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Advanced Neurologyurology
Advanced Ne Role of Panax ginseng in neuronal complications

a means of effective and potential therapy for various resulted in a paradigm shift from one drug and one target to
medical disorders . In many diseases such as neuronal multiple drugs and multiple targets, with their interaction
[1]
damage, chemotherapy is not always an effective treatment; increasing multi-fold . Network pharmacology is an
[20]
therefore, complementary and alternative medicine has approach that focuses on the biological interactions and
become an attractive therapeutic option and is gradually their genes counterparts, which effectively play an active role
gaining traction since this form of medicine commonly in exerting the therapeutic effect of a herb once it interacts
involves the use of herbs for their therapeutic applications . with the target proteins in the host, which is Homo sapiens.
[2]
Among the herbs used, Panax ginseng is a traditional This approach is, therefore, very potent in deciphering the
medicinal plant that has been used therapeutically for mechanistic mode of action of several individual herbs or a
[21]
millennia in East Asian countries such as China, Japan, and concoction of herbs that belong to TCM Pharmacopoeia .
Korea. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), ginseng is In this study, the mode of action of P. ginseng against
considered a potent herb. Interestingly, “Panax” means “all- neuronal damage was elucidated using a network
healing”, which hails ginseng to be a potent herb in healing pharmacology approach. At present, limited data are
all medical aspects of the human body. Among different available for the therapeutic potential of P. ginseng against
types of ginseng found all over the world, P. ginseng has neuronal damage, which further affirms that no study
received much attention and has been the research target has previously reported on the mechanism of action of
of most of the studies surrounding this species . Ginseng the herb against neuronal damage. Furthermore, the
[3]
has been reported to exert many beneficial effects on the molecular docking analysis helps determine the potential
central nervous system as well as endocrine, cardiovascular, action of its active compounds that interact with possible
and immune systems [4,5] , and has a wide range of potential protein targets in human in the treatment of neuronal
therapeutic advantages against various disorders, such damage. This study presents a suitable premise to ascertain
as cancer and ischemic stroke . Furthermore, ginseng the potential ability of the herb for its other potentially
[7]
[6]
has been reported to reduce the side effects caused by therapeutic abilities. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate
chemotherapy and radiotherapy, therefore, improving the said mechanism of action, with specific attention given
overall quality of life and good mental health of patients to the multi-target interaction of P. ginseng. Therefore, a
with neuronal damage . network pharmacology approach was employed in this
[7]
Neuronal damage is one of the most precarious medical study along with the analyses of biological pathways and
conditions affecting the elderly worldwide. The phenotypic drug interactions to determine the pharmacological action
features of neuronal damage at the macroscopic level in most of P. ginseng in treating neuronal damage.
cases include headache and seizures, but the pathogenesis 2. Materials and methods
differs at both histological and genetic levels, with various
predisposing risk factors coming into play . The induction 2.1. Methodology
[8]
of neuronal damage is facilitated by various events in the The potential of P. ginseng in treating neuronal damage was
cell, along with the generation of reactive oxygen species ascertained using the STITCH database , which was the
[22]
(ROS), depletion of antioxidative species, and induction first step of the systematic analysis. In the next step, the
of inflammatory phases and cyclooxygenase activity . It is bioactive compounds were elucidated from an extensive
[9]
well-established that the development of neuronal damage literature search, along with their associated protein targets
is prompted by the action of different biological pathways in human. This step was followed by the construction of
caused by TP53, ERBB2, BRAF, and KRAS mutations [10-13] . protein-protein interaction network (PPIN) and the gene
Moreover, the release of inflammatory mediators, such ontology (GO) enrichment analysis (Figure 1).
as heat-shock proteins (HSP), interleukins [6,11,12] , and
vascular endothelial growth factor [14-17] , has been found 2.2. Retrieval of chemical ingredients and their
to significantly accelerate the development of neuronal targets
damage. Various studies have demonstrated the protective This step was performed by screening the compounds of
effects of ginseng in the treatment of neuronal damage, P. ginseng on the TCM systems pharmacology database
which also increases the quality of life in patients receiving and analysis platform (TCMSP) database . After this step,
[23]
chemotherapyp . The inhibitory effects of P. ginseng and the herb-associated protein targets were retrieved from
[18]
its constituents on neuronal damage mechanisms have the reported literature and TCMSP database, respectively,
been investigated and confirmed in many experiments . after which these protein targets were screened for their
[19]
In recent years, the concept of network pharmacology association in the treatment of neuronal damage. The
has arisen from the systems biology approach, which has targets were then analyzed further.

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2022) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.v1i2.44