Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Treatments with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Table 1

Current therapeutic agents and TCM for the treatment against VCI/dementia and their action targets/mechanisms.

Therapeutic agents	Targets/mechanisms for VCI
Donepezil; Galantamine; Rivastigmine	Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition
Memantine	Noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist
Salvia miltiorrhiza	Antiplatelet aggregation, anti-inflammation, and antioxidative effects
Huperzia serrata	Selective AChE inhibition
Ligusticum chuanxiong	Antiapoptosis, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, antiplatelet, and block calcium (Ca^2+) overload
Ginkgo biloba	Restoring mitochondrial dysfunction, improving neuronal energy supplement, improving compromised hippocampal neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, inhibiting Aβ protein aggregation, decreasing blood viscosity, and enhancing microperfusion
Panax ginseng	Antioxidant, antiplatelet, antihyperlipidemic, stimulation of NO production, improvement in blood circulation, and enhancement of vasomotor tone
Saffron	Antioxidant and inhibiting serotonin reuptake in synapses