New Progress in Mechanism of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma in Treatment of Diabetes and Its Complications / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Diabetes is a worldwide public health problem that seriously threats human health. Long-term metabolic disorders， as the main cause of multi-system complications and death in the later stage of diabetes， can cause multi-system damage， leading to chronic progressive lesions in the eyes， kidneys， nerves， heart， blood vessels and other tissues and organs， as well as functional decline and failure. The low risk of side effects and new treatment strategies remain an area to be explored in clinical treatment of diabetes. Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma （SM） is one of the commonly used herbs in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， with the main effect of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis. In recent years， it has been found that SM shows good performance in lowering blood sugar and treating diabetes complications. Data mining information has also shown that the drugs of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis are now common drugs in clinical treatment of diabetes， and SM has the highest use frequency， with significant curative effect. In addition， TCM is a kind of treatment with composite components and multiple targets， and so people are increasingly interested in its effective components and carry out extensive researches. This article summarized the experimental verification of SM extract and its components （tanshinone A， tanshinone B， tanshinone ⅡA， tanshinone I， protocatechuic aldehyde， polysaccharide， and total polyphenol acid） in various diabetes models in improving glucolipid metabolism， improving heart function in patients with diabetes， alleviating the motor and sensory deficits caused by diabetes， preventing the occurence of the diabetic retinopathy， recovery of liver and kidney structure and function damage in diabetic patients， and helping to resist high sugar-induced atrophic cavitation potential. It may inhibit hyperglycemia-induced vascular injury with polyol pathway activation， reduce the formation of advanced glycation end products， inhibit protein kinase C pathway activation and hexosamine pathway activation， and alleviate oxidative stress caused by excessive production of peroxides in mitochondrial electron transport chain during hyperglycemia to play a role of treatment， and provide reference for clinical application.