The anti-tumor effect of chinese medicine extracts camptothecin -AS1411 system

Study on bacteriostasis of Chinese herbal medicine extracts to avibacterium paragallinarum

Liver cancer remains a significant global health challenge, with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) being the most prevalent form. Despite advancements in treatment, high recurrence rates and the limited efficacy of conventional therapies highlight the need for novel interventions. Cinobufagin (CB), a bufadienolide extracted from the parotid secretion of Bufo gargarizans and B. melanostictus, has emerged as a promising compound with multiple antitumor mechanisms. This comprehensive review assesses the current evidence regarding CB and its containing medicine, cinobufacini, in liver cancer models. Cinobufacini is a traditional Chinese medicine extract, whereas CB refers specifically to one of its active components. The pharmacodynamic actions of CB include induction of apoptosis, DNA damage, inhibition of proliferation and migration, and modulation of key oncogenic pathways such as PI3K/Akt/mTOR, Akt/ERK, and AURKA-mTOR-eIF4E. Additionally, CB disrupts tumor metabolism and induces oxidative stress. Preclinical studies, both in vitro and in vivo, demonstrate significant antitumor efficacy. However, concerns remain regarding CB's toxicity profile at high doses. This review emphasizes the therapeutic potential of CB in HCC treatment and advocates for further translational research to optimize its clinical applicability, dosage, and safety.

Scoparone induces mitophagy and apoptosis via ROS accumulation in pancreatic cancer cells

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe and life-threatening condition. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) extracts, which are rich in bioactive compounds with demonstrated efficacy against ALI, have exhibited considerable therapeutic potential. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the therapeutic effects of TCM extracts in mitigating sepsis-induced ALI, synthesizing current evidence on their clinical advantages and the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms. Furthermore, it outlines the major challenges and unresolved issues in the field, offering insights that may guide future research and enhance the application of TCM in managing sepsis-associated respiratory complications.

Origin-dependent metabolic variations: How Atractylodes macrocephalae Rhizoma extract's chemical diversity leads to stage-specific changes in simulated digestion.

Under the guidance of analogical thinking in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the "treating of skin with skin" therapy, using processed animal and plant skin-derived medicinal materials to treat skin diseases, has a long history but lacks scientific evidence-based support. This study aims to apply data mining and network pharmacology techniques to explore the prescription patterns and mechanisms of action of the "treating skin with skin" therapy, and to interpret its rationality, effectiveness, and scientific basis using modern scientific methods. Relevant literature from Chinese and English databases over the past 20 years was retrieved and integrated according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were integrated and mined using software such as Excel, OriginPro 2021, and SPSS Modeler 18.0. Frequency analysis, cluster analysis, and association rule analysis were performed sequentially to summarize high-frequency plant skin-derived Chinese medicinal materials and extract the core prescription. Core prescription drugs and skin disease-related gene targets were obtained from drug and disease target databases, including the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform and GeneCards. Intersection targets were identified using Venny 2.1.0, and core targets were further extracted. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were conducted for the intersection targets, and finally a "core drug-component-target-pathway" network was constructed and visualized. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 563 eligible articles were ultimately included, from which 32 prescriptions were extracted, involving 21 plant skin-derived Chinese medicinal materials. Among them, 15 medicinal materials had a usage frequency exceeding 50%, with bitter, sweet, and cold properties predominating. Cluster analysis yielded 4 effective clusters. Cluster 1: Phellodendron cortex-Dictamni cortex; Cluster 2: Eucommia cortex-Mori cortex-Meliae cortex-Pseudolaricis cortex; Cluster 3: Moutan cortex-Poriae Cutis-Lycii cortex-Fraxini cortex-Acanthopanacis cortex-Benincasae Pericarpium; Cluster 4: Ailanthi cortex-Periplocae cortex-Erycibes cortex. Association rule analysis generated 92 association rules, with 4 strong links, 90 moderate links, and 10 weak links between herb pairs. Based on the association rules and linkage strength, the core prescription of the "treating skin with skin" therapy was summarized as "Phellodendri Cortex-Moutan Cortex-Dictamni Cortex-Benincasae Pericarpium-Poriae Cutis-Lycii Cortex." A total of 46 active ingredients were screened from this core prescription, involving 781 gene targets. A total of 2 537 skin disease-related gene targets were retrieved, yielding 212 intersection targets between the core prescription and the disease. PPI network analysis of the intersection targets showed 2 723 edges among 212 nodes, with an average node degree of 25.9 and an average local clustering coefficient of 0.554. The PPI network of core targets contained 50 nodes and 784 edges; the top three core nodes by degrees were interleukin-6 (IL-6; 116), tumor necrosis factor (TNF; 115), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β; 110). GO analysis yielded 732 biological process terms, with the top 3 being response to lipopolysaccharide, positive regulation of DNA-templated transcription, and positive regulation of microRNA (miRNA) transcription; 90 cellular component terms, with the top 3 being extracellular space, extracellular region, and chromatin; and 153 molecular function terms, with the top 3 being enzyme binding, nuclear receptor activity, and identical protein binding. KEGG analysis identified 166 enriched signaling pathways, with the top 3 being pathways in cancer, lipid and atherosclerosis, and the advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products pathway in diabetic complications. The visualized "core drug-component-target-pathway" network comprised 854 nodes and 1 911 edges, with a network centralization coefficient of 0.182 and a characteristic path length of 3.985; the top 3 nodes by degree were all drug components, namely vitamin E, vitamin B, and trigonelline. Guided by TCM analogical thinking, the core prescription of the "treating skin with skin" therapy exerts therapeutic effects on skin diseases through synergistic actions involving multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways. Its effect is significant, the rationale is well founded, and its origins are well established.

