Astragalus and Cordyceps Derivatives in the Treatment of Aging-Related Chronic Diseases and Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Aging is associated with a rising burden of chronic metabolic, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neurodegenerative diseases that share interconnected pathological mechanisms, including oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic imbalance, and immune dysregulation. Because these disorders arise from complex and overlapping biological disturbances, conventional single-target therapies often provide only limited benefit. In this context, traditional Chinese herbal medicines, characterized by multi-component and multi-target actions, are being re-evaluated using modern pharmacological and systems biology approaches. Among these, Astragalus membranaceus and Cordyceps species have attracted attention as representative tonic medicines with long-standing traditional use and growing biomedical relevance. Their principal bioactive constituents, including polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, sterols, and nucleoside derivatives such as cordycepin, exert pleiotropic effects on inflammatory signaling, redox homeostasis, mitochondrial function, metabolic regulation, and immune responses. This review summarizes current evidence on bioactive derivatives from Astragalus and Cordyceps in aging-related chronic and neurodegenerative disorders, including diabetes, cardiovascular dysfunction, osteoarthritis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. It focuses on mechanistic findings from cellular and animal studies and critically discusses key translational challenges, such as compositional variability, poor bioavailability, lack of standardized preparation, limited clinical validation, and safety concerns related to toxicity and herb-drug interactions.