Study On The Chemical Constituents Of Cistanche Deserticola in Improving Cognitive Function And Its Mechanism Of Action

Cognition refers to the process in which the brain receives information and processes it into its own thoughts, and then acquires knowledge. Cognitive function consists of multiple cognitive domains, including memory, calculation, spatiotemporal orientation, structural ability, executive ability, language comprehension and expression, and application. Cognitive dysfunction is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system, mainly manifested as memory impairment, computational impairment, visuospatial impairment, executive dysfunction, apraxia, aphasia, agnosia, dementia, etc., which can be seen in a variety of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular cognitive impairment, dementia with Lewy bodies, Pick disease, etc. 

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Cognitive impairment is common in the elderly and belongs to the category of "dementia" in traditional Chinese medicine. The main etiology and pathogenesis of this disease is the deficiency of kidney essence and the insufficiency of the sea of marrow. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the kidney stores the essence, and the essence produces the marrow. "All marrows belong to the brain. "... The kidney essence is deficient, the marrow sea is depleted, the brain is deprived of nourishment, the marrow is empty and the brain is withered, and the mental machine is out of use, resulting in cognitive impairment or even dementia syndrome. Therefore, nourishing the kidney essence is an important treatment method for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in traditional Chinese medicine. . Cistanche deserticola, known as "desert ginseng", has the effects of invigorating the kidney, nourishing essence and blood, and the occurrence rate of Cistanche deserticola in the past dynasties is second only to ginseng.

Cistanche is mainly distributed in dry areas such as deserts, and there are about 22 species in the world. Cistanche plants in China are produced in the northwestern regions of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, etc., and mainly include desert Cistanche (Cistanche deserticola Y C. Ma), Cistanche tubulosa Wight, Cistanche tubulosa Wickht, and Cistanche Besche Cistanche sinensis G. Beck and so on.

As early as the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" that this product "nourishes the five internal organs, strengthens the yin, and replenishes the essence and qi", another related document pointed out that Cistanche deserticola "is insufficient for the fire of the gate of life, and it is used to supplement it, and it is also a medicine for the kidney meridian and blood." Ni Zhumo's "Compendium of Materia Medica" in the Ming Dynasty said: "Cistanche deserticola, nourishing life, nourishing kidney qi, nourishing essence and blood is also a medicine... This is a calming and tonic agent, warm but not hot, tonic but not severe, warm but not dry, It is slippery but not leaking, so it has the name of calmness.

"This product enters the kidney and replenishes the essence and blood, can benefit the fire in the water, nourishes the kidney and replenishes the essence to generate marrow and benefit the brain, so as to achieve the purpose of improving cognitive impairment.

Chen Jing et al[4] analyzed Cistanche based on network pharmacology and found that Cistanche can improve the cognitive function of patients. Zhang Kaimei[5] analyzed the relationship between related target proteins according to the pathway, and the results showed that Cistanche deserticola has neuroprotective effect, mainly by regulating CTNNBI, PTGS2, HMOXI and other potential targets and Wnt, P13K-AKT and other signaling pathways, thereby improving cognition. Function.

Jia Jianxin et al[6] found that Cistanche can improve the learning and memory ability of rapidly aging dementia mice (SAMP8). Wang Qing[7] randomly divided 124 patients with dementia into two groups. The treatment group was given Cistanche Radix Total Glycosides Capsules, and the control group was given Arisol. The results showed that the dementia of the treatment group was significantly improved, and the side effects were significantly lower than those of the control group.

To sum up, Cistanche and cistanche extracts can effectively improve cognitive dysfunction and be used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and other diseases [8].

This article mainly introduces the research progress of the chemical constituents of Cistanche in improving cognitive function and its mechanism of action, and then provides a scientific basis for its clinical application.

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