Title:Chinese Herbal Medicine Interventions in Neurological Disorder Therapeutics by Regulating Glutamate Signaling
Volume: 18
Issue: 4
Author(s): Yan Liu, Shan Wang, Jun Kan, Jingzhi Zhang, Lisa Zhou, Yuli Huang *Yunlong Zhang *
Affiliation:
- Department of Cardiology, Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People’s Hospital of Shunde Foshan), Foshan 528300,China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen 518000,China
Keywords:
Neurological disorders, natural constituents, chinese herbal medicine, glutamate, glutamate receptors, glutamate
transporters.
Abstract: Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, and its
signaling is critical for excitatory synaptic transmission. The well-established glutamate system
involves glutamate synthesis, presynaptic glutamate release, glutamate actions on the ionotropic
glutamate receptors (NMDA, AMPA, and kainate receptors) and metabotropic glutamate receptors,
and glutamate uptake by glutamate transporters. When the glutamate system becomes dysfunctional,
it contributes to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases such as
Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, epilepsy, and ischemic stroke. In this review,
based on regulating glutamate signaling, we summarize the effects and underlying mechanisms of
natural constituents from Chinese herbal medicines on neurological disorders. Natural constituents
from Chinese herbal medicine can prevent the glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity via suppressing
presynaptic glutamate release, decreasing ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors expression
in the excitatory synapse, and promoting astroglial glutamate transporter expression to increase
glutamate clearance from the synaptic cleft. However, some natural constituents from Chinese
herbal medicine have the ability to restore the collapse of excitatory synapses by promoting presynaptic
glutamate release and increasing ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors expression.
These regulatory processes involve various signaling pathways, which lead to different mechanistic
routes of protection against neurological disorders. Hence, our review addresses the underlying
mechanisms of natural constituents from Chinese herbal medicines that regulate glutamate systems
and serve as promising agents for the treatment of the above-mentioned neurological disorders.