title: Salvia miltiorrhiza: A Potential Red Light to the Development of Cardiovascular Diseases.
abstract: Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, also known as Danshen in Chinese, has been widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in China and other Asia countries. Here, we summarize literatures of the historical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interpretation of the action of Salvia miltiorrhiza, its use in current clinical trials, its main phytochemical constituents and its pharmacological findings by consulting Pubmed, China Knowledge Resource Integrated, China Science and Technology Journal, and the Web of Science Databases. Since 2000, 39 clinical trials have been identified that used S. miltiorrhiza in TCM prescriptions alone or with other herbs for the treatment of patients with CVD. More than 200 individual compounds have been isolated and characterized from S. miltiorrhiza, which exhibited various pharmacological activities targeting different pathways for the treatment of CVD in various animal and cell models. The isolated compounds may provide new perspectives in alternative treatment regimes and reveal novel chemical scaffolds for the development of anti-CVD drugs. Meanwhile, there are also some rising concerns of the potential side effects and drug-drug interactions of this plant. The insights gained from this study will help us to better understanding of the actions of this herb for management of cardiovascular disorders. As an herb of red root, S. miltiorrhiza will act as a potential red light to prevent the development of CVD.
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Rufeng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Chinese Material Medica School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100102, China.
authors.forename: Chenyue
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Haixia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Ruyuan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Shuzhen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Chinese Material Medica School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100102, China.
authors.forename: Minke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Preclinical Medicine School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Jianzhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: The Research Institute of McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Diabetes Research Center, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
authors.forename: Sihua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Diabetes Research Center, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
authors.forename: Dongwei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D027561:Salvia miltiorrhiza / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010936:Plant Extracts; C028972:dan-shen root extract
keywords: Salvia miltiorrhiza; cardiovascular disease; clinical trials; pharmacology; phytochemistry; traditional chinese medicine (TCM)