Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies
(1) Background: <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> extract (GBE) has been widely used to treat central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases. Accumulating evidence has revealed the therapeutic potential of GBE against Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, no systematic evaluation has been perfo...
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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| author | Liming Xie Qi Zhu Jiahong Lu |
| author_facet | Liming Xie Qi Zhu Jiahong Lu |
| author_sort | Liming Xie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | (1) Background: <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> extract (GBE) has been widely used to treat central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases. Accumulating evidence has revealed the therapeutic potential of GBE against Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, no systematic evaluation has been performed; (2) Methods: a total of 17 preclinical studies and 20 clinical trials assessing the therapeutic effects of GBE against AD were identified from electronic databases. The data in the reports were extracted to conduct a meta-analysis of the AD-related pathological features or symptoms; (3) Results: For the preclinical reports, 45 animals treated with GBE, in six studies, were subjected to cognitive function assessments by the Morris water maze. GBE was shown to reduce the escape latencies in several studies, in both rats and mice (I<sup>2</sup> > 70%, <i>p</i> < 0.005). For the clinical trials, eight trials, including 2100 individuals, were conducted. The results show that GBE improved the SKT and ADAS-Cog scores in early-stage AD patients after high doses and long-term administration; (4) Conclusions: GBE displayed generally consistent anti-AD effects in animal experiments, and it might improve AD symptoms in early-stage AD patients after high doses and long-term administration. A lack of sample size calculations and the poor quality of the methods are two obvious limitations of the studies. Nevertheless, the preclinical and clinical data suggest that further large-scale clinical trials may be needed in order to examine the effects of long-term GEB administration on early-stage AD. |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:03:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-3f97947f6504406b83eaea9218750f0c2023-11-23T16:12:38ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092022-01-0111347910.3390/cells11030479Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical StudiesLiming Xie0Qi Zhu1Jiahong Lu2State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China(1) Background: <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> extract (GBE) has been widely used to treat central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases. Accumulating evidence has revealed the therapeutic potential of GBE against Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, no systematic evaluation has been performed; (2) Methods: a total of 17 preclinical studies and 20 clinical trials assessing the therapeutic effects of GBE against AD were identified from electronic databases. The data in the reports were extracted to conduct a meta-analysis of the AD-related pathological features or symptoms; (3) Results: For the preclinical reports, 45 animals treated with GBE, in six studies, were subjected to cognitive function assessments by the Morris water maze. GBE was shown to reduce the escape latencies in several studies, in both rats and mice (I<sup>2</sup> > 70%, <i>p</i> < 0.005). For the clinical trials, eight trials, including 2100 individuals, were conducted. The results show that GBE improved the SKT and ADAS-Cog scores in early-stage AD patients after high doses and long-term administration; (4) Conclusions: GBE displayed generally consistent anti-AD effects in animal experiments, and it might improve AD symptoms in early-stage AD patients after high doses and long-term administration. A lack of sample size calculations and the poor quality of the methods are two obvious limitations of the studies. Nevertheless, the preclinical and clinical data suggest that further large-scale clinical trials may be needed in order to examine the effects of long-term GEB administration on early-stage AD.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/11/3/479<i>Ginkgo biloba</i> extractAlzheimer’s diseaseclinical trialmeta-analysis |
| spellingShingle | Liming Xie Qi Zhu Jiahong Lu Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies Cells <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> extract Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial meta-analysis |
| title | Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies |
| title_full | Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies |
| title_fullStr | Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies |
| title_short | Can We Use <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> Extract to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Lessons from Preclinical and Clinical Studies |
| title_sort | can we use i ginkgo biloba i extract to treat alzheimer s disease lessons from preclinical and clinical studies |
| topic | <i>Ginkgo biloba</i> extract Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial meta-analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/11/3/479 |
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