This paper systematically investigates the therapeutic effects of Macau Shuyanning topical gel synthesized from extracts of Chinese medicinal herbs including Panax ginseng, Dendrobium officinale, Lycium barbarum, Cassia obtusifolia, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Salvia miltiorrhiza, kudzu root, pearl, and Astragalus membranaceus on dry eyes, eye astringency, and blurred vision in middle-aged and elderly individuals. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted in 2023 at the Affiliated Hospital of the Faculty of Medicine, Osaka City University, Japan confirmed that the compound gel exhibits excellent efficacy against dryness and astringency in the eyes of middle-aged and elderly subjects. After 3 months of use, the treatment group showed an effective rate of 89.5%, compared with 12.5% in the control group using a placebo gel. The difference in efficacy between the two groups was significant and statistically meaningful (P<0.05), with no adverse reactions observed in either group. Additionally, another randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted in 2024 at the same institution confirmed the gel’s remarkable therapeutic effect on blurred vision in middle-aged and elderly individuals. After 1 month of use, the effective rate was 94.5% in the treatment group and 25% in the control group, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05) and no adverse reactions in both groups. Conclusion: The topical gel synthesized from extracts of Panax ginseng, Dendrobium officinale, Lycium barbarum, Cassia obtusifolia, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Salvia miltiorrhiza, kudzu root, pearl, and Astragalus membranaceus demonstrates significant therapeutic effects on dry eyes, eye astringency, and blurred vision in middle-aged and elderly individuals, with good safety, making it worthy of clinical promotion and application.

