Review Article Comparison of Two Old Phytochemicals versus Two Newly Researched Plant-Derived Compounds: Potential for Brain and Other Relevant Ailments

Copyright © 2014 Chun-Mei Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Among hundreds of formulae of Chinese herbal prescriptions and recently extracted active components from the herbs, some of which had demonstrated their functions on nervous system. For the last decade or more, Gingko biloba and Polygala tenuifolia were widely studied for their beneficial effects against damage to the brain. Two compounds extracted from Apium graveolens and Rhizoma coptidis, butylphthalide and berberine, respectively, received much attention recently as potential neuroprotective agents. In this review, the two traditionally used herbs and the two relatively new compoundswill be discussedwith regard to their potential advantages in alleviating brain and other relevant ailments. 1