Abstract
Aging is a progressive disease affecting around 900 million people worldwide, and in recent years, the mechanism of aging and aging-related diseases has been well studied. Treatments for aging-related diseases have also made progress. For the long-term treatment of aging-related diseases, herbal medicine is particularly suitable for drug discovery. In this review, we discuss cellular and molecular mechanisms of aging and aging-related diseases, including oxidative stress, inflammatory response, autophagy and exosome interactions, mitochondrial injury, and telomerase damage, and summarize commonly used herbals and compounds concerned with the development of aging-related diseases, including Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, Panax notoginseng, Radix astragali, Lycium barbarum, Rhodiola rosea, Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong, resveratrol, curcumin, and flavonoids. We also summarize key randomized controlled trials of herbal medicine for aging-related diseases during the past ten years. Adverse reactions of herbs were also described. It is expected to provide new insights for slowing aging and treating aging-related diseases with herbal medicine.
Highlights
Aging, which can be divided into pathological and physiological aging, is a complex biological process characterized by functional decline of tissues and organs, structural degeneration, and reduced adaptability and resistance, all of which contribute to an increase in morbidity and mortality caused by multiple chronic diseases [1, 2]
According to a study by Zhan et al [60], vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) pretreated with the Adenosine Monophosphate Protein Kinase (AMPK) activator and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor could delay the replicative senescence of these cells
Another study showed that miR-34c-5p downregulation promoted VSM aging through a mechanism that might be mediated by the Bcl-2 modifying factor (BMF), which is a functional target of miR-34c-5p
Summary
Aging, which can be divided into pathological and physiological aging, is a complex biological process characterized by functional decline of tissues and organs, structural degeneration, and reduced adaptability and resistance, all of which contribute to an increase in morbidity and mortality caused by multiple chronic diseases [1, 2]. According to the UNESA population division, approximately 900 million people are 60 years or older worldwide, and this will increase to 21.5% of the global population by 2050 [3] (see Figure 1) As aging progresses, it increases one’s susceptibility to diseases associated with this process, such as vascular aging disorders [4,5,6], diabetes [7], muscle dysfunction [8, 9], macular degeneration [10], Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [11, 12], skin diseases [13], and a series of other diseases [14,15,16,17,18] (see Figure 2). High levels of ROS can directly damage DNA, proteins, and lipids in cells, causing a DNA damage response [25] and activation of p38MAPK for p16 upregulation This leads to cell senescence and development of aging-related diseases [26]. The adverse effects of herbs get our attention in this review
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