Rare ginsenosides: A unique perspective of ginseng research

Wenxiang Fan; Linhong Fan; Ziying Wang; Yuqi Mei; Longchan Liu; Linnan Li; Li Yang; Zhengtao Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jare.2024.01.003

Rare ginsenosides: A unique perspective of ginseng research

J Adv Res. 2024 Jan 7:S2090-1232(24)00003-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2024.01.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Wenxiang Fan¹, Linhong Fan¹, Ziying Wang¹, Yuqi Mei¹, Longchan Liu¹, Linnan Li¹, Li Yang², Zhengtao Wang³

Affiliations

¹ The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, and SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
² The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, and SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China. Electronic address: yl7@shutcm.edu.cn.
³ The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, and SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China. Electronic address: ztwang@shutcm.edu.cn.

PMID: 38195040
DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2024.01.003

Abstract

Background: Rare ginsenosides (Rg3, Rh2, C-K, etc.) refer to a group of dammarane triterpenoids that exist in low natural abundance, mostly produced by deglycosylation or side chain modification via physicochemical processing or metabolic transformation in gut, and last but not least, exhibited potent biological activity comparing to the primary ginsenosides, which lead to a high concern in both the research and development of ginseng and ginsenoside-related nutraceutical and natural products. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review on these promising compounds is not available yet.

Aim of review: In this review, recent advances of Rare ginsenosides (RGs) were summarized dealing with the structurally diverse characteristics, traditional usage, drug discovery situation, clinical application, pharmacological effects and the underlying mechanisms, structure-activity relationship, toxicity, the stereochemistry properties, and production strategies.

Key scientific concepts of review: A total of 144 RGs with diverse skeletons and bioactivities were isolated from Panax species. RGs acted as natural ligands on some specific receptors, such as bile acid receptors, steroid hormone receptors, and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptors. The RGs showed promising bioactivities including immunoregulatory and adaptogen-like effect, anti-aging effect, anti-tumor effect, as well as their effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular system, central nervous system, obesity and diabetes, and interaction with gut microbiota. Clinical trials indicated the potential of RGs, while high quality data remains inadequate, and no obvious side effects was found. The stereochemistry properties induced by deglycosylation at C (20) were also addressed including pharmacodynamics behaviors, together with the state-of-art analytical strategies for the identification of saponin stereoisomers. Finally, the batch preparation of targeted RGs by designated strategies including heating or acid/ alkaline-assisted processes, and enzymatic biotransformation and biosynthesis were discussed. Hopefully, the present review can provide more clues for the extensive understanding and future in-depth research and development of RGs, originated from the worldwide well recognized ginseng plants.

Keywords: Bioactivity; Biotransformation; Panax; Production strategy; Rare ginsenosides; Stereospecific property.

Publication types

Review