Research Progress of Regulating Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress by Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia (VaD) is a cognitive dysfunction syndrome directly related to cerebral hypoperfusion caused by cerebral vascular injury. The pathogenesis of this disease is complex, and the western medicine is not effective in the treatment of this disease. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the disease is located in the brain, due to the stasis of the brain collaterals and resulting in the emptying of the marrow sea. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the advantages of individualization and integration in the treatment of this disease, and its mechanism has been studied from the perspectives of oxidative stress, central cholinergic system, neuroinflammation, neuronal apoptosis and synaptic plasticity. At present, it is a new research direction to treat vascular dementia by regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress with traditional Chinese medicine. Therefore, this paper systematically elaborated the mechanism of ER stress in vascular dementia, and the mechanism of TCM regulation of ER stress in the treatment of VaD, in order to provide new ideas and new methods for TCM clinical diagnosis and treatment of VaD and basic research.