Since the occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China in December 2019, COVID-19 has been quickly spreading out to other provinces and countries. Considering that traditional ...Chinese medicine (TCM) played an important role during outbreak of SARS and H1N1, finding potential alternative approaches for COVID-19 treatment is necessary before vaccines are developed. According to previous studies, Maxing Shigan decoction (MXSGD) present a prominent antivirus effect and is often used to treat pulmonary diseases. Furthermore, we collected 115 open prescriptions for COVID-19 therapy from the National Health Commission, State Administration of TCM and other organizations, MXSGD was identified as the key formula. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of MXSGD against COVID-19 is still unknown.
The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic mechanism of MXSGD against COVID-19 by network pharmacology and in vitro experiment verification, and screen the potential components which could bind to key targets of COVID-19 via molecular docking method.
Multiple open-source databases related to TCM or compounds were employed to screen active ingredients and potential targets of MXSGD. Network pharmacology analysis methods were used to initially predict the antivirus and anti-inflammatory effects of MXSGD against COVID-19. IL-6 induced rat lung epithelial type Ⅱ cells (RLE-6TN) damage was established to explore the anti-inflammatory damage activity of MXSGD. After MXSGD intervention, the expression level of related proteins and their phosphorylation in the IL-6 mediated JAK-STAT signaling pathway were detected by Western blot. Molecular docking technique was used to further identify the potential substances which could bind to three key targets (ACE2, Mpro and RdRp) of COVID-19.
In this study, 105 active ingredients and 1025 candidate targets were selected for MXSGD, 83 overlapping targets related to MXSGD and COVID-19 were identified, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of MXSGD against COVID-19 was constructed. According to the results of biological enrichment analysis, 63 significant KEGG pathways were enriched, and most of them were related to signal transduction, immune system and virus infection. Furthermore, according the relationship between signal pathways, we confirmed MXSGD could effectively inhibit IL-6 mediated JAK-STAT signal pathway related protein expression level, decreased the protein expression levels of p-JAK2, p-STAT3, Bax and Caspase 3, and increased the protein expression level of Bcl-2, thereby inhibiting RLE-6TN cells damage. In addition, according to the LibDock scores screening results, the components with strong potential affinity (Top 10) with ACE2, Mpro and RdRp are mainly from glycyrrhiza uralensis (Chinese name: Gancao) and semen armeniacae amarum (Chinese name: Kuxingren). Among them, amygdalin was selected as the optimal candidate component bind to all three key targets, and euchrenone, glycyrrhizin, and glycyrol also exhibited superior affinity interactions with ACE2, Mpro and RdRp, respectively.
This work explained the positive characteristics of multi-component, multi-target, and multi-approach intervention with MXSGD in combating COVID-19, and preliminary revealed the antiviral and anti-inflammatory pharmacodynamic substances and mechanism of MXSGD, which might provide insights into the vital role of TCM in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Display omitted
Display omitted
•The gut microbiome profile of a rat model of MNNG-induced gastric carcinogenesis was analyzed.•Changes in gut microbiota composition were detected by 16S rRNA gene ...sequencing.•Bacterial species richness increased and diversity decreased during gastric carcinogenesis progression.•The most significant changes were occurred at the precancerous lesion of GC stage.•Gut microbiome changes in the rat gastric carcinogenesis model were similar to those in human.
Although many studies have examined changes in gut microbiota composition in gastric carcinogenesis to clarify the mechanism of action of anticancer drugs, it is unclear whether animal models of gastric carcinogenesis adequately reflect the disease in humans.
To address this issue, the present study investigated changes in the gut microbiome profile of a rat model of gastric carcinogenesis established using a combination of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), sodium salicylate, irregular fasting, and ranitidine. The rats were divided into control (Normal), chronic non-atrophic gastritis (CNAG), chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), precancerous lesion of gastric cancer (PLGC), and gastric cancer (GC) groups according to histopathological features. Gut microbiome in gastric carcinogenesis profiling was performed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of rat feces samples.
