Cardioprotector Activity of an Esteroidal Saponin: A Scientific and Technological Prospection

Cardiovascular diseases are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels that account for a major cause of premature death worldwide. Diosgenin saponin is a steroid for therapeutic application in different clinical settings such as cardiovascular diseases, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia control, antimicrobial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory agent. The aim of the study was to conduct a systematic review of Diosgenin, its pharmaceutical applications and perspectives on the application in the cardiovascular system diseases.

Periodic basis ScienceDirect, PubMed and Virtual Health Library were used as well as the European Office of the technological bases Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organization, the Office US Patent and Trademark Office and the Brazilian database National Institute of Industrial Property. The keywords used were Diosgenin, cardiovascular system, hypertension, atherosclerosis and dyslipidemia and their correlations in English and Portuguese, with publications from January 2010 to June 2015.

After analysis of the technological and scientific bases, the results show that there is a limited number of patents showing that the Diosgenin action on the cardiovascular system is centered in the areas for chemical studies of steroid Diosgenin. In the scientific basis, the results show that there is an interesting Diosgenin action on the cardiovascular system.

Therefore, studies with Diosgenin are promising on account of its significant pharmacological potential from scientific and technological viewpoints, reaching for a technology transfer to generate economic and industrial growth.