Ginsenoside Rd: A promising natural neuroprotective agent.

Background: Neurological diseases seriously affect human health, which are arousing wider attention, and it is a great challenge to discover neuroprotective drugs with minimal side-effects and better efficacies. Natural agents derived from herbs or plants have become unparalleled resources for the discovery of novel drug candidates. Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, a well-known herbal medicine in China, occupies a very important position in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) with a long history of clinical application. Ginsenoside Rd is the active compound in P. ginseng known to have broad-spectrum pharmacological effects to reduce neurological damage that can lead to neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, depression, cognitive impairment, and cerebral ischemia.

Purpose: To review and discuss the effects and mechanisms of ginsenoside Rd in the treatment of neurological diseases.

Study Design & Methods: The related information was compiled by the major scientific databases, such as Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Elsevier, ScienceDirect, PubMed, SpringerLink, Web of Science, and GeenMedical. Using 'Ginsenoside Rd', 'Ginsenosides', 'Anti-inflammation', 'Antioxidant', 'Apoptosis' and 'Neuroprotection' as keywords, the correlated literature was extracted and conducted from the databases mentioned above.

Results: Through summarizing the existing research progress, we found that the general effects of ginsenoside Rd are anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptosis, inhibition of Ca influx and protection of mitochondria, and through these pathways, the compound can inhibit excitatory toxicity, regulate nerve growth factor, and promote nerve regeneration.

Conclusion: Ginsenoside Rd is a promising natural neuroprotective agent. This review would contribute to the future development of ginsenoside Rd as a novel clinical candidate drug for treating neurological diseases.