We found that gut bacterial species richness increased whereas species diversity decreased during gastric carcinogenesis, with the most significant changes detected in the PLGC group. Gut microbiota community composition differed across groups, with the greatest similarities observed between CNAG and CAG groups and between PLGC and GC groups. There were significant differences in taxonomic representation at the phylum level: the PLGC group had the highest ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes whereas the GC group had the highest abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria.
These results indicate that changes in the gut microbiome in a rat model of MNNG-induced gastric carcinogenesis are similar to those observed in humans, thus providing a useful tool for evaluating the efficacy and mechanism of action of novel monotherapies or drug combinations for the treatment of gastric carcinogenesis.
Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is one common chronic functional disease of the digestive system with limited treatments. The microbiota–gut–brain axis (MGBA) has a central ...function in the pathogeny of IBS-D, which includes the participation of many various factors, such as brain-gut peptides (BGPs), immune inflammation, and intestinal flora. Inspired by the drug combination in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), our previous study discovered that berberine (BBR) and baicalin (BA) could form natural self-assemblies as BA-BBR nanoparticles (BA-BBR NPs) and showed synergistic effects against IBS-D. Here, we investigated the synergistic effects of BA-BBR NPs on IBS-D model mice induced by chronic restraint stress plus Senna alexandrina Mill decoction with the influence on MGBA. BA-BBR NPs showed the best therapeutic effect on improving visceral hypersensitivity and diarrhea on IBS-D model mice, compared with BBR, BA, and BA/BBR mixture. Furthermore, BA-BBR NPs significantly (
P
<0.05) reduced the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and choline acety transferase (CHAT) in colon tissues or of serum from BGPs; it lowered the expressions of the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) in colon tissues and changed the levels of basophil granulocyte (BASO) and leukomonocyte (LYMPH) in whole blood from immune inflammation; it altered the intestinal flora of Bacteroidia, Deferribacteres, Verrucomicrobia, Candidatus_Saccharibacteria, and Cyanobacteria from intestinal flora. In conclusion, BA-BBR NPs, after forming the natural self-assembly between BBR and BA, promoted the synergistic effect on IBS-D mice than the sum of BBR and BA effects, based to the formation of self-assemblies rather than the simple mixing. It further proved that synergistic effect of BA-BBR NPs on IBS-D mice might be related to BGPs, immune inflammation, and intestinal flora from three important interrelated components of MGBA. This study will provide a novel idea for the interpretation of TCM compatibility theory and provide the basis for BA-BBR NPs as a medicinal plant-derived natural and efficient nanomaterial for clinical use.
Progression of hepatocellular carcinoma involves multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations that promote cancer invasion and metastasis. Our recent study revealed that hyperphosphorylation of ezrin ...promotes intrahepatic metastasis in vivo and cell migration in vitro. Celastrol is a natural product from traditional Chinese medicine which has been used in treating liver cancer. However, the mechanism of action underlying celastrol treatment was less clear. Here we show that ROCK2 is a novel target of celastrol and inhibition of ROCK2 suppresses elicited ezrin activation and liver cancer cell migration. Using cell monolayer wound healing, we carried out a phenotype-based screen of natural products and discovered the efficacy of celastrol in inhibiting cell migration. The molecular target of celastrol was identified as ROCK2 using celastrol affinity pull-down assay. Our molecular docking analyses indicated celastrol binds to the active site of ROCK2 kinase. Mechanistically, celastrol inhibits the ROCK2-mediated phosphorylation of ezrin at Thr567 which harnesses liver cancer cell migration. Our findings suggest that targeting ROCK2-ezrin signaling is a potential therapeutic niche for celastrol-based intervention of cancer progression in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Background and Aims:
Precancerous lesions of gastric cancer (PLGC) are the most important pathological phase with increased risk of gastric cancer (GC) and encompass the key stage in which the ...occurrence of GC can be prevented. In this study, we found that the gut microbiome changed significantly during the process of malignant transformation from chronic gastritis to GC in N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) multiple factors-induced rat model. Accumulating evidence has shown that alterations in gut microbiota and metabolism are potentially linked to chronic inflammation and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. However, the correlation of gut microbiota and metabolites, inflammatory factors, and the potential mechanism in the formation of PLGC have not yet been revealed.
