Salvia miltiorrhiza: A source for anti-Alzheimer's disease drugs

Context: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions of elderly people worldwide. However, no efficient therapeutic method for AD has yet been developed. Recently, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Lamiaceae), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine which is widely used for treating cardio-cerebrovascular, exerts multiple neuroprotective effects and is attracting increased attention for the treatment of AD.Objective: The objective of this study is to discuss the neuroprotective effects and neurogenesis-inducing activities of S. miltiorrhiza components.Methods: A detailed search using major electronic search engines (such as Pubmed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) was undertaken with the search terms: Salvia miltiorrhiza, the components of S. miltiorrhiza such as salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, danshensu, tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, cryptotanshinone, dihydrotanshinone, and neuroprotection.Results: Salvia miltiorrhiza components exert multiple neuroprotective potentials relevant to AD, such as anti-amyloid-, antioxidant, anti-apoptosis, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, and anti-inflammation. Moreover, S. miltiorrhiza promotes neurogenesis of neural progenitor cells/stem cells in vitro and in vivo.Conclusions: The properties of S. miltiorrhiza indicate their therapeutic potential in AD via multiple mechanisms. In addition, S. miltiorrhiza provides lead compounds for developing new drugs against AD.