Table 1.
Anatomical and behavioral effects of various ginseng extracts on in vivo cerebral ischemia models.
| Model | Ginsenoside | Species | Dosage and route | Anatomical outcome | Assessment time after surgery | Behavioral outcome | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCAO (2h) | Rb1 | Rats | 40 mg/kg IV | 3 and 12h, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 days | Decrease mNSS | Gao et al. (2010) | |
| MCAO (2h) | KRG | Rats | 100 mg/kg/day PO | 1, 3, and 7 days | Decrease mNSS, corner test | Ban et al. (2012) | |
| MCAO (permanent) | dgRb1 (Dihydroginsenoside Rb1) | Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR-SP) | Immediately post-MCAO IV bolus of 60 µl (0.6 or 6 µg/60 µl) followed by maintenance IV dose of (0.6 or 6 µg/day) | Total infarct volume decrease | 2 and 4 weeks | Decrease Morris water maze test | Sakanaka et al. (2007) |
| MCAO (2h) | Rh2 | Rats | Rh2 and acid treated ginseng PO | Total infarct volume decrease | Park et al. (2004) | ||
| MCAO (2h) | Fermented ginseng | Rats | Fermented ginseng and ginseng PO | Total infarct volume decrease | Bae et al. (2004) | ||
| MCAO (30 min) | Compound K | Mice | 30 mg/kg IP | Total infarct volume decrease | Park et al. (2012) | ||
| MCAO (permanent) | Rb1 | SHR-SP Rats | Immediately post-MCAO IV bolus of (6 or 60 µg/60 µL) followed by maintenance IV dose of (6 or 60 µg/day) | Total infarct volume decrease. Prevention of cortical infarction and secondary thalamic degeneration | 2 and 4 weeks | Decrease Morris water maze test | Zhang et al. (2006) |
| MCAO (permanent) | KRG | SHR-SP Rats | 0.006–6.0 µg/d IV | Total infarct volume decrease | 2 and 4 weeks | Decrease Morris water maze test | Zhang et al. (1998) |
| MCAO (2h) | KRG | Rats | 100 mg/kg/day PO | Total infarct volume decrease | 1, 3, and 7 days | Decrease mNSS, corner turn test | Lee et al. (2011) |
| MCAO (90 min) | Rb1 | Rats | 12.5 mg/kg IN or IV | Total infarct volume decrease | Lu et al. (2011) | ||
| MCAO (2h) | Rb1 | Rats | 12.5 mg/kg IN | Total infarct volume decrease | 6, 24 and 72h | Decrease mNSS | Zhu et al. (2012) |
| MCAO (permanent) | Rb1, Rg1 | Rats | Rb1 10, 20, 40 mg/kg IV | Rb1 decrease infarct size | 24 h | Decrease Rb1 NDS, | Zhang and Liu (1996) |
| MCAO (2h) | Rg1 40 mg/kg IV | Rg1 ineffective | Ineffective Rg1 NDS | ||||
| MCAO (2h) | Black ginseng | Rats | 100, 400 mg/kg PO | 2 weeks | Decrease Morris water maze test | Park et al. (2011) | |
| MCAO (permanent) | Ginseng total saponins | Rats | 25 mg/kg IP | 1, 3, 7 and 14 days | Decrease NDS | Zheng et al. (2011) | |
| MCAO (2h) MCAO (permanent) |
Rd | Rats | Dose dependent study 1–50 mg/kg IV | Infarct size decrease from 10 mg/kg to 50 mg/kg at different time-points. Infarct size decrease with Rd at 2h (36–44%) or 4 h (31–40%), but no change at or after 8 h in MCAO (2h). Infarct size decrease after permanent MCAO | 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 42 days | Dose dependent improvements in mNSS, modified sticky tape test, corner test | Ye et al. (2011a) |
| MCAO (1h) | Rd | Mice | 0.1–200 mg/kg IP in dose response study 50 mg/kg IP in therapeutic window study | Infarct volume decrease with greatest at 50 mg/kg while the 0.1, 1 and 200 mg/kg were ineffective. Infarct volume decrease with Rd at 2h (36.3%) or 4 h (34.6%) but no change at 8 h. | 1 and 14 days | 1)Decrease in a Battery of 2 tests Postural reflex test, Forelimb placing test borderline (Belayev et al., 1996); 2) Increase in a Battery of 6 tests (Garcia et al., 1995), increase. |
Ye et al. (2011b) |
| MCAO (2h) | Rd | Rats | 0.1–200 mg/kg IP | Infarct volume decrease greatest at 50 mg/kg at day 1 while the 0.1, 1 and 200 mg/kg doses were ineffective | 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 42 days | Decrease mNSS | Ye et al. (2011c) |
| MCAO (2h) | Rd | Rats | 50 mg/kg IP | Total infarct volume decrease | 1 and 14 days | 1) Decrease in a Battery of 2 tests (Belayev et al., 1996), 2) Increase in a Battery of 6 tests (Garcia et al., 1995) |
Ye et al. (2011d) |
| MCAO (2h) | Rg1 | Rats | 20 mg/kg IP | 6 h, 1, 3, 7 and 14 days | Decrease NDS | Zhou et al. (2014) | |
| MCAO (2h) | Rb1 | Rats | 20, 40, 80 mg/kg | Total infarct volume decrease | Decrease NDS | Liu et al. (2013) | |
| MCAO (1h) | Ginseng | Mice | 360 mg/kg | Total infarct volume decrease | Better Rotarod scores | Cheon et al. (2013) | |
| MCAO (2h) | Rd | Rats | 30 mg/kg IP 1 h before MCAO, 10 mg/kg OD until sacrifice | Total infarct volume decrease, Reduction in hippocampal tissue loss | Post- operative days 26–32 | Improved performance in Morris Water Maze and Novel Object Recognition Test | Zhang et al. (2014) |
| BCCAO (3 min or 3.5 min) | Rb1 | Gerbils | Immediately post-BCCAO, IV bolus of 2 µL (2.5 or 25 ng/2 µL) followed by maintenance IV (60 or 600 ng/day) IP | 7 day | Step-down Passive avoidance task method, Increase | Lim et al. (1997) | |
| BCCAO (5 min) | Rb1, Rg1, Ro | Gerbils | Ginseng powder (RGP) (0.6, 0.9 or 1.5 g/kg PO Crude ginseng saponin (CGS) and Crude ginseng no-saponin (CGNS) (both 50 or 100 mg/kg) IP Rb1, Rg1, Ro (10 or 20 mg/kg for each) IP | 7 day | Passive avoidance task. RGP, CGS, CGNS (100 mg/kg), Rb1 preischemic dose increase. Postischemic RGP, CGS or Rb1 was ineffective | Wen et al. (1996) | |
| Thromboembolic stroke of left MCA | Rb1 | Monkeys | 300 µg/kg IV | Brain edema decrease | 1, 6, and 24 h and 2, 4, and 7 days | NDS decrease | Yoshikawa et al. (2008) |
IN: intranasal; IP: Intraperitoneal, IV: Intravenous, mNSS: modified Neurological Severity Score, NDS: Neurological Deficit Score, NIHSS: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, OD: Once Daily, PO: Per oral.