Abstract Background and Aims Hemodialysis, a common renal replacement treatment for end-stage kidney disease, exacerbates thrombosis and oxidative stress by exposing the blood to low-biocompatibility dialysis membranes. Here, we developed a functionalized hemodialysis membrane with excellent anticoagulant and antioxidant properties, and simultaneously explored the mechanisms of antioxidation and anticoagulation of gallic acid carbon dots (GA-CDs). Method This study utilized a traditional Chinese medicine extract, gallic acid, as the main raw material and synthesized non-metallic nitrogen-doped GA-CDs through a hydrothermal reaction with ethylenediamine. The antioxidant and anticoagulant performance of GA-CDs was evaluated by measuring reactive oxygen species(ROS) clearance rate and antioxidant enzyme expression, and macrophage procoagulation experiments and tissue factor expression respectively. Subsequently, GA-CDs were co-deposited with polydopamine and heparin-like polymer on the polysulfone (PES) membrane surface to produce functionalized membrane. Finally, the bio-compatibility of the functionalized membrane was assessed by detecting cytotoxicity, ROS clearance rate, anticoagulant effect, hemolysis rate and complement activation. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical significance analysis between multiple groups and statistical analyses were performed by GraphPad Prism 9.5 and Origin 2021. Results The synthesized GA-CDs possessed superior cytocompatibility and antioxidative cytoprotection, 100μg/ml GA-CDs could effectively eliminate 94.7% ROS and 37.2% O2− production, increasing the cell survival rate in the oxidative stress state from 76.9% to 90.9% (P = 0.0304). Mechanistic investigations revealed that GA-CDs predominantly activated the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor2 (Nrf2) signaling cascade, enhancing the expression of antioxidant proteins, most notably heme oxygenase-1 (Ho-1), to induce cytoprotective effects. After inhibiting Nrf2 expression, GA-CDs could only eliminate 39.3% of ROS production, indicating that the activated Nrf2-Ho-1 pathway is crucial for the ROS clearance ability conferred by GA-CDs. Besides, GA-CDs also upregulated the mRNA expression of the antioxidant enzymes Cat (P < 0.0001) and Sod1 (P = 0.0042), facilitating the clearance of intracellular ROS. On the other hand, the GA-CDs exerted anticoagulant effects by inhibiting the activation and up-regulation of tissue factors on the surface of endothelial cells and macrophages caused by oxidative stress. Endothelial cell tissue factors mRNA expression was upregulated after the co-culture with macrophages under oxidative stress state (P = 0.0014), and the pro-coagulation time of endothelial cells was shortened by 50.0 seconds, corroborating our hypothesis that oxidatively stressed macrophages activate endothelial cells. And when oxidatively damaged macrophages and activate endothelial cells were treated with GA-CDs, the level of tissue factors mRNA expression declined (the P-values were 0.0405 and 0.0034 respectively), and the coagulation time was prolonged by 16.6 seconds and 53.4 seconds respectively compared to that of the control group. Finally, the functional PES membrane by GA-CDs-supported heparin-like polymer exhibited excellent antioxidant and anticoagulant properties. The DPPH and ABTS+ radical scavenging rates of the modified membrane were 83% and 97%, respectively, and the APTT can reach 420 seconds. In addition, the hemolysis rate of modified membrane was also much lower than 5%, and the rate of complement C3 activation was significantly inhibited (P = 0.0002), substantially increasing the biocompatibility of the blood dialysis membrane. Conclusion We developed a highly biocompatible hemodialysis membrane with superior anticoagulant and antioxidant capabilities by surface modification using a GA-CDs-supported heparin-like polymer, offering considerable potential for clinical blood purification applications.

Efficient separation of alkaloid from extract of traditional Chinese medicine via electrodialysis at over-limiting current density

Online detection of Q-marker concentrations in the Xuefu Zhuyu oral liquid extraction process using a multi-source cross-scale NIR attention fusion neural network.

Neuroinflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition and neurofibrillary tangles driving both central and peripheral inflammatory responses. This study investigated the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of Vitex trifolia (VT), Plantago major (PM), Apocyni Veneti Folium (AVF), and Eucommiae folium (EF) using network pharmacology and a co-culture model of PC12 neuronal and Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells. Bioactive compounds were identified via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and screened with network pharmacology analysis, yielding 27 for VT, 10 for PM, 6 for AVF, and 3 for EF. Molecular docking confirmed strong binding affinities between the key bioactive compounds and AD-related targets. A co-culture system of PC12 neuronal and Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells was established to evaluate the effects of VT, PM, AVF, and EF extracts (at concentrations of 10 µg/mL, 20 µg/mL, and 50 µg/mL) and donepezil hydrochloride (positive-control) on Aβ25–35-induced neurotoxicity and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal inflammation, to assess cell viability, and effects on oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, and inflammatory markers. The VT, PM, AVF, and EF extracts activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt-glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) signaling, enhanced phosphorylation of AMP kinase, suggesting inhibition of Aβ accumulation and tau hyperphosphorylation (p < 0.05). However, donepezil hydrochloride only enhanced AMPK phosphorylation. The extracts reduced lipid peroxidation and acetylcholinesterase by about 5-fold. JC-1 staining confirmed preserved mitochondrial membrane potential, while hematoxylin and eosin staining indicated improved intestinal barrier integrity (p < 0.05). PM and AVF reduced the number of mast cells (p < 0.05). In conclusion, these findings highlight the multi-target potential of VT, PM, AVF, and EF in mitigating both neuronal and intestinal inflammation. Their dual regulatory effects on the gut–brain axis suggest promising therapeutic applications in AD through the modulation of central and peripheral immune responses.

