Ginsenosides are a group of glycosylated triterpenes, also known as saponins, that represent the active compounds found in the root Panax.
Since ginsenosides extracted from Panax plants were discovered to exhibit anticancer activities in the 1960s, scientists have developed an increasing interest and have been conducting years of research in this field. Up to now, scientists have identified more than 60 kinds of ginsenosides.
With the deepening of ginsenosides research, scientists found that rare ginsenosides, the metabolite of prototype ginsenosides, are more bioactive in fighting cancers, and the well-known ones are ginsenoside Rh2 and ginsenoside Rg3.
Ginsenoside Rh2 and Rg3 dominated for a long time
For a long time, scientists put their emphasis on the study of ginsenoside Rh2 and ginsenoside Rg3. Thousands of research have been conducted to explore the mechanism of action of Rh2 and Rg3 in fighting cancers.
Various studies have shown that ginsenoside Rh2 inhibits the growth of cancer cells；induce apoptosis of tumor cells; reverse the abnormal differentiation of tumor cells； anti-tumor metastasis; strengthen toxicity to cancer cells as an adjuvant agent to chemotherapy drugs.
Ginsenoside Rg3 can inhibit the growth, proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells in various ways, including inhibiting the adhesion and infiltration of tumor cells and curbing the formation of new blood vessels in cancer cells.
Currently, ginsenoside Rh2 and Rg3 products dominate the Chinese market. However, increasing medical studies have shown that ginsenoside Rg5 has broader and stronger anticancer effects.
Ginsenoside Rg5 significantly induced cancer cell apoptosis
A study published in the journal Ginseng Research showed that ginsenoside Rg5 can induce cancer cell apoptosis in a variety of ways.
The in vitro experiments that targeted breast cancer cells showed that ginsenoside Rg5 can significantly arrest the breast cell cycle in G0 / G1 phase and regulate the apoptosis-related proteins, thus reducing the number of cancer cells，inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells and inducing the apoptosis of cancer cells
It is worth noting that ginsenoside Rg3, which has anticancer effects on various cancer cell lines such as liver cancer cells, prostate cancer cells and glioblastoma cells, showed no inhibitory effects on breast cancer cells in this experiment.
Additionally, it is also reported in some studies that ginsenoside Rg5 are three times more bioactive than ginsenoside Rg3 in inhibiting liver cancer cells.
Ginsenoside Rg5 is effective against cervical cancer cells
Similarly, another medical study published in the journal Molecular Medicine Reports also demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg5 has an inhibitory effect on cervical cancer cells.
Ginsenoside Rg5 can induce DNA damage of cancer cells and induce apoptosis of cancer cells by inducing DNA damage, thereby reducing cancer cell viability and inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. This remarkable anticancer activity enables scientists to envision the potential of ginsenoside Rg5 as a cure for cervical cancer.
Ginsenoside Rg5 mitigates the cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity
The study published in the journal Impact Factor found another important role of ginsenoside Rg5 in cancer prevention – a reduction in nephrotoxicity caused by cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic drug.
Cisplatin is one of the clinically important anticancer drugs which is widely used in the treatments of various malignant solid tumors. However, high doses of cisplatin can cause severe renal toxicity to patients, and currently, there are no clinically available drugs that can protect the kidneys from the toxic side effects of cisplatin, which greatly limits the use of cisplatin in cancer therapy.
Scientists in the experiment found that ginsenoside Rg5 attenuated the cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and renal tubular injury by reducing oxidative stress, and inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis.
This study suggests that ginsenoside Rg5 can be used in combination with other anticancer drugs to provide synergistic effects.
Ginsenoside Rg5 can be a new hope for anticancer drugs
Research and discoveries on the anticancer efficacy of ginsenoside Rg5 offer a vision that it will be a new anticancer drug in the future. With the deepening of medical research, scientists may find out more anticancer effects of ginsenoside Rg5, making it a popular anticancer agent.
At the same time, based on the variety of rare ginsenosides with different efficacy, ginsenosides can be cooperated with each other to exert synergistic anticancer efficacy, which can be a new idea for combination therapy.
The products containing various ginsenosides including Rg5 are available on the current market and customers can buy them at Amazon.com. These products stand at the forefront of ginsenoside applications.