ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1495997
Proanthocyanidins from Ginkgo extract EGb 761 ® improve bioenergetics and stimulate neurite outgrowth in vitro
Provisionally accepted
- 1Neurobiology Lab for Brain Aging and Mental Health, University Psychiatric Clinics UPK, Basel, Switzerland
- 2Research Cluster Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- 3Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland
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EGb 761® is a proprietary extract from Ginkgo biloba leaves approved as a herbal medication for the treatment of dementia and related disorders. Preclinical studies highlight antioxidant, ROS scavenging and mitochondria-stabilizing and neuroplastic properties as some of the reported pharmacological activities. Efficacy is traditionally ascribed to terpene lactones and flavone glycosides. However, these quantified known active compounds in EGb 761® only cover around 30% of the mass balance, and there is the possibility that additional compounds from the residual 70% may enhance the activity of the quantified extract EGb 761®. Proanthocyanidins (PACs) are a quantitatively relevant component in EGb 761® and some pharmacological activity has been reported for PACs from Ginkgo and other herbal sources.In this study, we focused on the effects of EGb 761® and its isolated PACs on mitochondrial bioenergetics and neuroplasticity in the human neuroblastoma cell-line SH-SY5Y. We successfully demonstrated positive effects of EGb 761® and its isolated PACs on several mitochondrial characteristics and neurite outgrowth. As PACs exhibited similar effects compared to the respective extract concentration, proanthocyanidins can be considered a pharmacologically relevant component of EGb 761®.
Keywords: EGb761®, Proanthocyandins, Mitochondria, Bioenergetics, Neurite outgrowth
Received: 13 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lejri, Vukalovic, Grimm and Eckert. 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: Anne Eckert, Neurobiology Lab for Brain Aging and Mental Health, University Psychiatric Clinics UPK, Basel, Switzerland
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