Feasibility of Tetramethylpyrazine in Prevention and Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease Based on Theory of 'Toxin Damaging Brain Collaterals' / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

With intensified aging， Alzheimer's disease has become a serious problem in China's health field. In the field of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， Alzheimer's disease mainly describes cognitive deficits such as dementia and amnesia. After the inheritance and summary by medical experts of successive generations， the theory of "toxin damaging brain collaterals" has become a mature pathogenesis hypothesis of this disease. Blood stasis， as one of the main viral pathogens， is also closely related to the theory of Alzheimer's disease in modern pharmacology. Chuanxiong Rhizoma is used frequently in clinical prescriptions for Alzheimer's disease. As the main component of Chuanxiong Rhizoma， tetramethylpyrazine has a series of pharmacological effects on the cardiovascular system such as vasodilation， anti-platelet aggregation， anti-atherosclerosis， and anti-myocardial ischemia， which reflects the effects of Chuanxiong Rhizoma in activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis. However， few studies have focused on the effect of tetramethylpyrazine on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. From the perspective of TCM theory and modern pharmacology， this article discussed the effects of tetramethylpyrazine on the pathology and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease from the aspects of cardiovascular function， oxidative stress， inflammatory response， mitochondrial function， and cholinergic system and made prospects for the future application of tetramethylpyrazine to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease.