Panax ginseng and aging related disorders: A systematic review

The aging process predisposes numerous homeostatic disorders, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Changes in diet and lifestyle and therapeutic adjuvants are essential to minimize the effects of comorbidities associated with aging. Natural products such as Panax ginseng have been used to treat and prevent diseases related to aging. This review aims to investigate the effects of Panax ginseng in various conditions associated with aging, such as inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. The ginsenosides, chemical constituents found in Panax ginseng, can inhibit the effects of inflammatory cytokines, inhibit signaling pathways that induce inflammation, and inhibit cells that participate in inflammatory processes. Besides, ginsenosides are involved in neuroprotective effects on the central nervous system due to anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects. The use of ginseng extract showed actions on lipid homeostasis, positively regulating high-density lipoprotein, down-regulating low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels, and producing beneficial effects on vascular endothelial function. The use of this plant in cancer resulted in improved quality of life and mood. It decreased symptoms of fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and dyspnea, reducing anxiety. Panax ginseng has been shown to exert potent therapeutic benefits that can act as a complementary treatment in managing patients with chronic diseases related to aging.

Dysregulation of Circadian Rhythms in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background:

The alterations in neurological and neuroendocrine functions observed in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves environmentally dependent dysregulation of neurodevelopment, in interaction with multiple coding gene defects. Disturbed sleep-wake patterns, as well as abnormal melatonin and glucocorticoid secretion, show the relevance of an underlying impairment of the circadian timing system to the behavioral phenotype of ASD. Thus, understanding the mechanisms involved in the circadian dysregulation in ASD could help to identify early biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and therapeutics as well as providing a significant impact on the lifelong prognosis.

Objective:

In this review, we discuss the organization of the circadian timing system and explore the connection between neuroanatomic, molecular, and neuroendocrine responses of ASD and its clinical manifestations. Here we propose interconnections between circadian dysregulation, inflammatory baseline and behavioral changes in ASD. Taking into account, the high relevancy of melatonin in orchestrating both circadian timing and the maintenance of physiological immune quiescence, we raise the hypothesis that melatonin or analogs should be considered as a pharmacological approach to suppress inflammation and circadian misalignment in ASD patients.

Strategy:

This review provides a comprehensive update on the state-of-art of studies related to inflammatory states and ASD with a special focus on the relationship with melatonin and clock genes. The hypothesis raised above was analyzed according to the published data.

Conclusion:

Current evidence supports the existence of associations between ASD to circadian dysregulation, behavior problems, increased inflammatory levels of cytokines, sleep disorders, as well as reduced circadian neuroendocrine responses. Indeed, major effects may be related to a low melatonin rhythm. We propose that maintaining the proper rhythm of the circadian timing system may be helpful to improve the health and to cope with several behavioral changes observed in ASD subjects.

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus and Subordinate Brain Oscillators: Clock Gene Desynchronization by Neuroinflammation

OBJECTIVE

The clock genes Period (per) 1 and 2 are essential components in the generation and adjustment of biological circadian rhythms by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Both genes are also rhythmically present in extrahypothalamic areas such as the hippocampus and cerebellum, considered subordinate oscillators. Several pathological conditions alter rhythmic biological phenomena, but the mechanisms behind these changes involving the clock genes are not well defined. The current study investigated changes in PER1 and PER2 immunoreactivity in the SCN, hippocampus, and cerebellum in a neuroinflammation model.

METHODS

Wistar rats received lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or vehicle intracerebroventricularly. The melatonin plasmatic content was quantified by ELISA to confirm the alterations in biological rhythms, and PER1 and PER2 immunoreactivities were analyzed in brain sections by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

In the SCN, intracerebroventricular LPS changed PER1 expression, increasing the number of PER1-immunoreactive (IR) cells at zeitgeber time (ZT) 15, decreasing it at ZT5 and ZT20 and not changing it at ZT10. LPS also induced a decrease in PER2-IR cells at ZT5, ZT10, and ZT15 but not at ZT20 in the SCN. In the hippocampus, LPS induced a decrease in PER1-IR and PER2-IR cells at both ZTs (ZT10 and ZT15). In the cerebellum, LPS increased the number of PER1-IR cells at ZT10 and decreased it at ZT15, while the number of PER2-IR cells was reduced at both ZTs.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that a neuroinflammatory condition leads to desynchronization of primary and subordinate brain oscillators, supporting the existence of the integration between the immune and the circadian system.