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. 2010 Jun 11:5:20.
doi: 10.1186/1749-8546-5-20.

Pharmacology of ginsenosides: a literature review

Kar Wah Leung  1 , Alice Sze-Tsai Wong
Affiliations

Pharmacology of ginsenosides: a literature review

Kar Wah Leung et al. Chin Med. .

Abstract

The therapeutic potential of ginseng has been studied extensively, and ginsenosides, the active components of ginseng, are shown to be involved in modulating multiple physiological activities. This article will review the structure, systemic transformation and bioavailability of ginsenosides before illustration on how these molecules exert their functions via interactions with steroidal receptors. The multiple biological actions make ginsenosides as important resources for developing new modalities. Yet, low bioavailability of ginsenoside is one of the major hurdles needs to be overcome to advance its use in clinical settings.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biodegradation of ginsenosides by intestinal microflora. PPDs and PPTs are deglycosylated to end-metabolites protopanaxadiol (PPD) and protopanaxatriol (PPT) respectively. Glc = beta-D-glucopyranosyl; Ara(p) = alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl; Ara(f) = alpha-D-arabinofuranosyl; Rha = alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl [73-76]
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