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Review
. 2023 Aug 18;28(16):6118.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28166118.

Pharmacological Effects of Astragaloside IV: A Review

Yutong Liang  1 , Biqiong Chen  2 , Di Liang  1 , Xiaoxiao Quan  1   3 , Ruolan Gu  1 , Zhiyun Meng  1 , Hui Gan  1 , Zhuona Wu  1 , Yunbo Sun  1 , Shuchen Liu  1 , Guifang Dou  1
Affiliations
Review

Pharmacological Effects of Astragaloside IV: A Review

Yutong Liang et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is one of the main active components extracted from the Chinese medicinal herb Astragali and serves as a marker for assessing the herb's quality. AS-IV is a tetracyclic triterpenoid saponin in the form of lanolin ester alcohol and exhibits various biological activities. This review article summarizes the chemical structure of AS-IV, its pharmacological effects, mechanism of action, applications, future prospects, potential weaknesses, and other unexplored biological activities, aiming at an overall analysis. Papers were retrieved from online electronic databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, and CNKI, and data from studies conducted over the last 10 years on the pharmacological effects of AS-IV as well as its impact were collated. This review focuses on the pharmacological action of AS-IV, such as its anti-inflammatory effect, including suppressing inflammatory factors, increasing T and B lymphocyte proliferation, and inhibiting neutrophil adhesion-associated molecules; antioxidative stress, including scavenging reactive oxygen species, cellular scorching, and regulating mitochondrial gene mutations; neuroprotective effects, antifibrotic effects, and antitumor effects.

Keywords: anti-inflammatory; antifibrotic; antioxidative; antitumor; astragaloside IV; neuroprotective; pharmacological action.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The structural formula of AS-IV.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The anti-inflammatory mechanism of AS-IV. Annotation: IL-6: Interleukin 6; IL-10: Interleukin 10; IL-17: Interleukin 17; IL-23: Interleukin 23; Bcl-2 protein: B-cell lymphoma-2; IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; MCP: Monocyte chemotactic protein; TNF-α mRNA; tumor necrosis factor-α; Th17 cells: Helper T-17 cells; TGF-β: Transforming growth factor beta; CXCR2: Chemokine Receptor 2; NF-kB: Nuclear factor-k-gene binding; PGC-1α: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- γ coactivator; Ang-2: Angiopoietin-2.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The antioxidative mechanism of AS-IV. Annotation: Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma-2; Bax: BCL2-Associated X; Caspase-1: cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1; TRPC6: Transient receptor potential cation channel 6; PPAR: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor; DN: Deoyribonucleic acid; IL-18: Interleukin 18; IL-1β: Interleukin 1β; ROS: Reactive oxygen species.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The Anti-fibrotic Mechanism of AS-IV. Annotation: Sirt1: Sirtuin 1; Nrf2: Nuclear factor erythroid2-related factor 2; HO-1: Heme Oxygenase-1; EMT: Epithelial–mesenchymal transition; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; TGF-β1: Transforming growth factor β1; α-SMA: Alpha-smooth muscle actin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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