Abstract
Owing to a dramatic increase in average life expectancy and the Family Planning program of the 1970s - 1990s, China is rapidly becoming an aging society. Therefore, the investigation of healthspan-extending drugs becomes more urgent. Astragalus membranaceus (Huangqi) is a major medicinal herb that has been commonly used in many herbal formulations in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat a wide variety of diseases and body disorders, or marketed as life-prolonging extracts for human use in China, for more than 2000 years. The major components of Astragalus membranaceus are polysaccharides, flavonoids, and saponins. Pharmacological research indicates that the extract component of Astragalus membranaceus can increase telomerase activity, and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, anticancer, hypolipidemic, antihyperglycemic, hepatoprotective, expectorant, and diuretic effects. A proprietary extract of the dried root of Astragalus membranaceus, called TA-65, was associated with a significant age-reversal effect in the immune system. Our review focuses on the function and the underlying mechanisms of Astragalus membranaceus in lifespan extension, anti-vascular aging, anti-brain aging, and anti-cancer effects, based on experimental and clinical studies.
Highlights
Owing to a dramatic increase in average life expectancy and the Family Planning program of the 1970s-1990s, China is rapidly becoming an aging society
In order to clarify the potential application of Astragalus membranaceus in anti-aging, we summarize the effect and mechanism of its extracts and effective component monomer against aging and age-related disease
Further research found that in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HCC) rat model induced by diethylinitrosamine (DEN), the aqueous extract of Astragali radix combined with Salvia miltiorrhiza reduced the incidence and multiplicity of HCC development in a dose-dependent manner by inhibiting fibrosis and the transcription of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 [45,46]
Summary
Knowledge about the precise chemistry of Astragalus polysaccharides is quite limited. Since polysaccharides are macromolecules with complicated chemical structures, it is relatively difficult to isolate and characterize their individual components. There are 14 polysaccharides in Astragalus membranaceus, and 13 kinds of them have βD-(1→3)-galactan moieties branched with β-D-(1→6)galactooligosaccharide side-chains[25,26]. 2. Anti-aging and anti-aging-related effects of extracts of Astragalus membranaceus
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