ABSTRACT
Danshen-Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae，is one of the common traditional Chinese medicines，which has been used clinically in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases more than 20 centuries.The active ingredients of Danshen has been researched 5 decades by the modern methods.Many researchers investigated the pharmacological effects of water soluble ingredients of Danshen-salvianolic acids in vivo and in vitro.The results demonstrated that salvianolic acids have different pharmacological effects such as potent antioxidative effects，scavenging free radicals，protect neural cells against injuries caused by anoxia， etc.In present paper，the pharmacological effects of salvianolic acids and the mechanisms of their actions are reviewed based on the research results obtained in our laboratory and other authors.