Methods:
In this study, multiple factors including MNNG, sodium salicylate drinking, ranitidine feed, and irregular diet were used to establish a PLGC rat model. The pathological state of the gastric mucosa of rats was identified through HE staining and the main inflammatory cytokine levels in the serum were detected by the Luminex liquid suspension chip (Wayen Biotechnologies, Shanghai, China). The microbial composition and metabolites in the stool samples were tested by using
16S ribosomal RNA
(
rRNA
) gene sequencing and non-targeted metabolomics. The correlation analysis of gut microbiota and inflammatory cytokines in the serum and gut microbiota and differential metabolites in feces was performed to clarify their biological function.
Results:
The results showed that compared to the control group, the gastric mucosa of the model rats had obvious morphological and pathological malignant changes and the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) increased significantly, while the level of chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) in serum reduced significantly. There were significant differences in the composition of the gut microbiota and fecal metabolic profiles between the model and control rats. Among them,
Lactobacillus
and
Bifidobacterium
increased significantly, while
Turicibacter
,
Romboutsia
,
Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014
,
Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005
, and
Ruminococcus_1
reduced significantly in the model rats compared to the control rats. The metabolites related to the lipid metabolism and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway have also undergone significant changes. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the changes of the differential inflammatory cytokines in the serum, fecal metabolic phenotypes, and gut microbial dysbiosis in model rats.
Conclusion:
The activation of the inflammatory response, disturbance of the gut microbiota, and changes in the fecal metabolic phenotype could be closely related to the occurrence of PLGC. This study provides a new idea to reveal the mechanism of risk factors of chronic gastritis and GC from the perspective of inflammation-immune homeostasis, gut microbiota, and metabolic function balance.
Manpixiao decoction (MPX), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, is mainly used to improve the gastric mucosal pathology and stomach discomfort in patients with gastric precancerous lesions. ...Precancerous lesion of gastric cancer (PLGC) refers to intestinal metaplasia and/or dysplasia based on gastric mucosal atrophy. Effective prevention and treatment of PLGC is of great significance to reduce the incidence of gastric cancer. Because of the complexity of the etiology and pathogenesis of PLGC, there is no unified and effective treatment plan in western medicine. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has shown obvious advantages in the treatment of PLGC and the prevention of its further progression to gastric cancer, relying on its multi-approach and multi-target comprehensive intervention characteristics. This study is designed to examine the protective effect of MPX against PLGC and further to reveal the engaged mechanism via integrating network pharmacology and
in vivo
experimental evidence. Network pharmacology results demonstrated that inflammation, immune responses, and angiogenesis might be associated with the efficacy of MPX in the treatment of PLGC, in which the PI3K-Akt, cellular senescence, P53 and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum were involved. Then, we established a rat model of PLGC using a combination of N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), sodium salicylate, irregular fasting, and ranitidine, and observed the effects after MPX treatment. Our result showed that MPX improved the pathological condition of gastric mucosa in PLGC rats and reduced the incidence of gastric cancer. Next, the analysis of serum inflammatory cytokines showed that MPX reduced the inflammation-related cytokines (such as IL-1α, IL-7, CSF-1, and CSF-3) in the serum. Additionally, MPX also had a regulation effect on the “protein/protein phosphorylation-signaling pathway” network in the core region of the PLGC rats. It is showed that MPX can inhibit the phosphorylation of PI3K-AKT, and downregulates the EGFR, β-catenin, and N-cadherin protein levels. These results indicate that MPX halted the PLGC progression through inhibiting EGFR-PI3K-AKT related epithelial-mesenchymal transition process.
polysaccharides (APS), natural plant compounds, have recently emerged as a promising strategy for cancer treatment, but little is known concerning their effects on breast cancer (BC) tumorigenesis.
