Protective effects of ginseng against reproductive injury: mechanisms and research progress

Reproductive injury is a core pathological process leading to gamete dysfunction, gonadal structural damage, and impaired reproductive capacity. Basic research has revealed that its pathogenesis involves a complex regulatory network of oxidative stress, inflammatory response, germ cell apoptosis, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis disorder, mitochondrial dysfunction, and epigenetic dysregulation. Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, a classic medicinal and edible herb, and its bioactive constituents have shown reproductive protective effects in numerous in vitro and in vivo basic studies. This review systematically summarizes the core pathological mechanisms of reproductive injury revealed by basic research, sorts out the main bioactive constituents of ginseng and their remarkable functional characteristics in reproductive protection, focuses on the potent molecular mechanisms and basic research progress of ginseng and its active ingredients against reproductive injury, and identifies the limitations of current basic research and future research directions. This review aims to provide a systematic theoretical basis for further basic research of ginseng in the field of reproductive protection, and to support the in-depth exploration of its intervention mechanism and active ingredient development.