In search of antioxidants and anti-atherosclerotic agents from herbal medicines

Many recent studies have suggested that low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Herbal regimens in the treatment of blood stasis, a counterpart of atherosclerosis, commonly use medicinal plants of legumin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BioFactors (Oxford) 2008, Vol.34 (2), p.147-157
Main Authors: Shiao, Ming-Shi, Chiu, Jing-Jing, Jen, Wei-Ping, Chang, Bao-Wen, Wang, Jane, Wu, Ye-Jer, Chen, Yuh-Lien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
antioxidants
Antioxidants - chemistry
Antioxidants - therapeutic use
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis - drug therapy
Atherosclerosis - metabolism
Fusidic Acid - analogs & derivatives
Fusidic Acid - therapeutic use
Herbal Medicine
Humans
labiatae
leguminosae
Lipoproteins, LDL - metabolism
low-density lipoprotein
Plant Extracts - chemistry
Plant Extracts - therapeutic use
Receptors, Scavenger - antagonists & inhibitors
Salvia miltiorrhiza
Salvia miltiorrhiza - chemistry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Many recent studies have suggested that low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Herbal regimens in the treatment of blood stasis, a counterpart of atherosclerosis, commonly use medicinal plants of leguminosae and labiatae. We have developed disease‐oriented screening methods to search for bioactive components, particularly isoflavones in leguminosae and polyphenols in labiatae from Chinese herbal medicines. Many bioactive components and active fractions capable of inhibiting a. Cu(II)‐induced LDL oxidation, b. oxidized LDL‐induced endothelial damage, c. uptake of oxidized LDL by macrophages (J774A.1), and d. expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) have been identified. A polyphenol, namely salvianolic acid B from Salvia miltiorrhiza was identified to be a potent antioxidant, endothelial‐protecting agent, and an inhibitor to suppress the expression of ICAM and VCAM. This review also briefly describes the strategy for developing herbal medicines as anti‐atherosclerotic agents.
ISSN:0951-6433
1872-8081
DOI:10.1002/biof.5520340206