Studies of Natural Products on Treating Neurological Disorders in China

Abstract

China is well known for its long history of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has endured for thousands of years. The use of TCM requires complex recipes and formulae derived from historical and anecdotal evidence of Chinese medicinal practitioners. Although western drugs were brought into China over a hundred years ago, TCM is still widely used in China based on its unique theory and reliable clinical effects. Under the present conditions of economic globalization, a new wave of modernization of TCM is occurring along with a trend of exploring TCM as a source for the discovery of new therapeutic chemicals and drugs. Hence, a large number of active compounds have been isolated from Chinese herbal extracts and proved to possess prominent clinical effects in the treatment of various diseases including neurological disorders (Howes and Houghton 2003; Chen et al. 2007; Yan et al. 2007). Through persistent attempts and practices, and based on the accumulated experience in disease prevention, several herbal extracts have been found with remarkable effectiveness in the therapy of dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Howes and Houghton 2003). Among them, huperzine A (HupA), a novel lycopodium alkaloid isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Huperzia serrata (Qian Ceng Ta), has been found to improve cognitive deficits in a broad range of animal models and patients with AD and vascular dementia. This agent is currently in phase IV Clinical trial in China for AD therapy, and in clinical trials for the treatment of age-related memory deficiency in the United States. In addition, HupA could also improve the memory and cognitive deficits caused by other pathogenies, such as schizophrenia, brain trauma, and iodine deficiency. HupA is not only a reversible, potent, and selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, but also possesses multi-target neuroprotective effects