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Therapeutic effects of traditional herbal medicine on cerebral ischemia: A perspective of vascular protection

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Abstract

Although many agents for acute ischemic stroke treatment have been developed from extensive preclinical studies, most have failed in clinical trials. As a result, researchers are seeking other methods or agents based on previous studies. Among the various prospective approaches, vascular protection might be the key for development of therapeutic agents for stroke and for improvements in the efficacy and safety of conventional therapies. Traditional medicines in Asian countries are based on clinical experiences and literature accumulated over thousands of years. To date, many studies have used traditional herbal medicines to prove or develop new agents based on stroke treatments mentioned in traditional medicinal theory or other clinical data. In the current review, we describe the vascular factors related to ischemic brain damage and the herbal medicines that impact these factors, including Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix, Notoginseng Radix, and Curcumae Rhizoma, based on scientific reports and traditional medical theory. Further, we point out the problems associated with herbal medicines in stroke research and propose better methodologies to address these problems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Herbal Pharmacology, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 130-701, Republic of Korea

    Youngmin Bu & Kyungjin Lee

  2. Department of Anatomy, College of Korean Medicine, Institute of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 130-701, Republic of Korea

    Hyuk-Sang Jung

  3. Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Disease, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 130-701, Republic of Korea

    Sang-Kwan Moon

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  1. Youngmin Bu
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  2. Kyungjin Lee
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  3. Hyuk-Sang Jung
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Correspondence to Youngmin Bu.

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Supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. NRF-2012R1A1A2008587)

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Bu, Y., Lee, K., Jung, HS. et al. Therapeutic effects of traditional herbal medicine on cerebral ischemia: A perspective of vascular protection. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 19, 804–814 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-013-1341-2

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