REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Ethnopharmacology: 2025View all 47 articles
Multitarget Antitumor Effects of Panacis Japonici Rhizoma
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Medicine, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi, China
- 2Hubei Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center for Nephropathy, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi 445000, China
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Panax japonicus C.A. Mey., belonging to the genus Panax in the Araliaceae family, is a perennial drug plant. Its rhizomes, known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as Zhujieshen (Panacis Japonici Rhizoma), have a long history spanning thousands of years. This review systematically summarizes the multitarget antitumor effects of Zhujieshen and its bioactive metabolites, such as total saponins (TSPJ) and specific chikusetsusaponins (IVa, IV, V). Preclinical studies demonstrate broad anticancer activities against lung, liver, cervical, ovarian, prostate, and colorectal cancers by promoting apoptosis, suppressing proliferation, inhibiting metastasis, and enhancing chemosensitivity. Pharmacological investigations reveal that these effects are mediated through modulation of key signaling pathways, including PI3K/Akt, PKCα-ERK1/2, TLR4/NF-κB, and Wnt/β-catenin, which act on molecular targets like MMP-2, MMP-9, and Caspase-3. This collective regulation reduces inflammatory cytokine secretion, curtails tumor growth and spread, and increases sensitivity to chemotherapy.
Keywords: PanacisJaponiciRhizoma, Zhujieshen, tumors, Totalsaponins, Chikusetsusaponin IVa, Chikusetsusaponin IV, Chikusetsusaponin V
Received: 11 Mar 2025; Accepted: 11 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fang, Yang, Zeng, Hu, Tu, Zhou and Yang. 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:
Changyuan Zhou, zhouchangyuan@hbmzu.edu.cn
Bao Yang, ybsept@hbmzu.edu.cn
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