title: A review of experimental research on herbal compounds in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common form of motor neuron disease worldwide, leading to progressive muscle atrophy and paralysis. The limited success of conventional treatment for ALS has prompted investigations into complementary and alternative therapies. Herbal remedies provide good prospects of ALS prevention and treatment, with advantages such as multiple targets, multiple links, and few side effects. Studies in vitro and in vivo have shown that herbs have a great potential for treatment of ALS, with therapeutic effects against oxidative stress, excitatory amino acid toxicity, neuroinflammation, and calcium cytotoxicity. Active monomers or ingredients extracted from herbs are considered promising candidates for ALS. Therefore, we review recent experimental research on monomers and compounds isolated from herbal remedies for preventing and treating ALS.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of Zhangjiang, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan-Long
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: De-Sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Li-Jie
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ke-Feng
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Xiu-Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D018846:Excitatory Amino Acids / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D018846:Excitatory Amino Acids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D002118:Calcium
keywords: active ingredients; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; experiment research; herbal medicine; monomers