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Progress in Mechanism of Astragalus membranaceus and Its Chemical Constituents on Multiple Sclerosis

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Abstract

The primary chemical components of Astragalus membranaceus include polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, and amino acids. Recent studies have shown that Astragalus membranaceus has multiple functions, including improving immune function and exerting antioxidative, anti-radiation, anti-tumor, antibacterial, antiviral, and hormone-like effects. Astragalus membranaceus and its extracts are widely used in clinical practice because they have obvious therapeutic effects against various autoimmune diseases and relatively less adverse reaction. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of central nervous system (CNS), which mainly caused by immune disorder that leads to inflammatory demyelination, inflammatory cell infiltration, and axonal degeneration in the CNS. In this review, the authors analyzed the clinical manifestations of MS and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and focused on the efficacy of Astragalus membranaceus and its chemical components in the treatment of MS/EAE.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Peng Y received funding support and developed the research hypotheses. Peng Y, Deng X, Yang SS, Nie W and Tang YD wrote the manuscript. The final manuscript is the end product of the joint writing efforts of all the authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yong Peng.

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The authors have no conflicts of interests to declare.

Additional information

Supported by Creative Research Group of Affiliated First Hospital of Hunan Traditional Chinese Medical College, China (No. 2021B-003), Key Plans of Hunan Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China (No. 201915), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (No. 2018JJ6043), Health and Family Planning Commission of Hunan Province, China (No. B20180815), Technology Plan Project of Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, China (No. 2021-009)

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Peng, Y., Deng, X., Yang, Ss. et al. Progress in Mechanism of Astragalus membranaceus and Its Chemical Constituents on Multiple Sclerosis. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 29, 89–95 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-3535-6

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