Salvia miltiorrhizaBurge (Danshen): a golden herbal medicine in cardiovascular therapeutics

• Published in: Acta pharmacologica Sinica Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 802 - 824
• Main Authors: Li, Zhuo-ming, Xu, Suo-wen, Liu, Pei-qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-05-2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animals; Arrhythmia; Arteriosclerosis; Bioactive compounds; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cardiotonic Agents - therapeutic use; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - drug therapy; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Cerebrovascular system; Chinese medicine; Constituents; Coronary artery disease; Cryptotanshinone; Drug development; Drug Synergism; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Endothelial Cells - drug effects; Fibrinolytic Agents - therapeutic use; Fibrosis; Heart diseases; Herbal medicine; Humans; Hypertrophy; Immunology; Internal Medicine; Ischemia; Lipophilic; Medical Microbiology; Medicinal plants; Molecular chains; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular - drug effects; Myocardial infarction; Myocardial ischemia; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle - drug effects; Nitric oxide; Oxidation; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Reperfusion; Review; review-article; Salvia miltiorrhiza; Synergism; Vaccine; Vascular diseases; traditional Chinese medicine; cardiovascular diseases; Burge; herbal medicine; Danshen
• ISSN: 1671-4083; 1745-7254; 1745-7254
• DOI: 10.1038/aps.2017.193

Salvia miltiorrhiza
Burge (Danshen) is an eminent medicinal herb that possesses broad cardiovascular and cerebrovascular protective actions and has been used in Asian countries for many centuries. Accumulating evidence suggests that Danshen and its components prevent vascular diseases, in particular, atherosclerosis and cardiac diseases, including myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, arrhythmia, cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis. The published literature indicates that lipophilic constituents (tanshinone I, tanshinone IIa, tanshinone IIb, cryptotanshinone, dihydrotanshinone,
etc
) as well as hydrophilic constituents (danshensu, salvianolic acid A and B, protocatechuic aldehyde,
etc
) contribute to the cardiovascular protective actions of Danshen, suggesting a potential synergism among these constituents. Herein, we provide a systematic up-to-date review on the cardiovascular actions and therapeutic potential of major pharmacologically active constituents of Danshen. These bioactive compounds will serve as excellent drug candidates in small-molecule cardiovascular drug discovery. This article also provides a scientific rationale for understanding the traditional use of Danshen in cardiovascular therapeutics.