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Review
. 2025 Jul 18:16:1636341.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1636341. eCollection 2025.

Astragaloside IV: a potential nemesis for gastric cancer

Chao Hu #  1 , Qiong Li #  2 , Song-Nan Gong  3 , Xiao-Jie Zou  4 , Jia-Yue Xu  5 , Hai-Feng Ying  5 , Lan Zheng  5
Affiliations
Review

Astragaloside IV: a potential nemesis for gastric cancer

Chao Hu et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC), a life-threatening malignancy with profound global health impacts, remains a cardinal focus of biomedical research. Recently, astragaloside IV (AS-IV), a bioactive triterpenoid saponin derived from Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, has garnered substantial attention for its multifaceted anticancer properties in preclinical investigations. This review systematically synthesizes current evidence on the molecular mechanisms underlying AS-IV's inhibitory effects against GC, encompassing programmed cell death pathways (apoptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis, ferroptosis), tumor angiogenesis, tumor microenvironment modulation, Helicobacter pylori and inflammatory signaling networks. Many studies demonstrate that AS-IV can inhibit the development of GC through multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms, making it a well-deserved nemesis of GC. Notably, although AS-IV has emerged as a potential candidate for GC therapy, it suffers from problems such as single research model, unclear toxic and side effects, and poor bioavailability. These seriously hinder the efficiency of AS-IV in the treatment of GC. In the future, we can design and implement a series of in vivo and in vitro experiments to further explore and clarify the mechanism of action of AS-IV in the treatment of GC. It is encouraged to carry out a number of high-quality clinical controlled studies to further prove the effectiveness and safety of AS-IV. In addition, we can also use emerging technologies (such as nanotechnology) to improve the bioavailability of AS-IV, bringing more hope to GC patients.

Keywords: apoptosis; astragaloside IV; gastric cancer; mechanisms; review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Molecular structure diagram of AS-IV,From National Center for Biotechnology Information (2025). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 13943297, Astragaloside IV. Retrieved 27 May 2025 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Astragaloside-IV.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
AS-IV induces apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through the mitochondrial pathway.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Mechanisms of Astragaloside IV in the treatment of GC.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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