Publication trends in studies examining radix notoginseng as a treatment for ischemic brain injury

Acute ischemic stroke has become a major disease burden with high mortality and morbidity rates. There is a lack of evidence-based medicine confirming the efficacy of common treatments. Panax notoginseng saponins, the main active ingredient of radix notoginseng, have a neuroprotective role in ischemic brain injury, and have been popularized as a maintenance treatment for acute cerebral infarction and its sequelae. We conducted literature searches on the Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Collaboration, CNKI, Wanfang and the China Scientific & Technological Achievements Database and analyzed the experimental and clinical outcomes of studies investigating the use of radix notoginseng in the treatment of ischemic brain injury to improve the understanding of relevant research trends and existing problems. We found that over the past 10 years, China has maintained its interest in Panax notoginseng research, while such studies are scarce on the Web of Science. However, Chinese researchers often focus on the neuroprotective role of radix notoginseng in ischemic brain injury, but there are no large-scale clinical data to confirm its efficacy and safety. There remains a need for more rigorous large-sample randomized controlled clinical trials with long-term follow-up, to determine whether radix notoginseng lowers stroke recurrence and improves patient's quality of life.