The American journal of Chinese medicine
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In Lung adenocarcinoma (ADC), Qi-Yin deficiency syndrome (QY) is the most common Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and composition of gut microbiota in ADC patients with QY syndrome. 90 stool samples, including 30 healthy individuals (H), 30 ADC patients with QY syndrome, and 30 ADC patients with another syndrome (O) were collected. Then, 16s-RNA sequencing was used to analyze stool samples to clarify the structure of gut microbiota, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) was applied to identify biomarkers for ADC with QY syndrome. ⋯ LEfSe identified Prevotella_9 and Streptococcus might be the biomarkers for QY syndrome. A diagnostic model was constructed using those 2 genera with the AUC = 0.801, similar to the AUC based on Metagenomics (0.842). The structure of gut microbiota in ADC patients with QY syndrome was investigated, and a diagnostic model was developed for the diagnosis of QY syndrome in ADC patients, which provides a novel idea for the understanding and diagnosis of TCM syndrome.
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Inflammatory macrophages stimulated by LPS disrupt homeostasis in the production of inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO). These are the causes of inflammation-related diseases and various cancers. The present study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of Korean ginseng berry extract (KGB) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 macrophage cells. ⋯ Additionally, decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities were observed following KGB treatment. Taken together, these results indicated that KGB possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects, mediated by the inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) signaling pathway in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. KGB may represent a potential therapeutic agent for inflammatory and oxidative stress-related diseases.
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Neohesperidin has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties and exerts extensive therapeutic effects on various cancers. In this study, the osteosarcoma cell lines were exposed to different concentrations of neohesperidin. Cell proliferation and viability were assessed by CCK-8 and colony-formation assays. ⋯ Subsequently, we found that neohesperidin-induced apoptosis and autophagy were related to the increase in ROS generation and were significantly inhibited by GSH. Moreover, neohesperidin induced activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway and inhibition of JNK with SP600125 attenuated neohesperidin-induced apoptosis and autophagy simultaneously. Our data indicated that neohesperidin caused G2/M phase arrest and induced apoptosis and autophagy by activating the ROS/JNK pathway in human osteosarcoma cells, suggesting that neohesperidin is a potential drug candidate for the treatment of osteosarcomas.
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Liver cancer is a gastrointestinal malignant tumor with high lethality. The prognosis of liver cancer remains poor. Compounds derived from natural products have been confirmed to alleviate the progression of various diseases, including cancers. ⋯ Additionally, TLR4 overexpression partially reversed the inhibitory effect of 6-shogaol on the progression of liver cancer cells via Wnt/[Formula: see text]-catenin signaling. Furthermore, the 6-shogaol-induced increase in FOXO3a expression in liver cancer was notably suppressed by TLR4 or Wnt/[Formula: see text]-catenin upregulation. Thus, 6-Shogaol suppresses the progression of liver cancer by mediating Wnt/[Formula: see text]-catenin signaling and is a potential agent for the treatment of liver cancer.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a tumor-like disease, is a serious and fatal pulmonary inflammatory condition usually characterized by irreversible destruction of the lung parenchyma, excessive matrix accumulation, and decline in lung function. IPF still remains a great burden to the universe. At the moment, the available therapeutic regimens utilized for IPF such as non-pharmacological therapies (lung transplantation) and pharmacological therapies (drugs, nintedanib, pirfenidone, etc.) are normally accompanied by significant limitations, such as adverse reactions, low bioavailability, poor selectivity, low-tissue distribution, in vivo instability, systemic toxicity, inconveniency and unsafe usage. ⋯ This paper extensively summarizes the pharmacological actions and signaling pathways or mechanisms of active components obtained from THM for treating IPF. Moreover, the sources and modernization, markets, relevant FDA and CFDA studies (the USA and China), preclinical analysis, and various compositions of THM currently under clinical trials are also highlighted. Additionally, this present analytical data would be instrumental towards further drug progression or advancement of active components from THM for the potential therapeutics of IPF in the future.