Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32979168›Full record

ArticleJournal of natural medicines2021

Diosgenin content is a novel criterion to assess memory enhancement effect of yam extracts.

Ximeng Yang, Kaori Nomoto, Chihiro Tohda

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of natural medicines, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Bioactive Metabolites ofFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Ximeng YangSection of Neuromedical Science, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3986-8096
Kaori NomotoSection of Neuromedical Science, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.
Chihiro TohdaSection of Neuromedical Science, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan. chihiro@inm.u-toyama.ac.jp.
University of Toyama · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Several studies have suggested that some kind of Dioscorea species (yam) or yam-contained herbal medicines have cognitive enhancement effect. However, it has been unknown what is a crucial factor for cognitive enhancement in each Dioscorea species. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether one of the main and brain-penetrating components in yams, diosgenin, can be a novel criterion to assess memory enhancement effect of yam extracts. Although our previous studies showed that administration of diosgenin or diosgenin-rich yam extract enhanced cognitive function in normal mice and healthy humans, we have never evaluated whether the effect depends on diosgenin content or not. Therefore, we compared memory enhancement effects of low diosgenin-contained general yam water extract with diosgenin-rich yam extract on cognitive function in normal mice. We found that unlike diosgenin-rich yam, administration of general yam water extract did not enhance object recognition memory in normal mice. LC-MS/MS analyses revealed that after administration of general yam, diosgenin concentration in the brain did not reach to the effective dose because of the low diosgenin content in the original yam extract. On the other hand, when diosgenin was artificially added into general yam, the extract showed memory enhancement in normal mice and promoted neurite outgrowth in neurons. Our study suggests that diosgenin is actually an active compound in yams for memory enhancement, and diosgenin content can be a criterion for predicting cognitive enhancement effect of yam extracts.

Indexed as

AnimalsCognitionDioscoreaDiosgeninHumansMemoryMiceMolecular StructurePlant ExtractsDiosgeninPlant ExtractsBrain penetrationDioscoreaDiosgeninMemory enhancementNeurite outgrowthYam

Identifiers

PMID32979168
OpenAlexW3088521638

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.