Regulatory Effect and Mechanism of Araliaceae Traditional Chinese Medicine on Cholesterol / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Araliaceae plant Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma and Panacix Quinquefolii Radix are famous Chinese herbal medicines, with anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effect, as well as obvious effect on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. Studies have found that the metabolism and transport of cholesterol may affect the function of the cardiovascular system. Cholesterol can be divided into high-density cholesterol and low-density cholesterol. Cholesterol has many physiological regulating effect. High-density cholesterol has a protective effect on cardiovascular disease. When the cholesterol metabolism in the body is disordered, low-density cholesterol is increased, and will cause the increase in the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. By consulting relevant Chinese and foreign documents and materials, we found that traditional Chinese medicine Araliaceae has a significant regulatory effect on cholesterol. It can directly regulate the cholesterol level of experimental hyperlipidemia rats, reduce total cholesterol(TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) in rats, and partially increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) level in rats. It can inhibit cholesterol synthesis by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis-regulating genes liver X receptor-α(LXR-α), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ(PPARγ), cytochrome P450 7A1(CYP7A1); and up-regulate cholesterol metabolism genes peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α(PPARα), PPARγ, CYP8B1, CYP7A1, LXR) and body ATP-binding cassette transporter, ABC transporter(ABCA1, ABCG5/8)to promote cholesterol metabolism in the body. Araliaceae plants may play a neuroprotective role by regulating cholesterol metabolism and transport in the brain, and improve neurodegenerative diseases. Studies on the effect of Araliaceae plants on the metabolism and transport of cholesterol in brain will become a hot research topic in the future. The above review is expected to provide a reference for further research on the lipid-lowering effect and mechanism of Araliaceae plants.