Open Access

REVIEW

A mini-review on pharmacological effects of ginsenoside Rb3, a marked saponin from Panax genus

WEI LI^1,2, YUEYANG DUAN¹, XIAOTONG YAN¹, XIANGXIANG LIU¹, MEILING FAN^3,*, ZI WANG^1,2,*

1 College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
2 National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Ginseng Breeding and Development, Changchun, 130118, China
3 Maternity Diagnosis & Treatment Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130021, China

* Address correspondence to: Meiling Fan, ; Zi Wang,

BIOCELL 2022, 46(6), 1417-1423. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.017609

Received 24 May 2021; Accepted 07 July 2021; Issue published 07 February 2022

Abstract

Ginsenoside Rb3 (G-Rb3) is one of the primary active compounds isolated from Panax ginseng Meyer, which belongs to protopanaxadiol ginsenosides (PPD). Based on the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of ginsenosides, the pentose structure of G-Rb3 limited itself to possess more pharmacological activity to a certain extent. However, pharmacokinetics show that G-Rb3 is processed through deglycosylation in the intestinal tract and converted into more active rare saponins, such as Compound K, F2, etc. A series of studies focused on neuroprotection and the cardiovascular system demonstrating its therapeutic potentials, which was achieved by diminishing oxidative stress and apoptosis. Therefore, more systematic and in-depth studies are needed to complete the pharmaceutical value and to promote its clinical applications. This article highlights the multiple pharmacological effects and mechanisms of G-Rb3 and prospects for its development.

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Keywords

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