ABSTRACT
Puerarin is one of the most important effective components of Pueraria lobata which exhibited classic estrogen-like biological activities and had remarkable cardiovascular protections in vivo and in vitro experiments. These protections of puerarin are mainly exhibited on improving the myocardial cells membrane potential and arrhythmia based on effecting the Na+, K+ , and Ca2+ channels,resisting myocardial fibrosis damage, diastolic effect on blood vessels, promoting angiogenesis, resisting calcification and atherosclerosis, improving blood flow, antiplatelet aggregation, reducing lipid and resisting diabetes. The main mechanisms are to improve the membrane potential and reduce cardiovascular damage caused by inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis, and the main regulated signal pathways are the PI3K/Akt, the NF-kappa B and the caspases.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Cardiovascular Diseases , Genetics , Metabolism , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Pharmacology , Isoflavones , Pharmacology , Oxidative Stress , Protective Agents , Pharmacology , Pueraria , Chemistry , Signal TransductionABSTRACT
Contemporary pharmacological research has demonstrated that puerarin, the most important phytoestrogen extracted from Pueraria lobata(Willd.) Ohwi, has protecting functions on the cardiovascular system, nervous system, osteoporosis, liver injury, and inflammation in vivo and in vitro. Most of these research studies focused on inhibiting oxidative stress and apoptosis through regulating various bioactivators and signal pathways. Among these, superoxide dismutase (SOD), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and PI3K/Akt, MAPK, and NF-κB are of great importance. The data cited in this review were mainly obtained from articles listed in PubMed and Elsevier SDOL published from 1959 to 2013, and the search term used was "puerarin".