Effects of dietary polyphenol curcumin supplementation on metabolic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress indices in patients with metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: The aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis for assessing the effectiveness and safety of dietary polyphenol curcumin supplement on metabolic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress indices in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: A comprehensive search for clinical trials was conducted in the following scientific databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, and China Biological Medicine. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy and safety of curcumin supplement for MetS were identified. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed using inverse variance, and efficacy was expressed as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). The metabolic syndrome markers that were evaluated in the present study included waist circumference (WC), fasting blood sugar (FBS), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukin 6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), ultrasensitive c-reactive protein (hsCRP), and malondialdehyde (MDA). By employing the Cochrane tool, RCTs were assessed for bias risk. Results: A total of 785 participants from 13 RCTs were included, with intervention durations ranging from 4 to 12 weeks. Compared with the control group, the curcumin group had positive effects on WC (MD = -2.16, 95% CI: -3.78 to -0.54, p = 0.009, seven studies), FBS (MD = -8.6, 95% CI: -15.45 to -1.75, p = 0.01, nine studies), DBP (MD = -2.8, 95% CI: -4.53 to - 1.06, p = 0.002, five studies), HDL-C (MD = 4.98, 95% CI: 2.58 to 7.38, p < 0.0001, eight studies), TNF-a (MD = -12.97, 95% CI: -18.37 to -7.57, p < 0.00001, two studies), CRP (MD = - 1.24, 95% CI: -1.71 to -0.77, p < 0.00001, two studies), and MDA (MD = -2.35, 95% CI: -4.47 to -0.24, p = 0.03, three studies). These improvements were statistically significant. Meanwhile, there was no significant improvement in SBP (MD = -4.82, 95% CI: -9.98 to 0.35, p = 0.07, six studies), TG (MD = 1.28, 95% CI: -3.75 to 6.30, p = 0.62, eight studies), IL-6 (MD = -1.5, 95% CI: -3.97 to 0.97, p = 0.23, two studies), or hsCRP (MD = -1.10, 95% CI: -4.35 to 2.16, p < 0.51, two studies). FBS, SBP, HDL-C, IL-6, CRP, hsCRP, and MDA had a relatively high heterogeneity. Conclusion: Curcumin exhibited promising potential in enhancing markers associated with metabolic syndrome, including inflammation. However, additional studies are required to confirm such findings since the included evidence is limited and has a relatively high heterogeneity. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, identifier CRD42022362553.

Two new constituents from the aerial parts of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.

Two new constituents: a neolignan, salignan A (1) and a phenolic acid, salside A (2), along with two known compounds (3, 4) have been isolated from the aerial parts of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. All structures were assigned on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configuration of 1 was characterised by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy. Compounds 1 and 3 exhibited moderate inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells, and the IC50 values are 11.58 and 10.73 µM, respectively. Compound 4 displayed moderate antioxidant activity to scavenge DPPH and ABTS radicals, and the IC50 values are 7.96 and 1.10 µM, respectively.

Prediction of Self-Perception of Patient in Rheumatoid Arthritis With the Key RNAs Expression Profiles.

Self-perception in patients is their self-response to sensory stimuli. It is an important aspect of the existence and quality of life among patients. However, the inherent relationship between self-perception and the cellular activity at the molecular level is elusive. In this study, we aimed to explore the association of self-perception with RNA expression profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through computational analysis. We recruited 30 patients clinically diagnosed with RA and to age- and sex-matched controls without previous clinical history. In total, 5 self-perception measures and 30 RNA expression measures were derived from RA patients and control groups. A correlation analysis based on Spearman correlation and Logistic-regression methods was adopted to assess the correlation between self-perception and RNA expression. Quantitative analysis revealed that RA patients with poor self-perception were closely associated with RNAs expression, In addition, 3 key molecules including AC019117.2, LINC00638, and hsa_circ_0003972 could be used to predict self-perception changes in RA patients. Herein, our results will provide new insights in RA diagnosis however, the underlying mechanisms need to be further explored.

lncRNA expression profiles related to apoptosis and autophagy in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are >200-bp molecules that do not generally code for proteins. Human lncRNAs have well-characterized roles in gene expression regulation, particularly with regard to protein-coding genes, and their dysregulation has been linked to disease. Here, we set out to investigate changes in the expression of lncRNAs related to apoptosis and autophagy in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition, we aimed to correlate lncRNA expression profiles with clinical indexes and self-perception of patients (SPP). To this end, we employed RNA sequencing of lncRNAs in PBMCs from three patients with RA and three healthy controls. We used bioinformatics to screen several dysregulated lncRNAs related to apoptosis and autophagy. To validate key lncRNA candidates, we performed quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR on 20 patients with RA and 20 healthy controls. We found the expression of seven lncRNAs (MAPKAPK5-AS1, ENST00000619282, C5orf17, LINC01189, LINC01006, DSCR9 and MIR22HG) was significantly altered in PBMCs of patients with RA. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis suggested that MIR22HG [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.846, P = 0.000], DSCR9 (AUC = 0.783, P = 0.005), LINC01189 (AUC = 0.677, P = 0.034), MAPKAPK5-AS1 (AUC = 0.644, P = 0.025) and ENST00000619282 (AUC = 0.636, P = 0.043) are potential biomarkers of RA. Spearman's correlation analysis revealed selected lncRNAs correlated with clinical indexes and SPP. Therefore, we highlight that some lncRNAs related to apoptosis and autophagy may serve as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of RA progression, which also correlate with several clinical indexes and SPP.