...We obtained breast cancer genetic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, network pharmacology to further clarify its biological properties. Survival analysis and molecular docking techniques were implemented for the final screening to obtain key target information. Our experiments focused on the detection of intervention effects of APS on BC cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231), and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to assess the expression of key targets.
A total of 1,439 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by TCGA and used to build disease networks. Module analysis, gene ontology and pathway analysis revealed characteristic of the DEGs network. Topological properties were used to identify key targets, survival analysis and molecular docking finally found that the targets of APS regulation of BC cells may be CCNB1, CDC6, and p53. Through cell viability, migration and invasion assays, we found that APS interferes with the development of breast cancer in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, qRT-PCR verification suggested that the expression of CCNB1 and CDC6 in breast cancer cells was significantly downregulated in response to APS, while expression of the tumor suppressor gene P53 was significantly increased.
Results of this study suggest therapeutic potential for APS in BC treatment, possibly through interventions with CCNB1, CDC6, and P53. Furthermore, these findings illustrate the feasibility of using network pharmacology to connect large-scale target data as a way to discover the mechanism of natural products interfering with disease.
This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) combined with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy and paclitaxel-based chemotherapy alone for gastric cancer ...treatment. Literature searches (up to September 25, 2019) were performed using the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, Chinese Science and Technology Journals (CQVIP), Wanfang, and China Academic Journals (CNKI) databases. Data from 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), with 1,109 participants, were included. The results indicated that, compared with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy alone, the combination of TCMs and paclitaxel-based chemotherapy significantly improved the tumor response rate (TRR; RR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.24-1.57;
< 0.001,
= 12%), increased the quality of life based on the Karnofsky Performance Scale score (RR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.19-1.96;
< 0.001,
= 0%), and reduced the side effects, such as neutropenia (RR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.55-0.84;
< 0.001,
= 44%), leukopenia (RR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.54-0.90;
< 0.01,
= 40%), thrombocytopenia (RR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.46-0.96;
< 0.05,
= 32%), and nausea and vomiting (RR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.32-0.80;
< 0.01,
= 85%). Hepatic dysfunction (RR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.33-1.20;
= 0.16,
= 0%), neurotoxicity (RR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.26-1.55;
= 0.32,
= 0%), and anemia (RR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.40-1.04;
= 0.07,
= 0%) were similar between the two groups. Evidence from the meta-analysis suggested that compared with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy alone, the combination of TCMs and paclitaxel-based chemotherapy may increase the TRR, improve quality of life, and reduce multiple chemotherapy-related side effects in gastric cancer patients. Additional rigorously designed large RCTs are required to confirm the efficacy and safety of this treatment.
Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the main extracellular matrix (ECM)-producing cells in the injured liver and the key mediators of liver fibrosis; they also promote the progression of ...hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the acidic extracellular microenvironment of HCC, HSCs are activated to promote the migration of HCC cells. It is worth attempting to alter the weak acidic microenvironment to promote activated HSC apoptosis to treat liver fibrosis and liver cancer. In the present study, a series of novel OA-amino acids analogues were designed and synthesized to introduce different amino acids in the 3-hydroxyl of OA using the ester condensation reaction to enhance hydrophilicity, alkalinity, and biological activity. We found that OA-lysine derivative (
) could improve the hydrophilic of OA and induce HSCs apoptosis via inducing MMP depolarization and increasing intracellular Ca
levels. Additionally,
displayed a better hepatoprotective effect than OA (20 mg/kg, intragastric administration) against the acute liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) in mice. The results suggested that basic amino acids (lysine) could effectively enhance OA's hydrophilicity, alkalinity, and hepatoprotective activity in vitro and in vivo, which might be likely associated with increasing bioavailability and altering an extracellular weak acidic microenvironment with further verification. Therefore, the OA-lysine derivative (
) has the potential to be developed as an agent with hepatoprotective activity.
PDF
