REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1540255
This article is part of the Research Topic Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD): Innovative Management strategies using Herbal Medicines View all 3 articles
Ginseng and its functional components in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Therapeutic effects and multi-target pharmacological mechanisms
Provisionally accepted
- Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common type of chronic liver disease and its incidence is increasing. Its disease progression is closely related to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis. Effective treatment is currently lacking. The traditional Chinese medicine ginseng (Panax ginseng) shows unique advantages in NAFLD intervention, but its complex compositional system and molecular mechanism network still need to be systematically analyzed. Objective: This paper systematically integrates evidence from nearly 20 years of research to elucidate the multi-target pharmacological mechanism of ginseng for the treatment of NAFLD. Methods: Relevant information was sourced from Pubmed, Web of science, Embase and CNKI databases. Using bioRender and visio to draw biomedical illustrations. Results: The active ingredients of ginseng contain 2 classes of saponins (tetracyclic triterpene saponins, pentacyclic triterpene saponins and other modified types) and non-saponins. Different cultivation methods, processing techniques and extraction sites have expanded the variety of ginseng constituents and demonstrated different pharmacological activities. Studies have shown that ginseng and its functional components have the ability to regulate lipid metabolism disorders, inflammation, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, insulin resistance, disruption of intestinal flora structure, cell death and senescence. Demonstrates the potential of ginseng for the treatment of NAFLD. Conclusion: This study reveals for the first time the integrative mechanism of ginseng in the treatment of NAFLD through the tertiary mode of action of “multi-component multi-target multi-pathway” (Figure 1). The multilevel modulatory ability of ginseng provides a new direction for the development of comprehensive therapeutic strategies for NAFLD.
Keywords: ginseng (Panax ginseng), Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), Lipid Metabolism, Lipotoxic injury, multi-target pharmacological mechanism
Received: 05 Dec 2024; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiao, Ye, Li, Feng and Yue. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Quansheng Feng, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Su Yue, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
