Archive | 2019
Cardioprotetic Effect of Diosgenin: Progress and Challenge
Abstract
Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are an important public health problem because they are the main causes of mortality in the world, especially in developing countries. Despite existing drug therapies, such diseases have particularities that hinder their control. For this reason many studies seek to identify new molecules, especially natural substances, with therapeutic potential to control cardiovascular diseases. Diosgenin is a steroidal saponin that has many biological activities and promotes cardiovascular action. Objective: Identify the cardiovascular effect of diosgenin and to describe the mechanisms of action involved in this activity. Methodology: An integrative review of the literature was carried out with articles that dealt with the topic researched in the last 10 years from 2009 to 2019, available in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and BIREME/BVS databases, using advanced search with the descriptors Diosgenin Cardiovascular System , Heart and “Diseases”, interspersed with the and or or boolean operators. Results: After initial selections and readings of some articles in their entirety, 14 studies integrated the present review. Diosgenin showed important cardioprotective activity in studies with animal models that mimic the multiple cardiac pathologies in humans, which allow it to be considered with great future pharmacological potential. The mechanisms of action of this substance are related to antioxidant, antithrombotic, antiapoptotic and antiproliferative capacity. Conclusion: Diosgenin has a beneficial cardiovascular effect when used in multiple models of animal experimentation with cardiac alterations. This fact makes this substance an important and promising molecule for future research, such as clinical trials in humans with cardiovascular changes similar to those presented by animals.