Breviscapine regulates lipid metabolism of microglia via the ADORA1/PPARα/ACOX1 pathway to promote spinal cord injury recovery.

BackgroundBile acids and gut microbiota participate in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis (LF). The total alkaloids of Corydalis saxicola Bunting (TACS) is a traditional Chinese medicine extract that has been used to treat LF, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. This study performed integrated metabolomics and gut microbiome analysis to study the anti-LF mechanism of TACS using a rat model.MethodsUltra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was used to identify the chemical compounds in TACS. Biochemical and histopathological analysis were performed to determine the efficacy of TACS. Bile acid-targeted metabolomics was used to assess changes in the bile acid (BA) profiles in TACS-treated LF rats. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomics were used to assess changes in the gut microbiota of the TACS-treated LF rats. Antibiotic cocktail treatment and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) were used to determine the relationship between the gut microbiota and the anti-LF effects of TACS. Metagenomics was used to identify significantly enriched gut microbiota after TACS treatment and its correlation with the anti-LF effects was verified by in vivo experiments.ResultsTACS treatment significantly reduced the levels of serum liver enzymes, fibrosis and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the liver. TACS significantly increased the levels of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA) in the cecum and decreased the levels of cholic acid (CA) and deoxycholic acid (DCA) in the liver of the LF rats. TACS significantly increased the abundances of Lactobacillus and Akkermansia in the LF rats. Antibiotic cocktail treatment and FMT have shown that the effect of TACS cure liver fibrosis depends on the gut microbiota. The abundance of Lactobacillus reuteri was significantly increased by TACS. Administration of Lactobacillus reuteri via gavage ameliorated LF.ConclusionsTACS exerted anti-LF effects in rats by modulating bile acid metabolism and gut microbiome.Graphical

Development of a magnetic beads-based ligand fishing method for screening SARS-CoV-2 NSP5 inhibitors from complex herbal mixtures: Rosmarinus officinalis as a case study.

Pae/exo@PF-127 promote diabetic wound healing through miR-424-5p.

Objectives To identify new active compounds with mosquito larvicidal properties from natural products, the larvicidal activity of several traditional Chinese medicinal herbs extracts against Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) was screened. Methods The ultrasonic-assisted extraction method was employed to process seven Chinese medicinal herbs. Subsequently, the extractums were fractionated using solvents with varying polarities and identify the extract phase exhibiting potent larvicidal activity. The active extract phase was further purified via silica gel column chromatography, followed by the identification of active components using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Additionally, the larvicidal activity of the identified components, as well as their inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), were evaluated. Results The Q1 fraction of the petroleum ether phase extract of Artemisia scoparia exhibited a 100% mortality rate against mosquito larvae at 100 ppm. GC-MS analysis results showed that capillene, methyl eugenol, capillin, and caryophyllene oxide are the most representative constituents. The following larvicidal activity results showed that caryophyllene oxide and methyl eugenol had potent larvicidal activity with 50% lethal concentration (LC 50 ) values of 67.6 ppm and 101.6 ppm, respectively. These two monomer compounds had potent inhibitory activity against ALP with inhibition rates of 47% and 37% respectively. Conclusion In this study, the Q1 fraction of A. scoparia PE extract demonstrated potent larvicidal activity against Aedes albopictus . Notably, methyl eugenol and caryophyllene oxide were found to exhibit significant larvicidal activity. Enzyme inhibition assays further revealed that these two compounds may induce larval mortality by inhibiting ALP activity. These findings suggest that A. scoparia extract, as well as its active constituents, holds promise as an effective larvicide for mosquito control.

Integrating thermal proteome profiling and virtual screening to reveal the mechanism of Bletilla striata against osteoclast-driven osteoporosis.

Ginsenoside Rg1 targets TLR2 to inhibit the NF-κB signaling pathway and ameliorate hematopoietic support of mesenchymal stromal cells.

Mechanism of berbamine-mediated DNA damage in synovial fibroblasts to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis.