a chemically diversified plant. G. biloba has been shown to have a variety of medicinal and pharmacological properties, including anticancer, antidementia, antidiabetic, antiobesity, antilipidemic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antilipid peroxidation, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antidepressant, antiaging, immunomodulatory, antihypertensive, and neuroprotective effects and is frequently used to treat neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases, such as tardive dyskinesia. Therefore, this review described the therapeutic applications of G. biloba. In addition to describing the therapeutic potential, this review also evaluates the chemical constituents, toxicity, adverse effect, synergistic effect, and the clinical studies of this plant which have been utilized for therapeutic benefits but have demonstrated other consequences. The capacity of G. biloba components to act as free radical scavengers is critical, and combining its extract with other plant extracts has been shown to synergistically boost antioxidant properties. G. biloba used long-term or at high doses that resulted in some adverse effects. Severe drug interactions have also been reported in both animals and humans when combined with other medications. The available data established from both preclinical and clinical studies confirm the potential of G. biloba plant extract in various diseases. Besides, the safety and efficacy of G. biloba continue to require verification through additional experimentation to guide medicinal use.

New Insight into the Mechanisms of Ginkgo Biloba Extract in Vascular Aging Prevention

BACKGROUND

Aging-associated vascular dysfunction promotes cardiovascular diseases. Recently, Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) has attracted considerable attention in the prevention of aged vasculature.

METHODS

This review discusses the pathophysiological alterations in aged vasculature and the underlying mechanisms of GBE in vascular aging suppression.

RESULTS

Both arterial stiffening and endothelial dysfunction are critical aging-related vascular phenotypes that result in the progression of cardiovascular diseases in the general population. Consistent oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction lead to vascular dysfunction. GBE ameliorates aging-related vascular dysfunction, due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The main effects of GBE in aged vasculature might be associated with the longevity signaling pathways. GBE also attenuates the progression of vascular aging in diabetes mellitus via regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism.

CONCLUSION

GBE plays an important role in the prevention of vascular aging process. It is a promising therapeutic approach to ameliorate aging-related vascular dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases.

Alleviation of Simvastatin-Induced Myopathy in Rats by the Standardized Extract of Ginkgo Biloba (EGb761): Insights into the Mechanisms of Action

Statins are the most widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Statin-induced myopathy is the major side effect of this class of drugs. Here, we studied whether standardized leaf extracts of ginkgo biloba (EGb761) would improve simvastatin (SIM)-induced muscle changes. Sixty Wistar rats were allotted into six groups: control group, vehicle group receiving 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for 30 days, SIM group receiving 80 mg/kg/day SIM in 0.5% CMC orally for 30 days, SIM withdrawal group treated with SIM for 16 days and sacrificed 14 days later, and EGb761-100 and EGb761-200 groups posttreated with either 100 or 200 mg/kg/day EGb761 orally. Muscle performance on the rotarod, serum creatine kinase (CK), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), serum and muscle nitrite, muscle malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities were estimated. Additionally, muscle samples were processed for histopathological evaluation. We found that SIM decreased muscle performance on the rotarod, serum CoQ10, as well as muscle SOD and CAT activities while it increased serum CK, serum and muscle nitrite, as well as muscle MDA levels. SIM also induced sarcoplasmic vacuolation, splitting of myofibers, disorganization of sarcomeres, and disintegration of myofilaments. In contrast, posttreatment with EGb761 increased muscle performance, serum CoQ10, as well as muscle SOD and CAT activities while it reduced serum CK as well as serum and muscle nitrite levels in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, EGb761 reversed SIM-induced histopathological changes with better results obtained by its higher dose. Interestingly, SIM withdrawal increased muscle performance on the rotarod, reduce serum CK and CoQ10, and reduced serum and muscle nitrite while it reversed SIM-induced histopathological changes. However, SIM withdrawal was not effective enough to restore their normal values. Additionally, SIM withdrawal did not improve SIM-induce muscle MDA, SOD, or CAT activities during the period studied. Our results suggest that EGb761 posttreatment reversed SIM-induces muscle changes possibly through its antioxidant effects, elevation of CoQ10 levels, and antagonizing mitochondrial damage.

Morphogenesis and vitality of seedlings of Ginkgo biloba in outdoor conditions

Ginkgo biloba L. is a relic tree that is preserved in natural conditions only in China. In the North-East Ukraine ginkgo is only in the process of introduction, but in certain places ginkgo trees are grown for decorative purposes which show high vitality. Therefore a relevant and promising task is the creation of industrial plantations of ginkgo for collection of its leaves. The objective of the study was morphological peculiarities of ginkgo plants and their vital condition depending on the calendar age of the seedlings at the stage when they were transplanted into the soil. For growing ginkgo, in our studies, a combined two-stage system was approbated, accor­ding to which seedlings were grown in greenhouses during 2–3 years, and then moved into soil outdoors. In our study, as planting material we used seedlings of ginkgo from a plant nursery (greenhouse) of Sumy National Agrarian University planted in 2014 and 2015. Seedlings were planted in the soil in early spring. Seedlings for growth completion were planted in rows with inter-row distance of 0.8 m and distance between the plants measuring 2.5–3.0 m. We studied the condition of the seedlings in two variants: variant 1 – three-year old seedlings obtained in the greenhouse were transplanted in spring 2018; variant 2 – two-year old seedlings obtained in greenhouse were transplanted in spring 2017. Comparative morphometric analysis and evaluation of vitality of these plants was performed in August 2019. Both groups of seedlings were five years old at the time of survey. For evaluation of morphometric structure of the ginkgo seedlings and their vital condition we used randomized selections of specimens in amount of up to 30 from plantations of variants 1 and 2. Analysis of the plants was conducted during the end of the vegetative period of 2019, when active growth of the plants stopped. Four main parameters of the plants were recorded: height, value of annual increment, diameter of the stem near the root neck and the number of leaves. Vital condition of the seedlings was evaluated on the basis of algorithm of vital analysis. Vitality of each seedling was evaluated by the coefficient of Q vitality, value of which was in interval from 0 to 1.0. Depending on the value of Q the seedlings were divided into five classes of vitality: 0–0.2 – cc (specimens of the lowest vitality), 0.2–0.4 – c (low vita­lity), 0.4–0.6 – b (average vitality), 0.6–0.8 – a (high vitality), 0.8–1.0 – aa (specimens with highest vitality). Comparative analysis of morphological peculiarities of the ginkgo seedlings revealed that two-year plants transplanted outdoors from the greenhouse had higher annual increment of the main stem, diameter of stem and number of leaves. Vital condition of such seedlings was the highest and was evaluated using Q index, which ranges between vitality of classes b to aa. This allows recommending a two-stage scheme of growing seedlings of ginkgo in North-East Ukraine. The optimum age for transplanting seedlings from greenhouses to open soil is two years.