The Efficacy of Chaihu-Guizhi-Ganjiang Decoction on Chronic Non-Atrophic Gastritis with Gallbladder Heat and Spleen Cold Syndrome and Its Metabolomic Analysis: An Observational Controlled Before-After Clinical Trial.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness and explore the mechanism of Chaihu-Guizhi-Ganjiang decoction (CGGD) in the treatment of chronic non-atrophic gastritis (CNAG) with gallbladder heat and spleen cold syndrome (GHSC) by metabolomics based on UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS. Patients and Methods: An observational controlled before-after study was conducted to verify the effectiveness of CGGD in the treatment of CNAG with GHSC from January to June 2023, enrolling 27 patients, who took CGGD for 28 days. 30 healthy volunteers were enrolled as the controls. The efficacy was evaluated by comparing the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome and CNAG scores, and clinical parameters before and after treatment. The plasma levels of hormones related to gastrointestinal function were collected by ELISA. The mechanisms of CGGD in the treatment of CNAG with GHSC were explored using a metabolomic approach based on UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS. Results: Patients treated with CGGD experienced a statistically significant improvement in TCM syndrome and CNAG scores (p < 0.01). CGGD treatment evoked the concentration alteration of 15 biomarkers, which were enriched in the glycerophospholipid metabolism, and branched-chain amino acids biosynthesis pathways. Moreover, CGGD treatment attenuated the abnormalities of the gastrointestinal hormone levels and significantly increased the pepsinogen level. Conclusion: It was the first time that this clinical trial presented detailed data on the clinical parameters that demonstrated the effectiveness of CGGD in the treatment of CNAG with GHSC patients. This study also provided supportive evidence that CNAG with GHSC patients were associated with disturbed branched-chain amino acid metabolism and glycerophospholipid levels, suggesting that CNAG treatment based on TCM syndrome scores was reasonable and also provided a potential pharmacological mechanism of action of CGGD.

Study on the Mechanism of Xiaotan Sanjie Recipe in the Treatment of Colon Cancer Based on Network Pharmacology.

The aim of the study is to investigate the mechanism of action of Disulfiram against colon cancer through a network pharmacology approach. The targets were then imported into the Cytoscape 3.7.2 software to construct a network of active ingredient targets and were imported into the STRING database to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and the Bisogenet plug-in in Cytoscape 3.7.2 was used for network topology analysis. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were performed on the potential targets of Yiqi and Baiyu Tang for colon cancer using the R-language Bioconductor platform, and the results were imported into Cytoscape 3.7.2 to obtain KEGG network relationship maps. Molecular docking software Autodock Vina was used to map the core targets to the active ingredients. A total of 119 chemical components and 694 disease targets were obtained, including 113 intersecting targets. The key targets included AKT1 and TP53, and GO functional analysis mainly related to ubiquitination and apoptosis, etc. KEGG analysis showed that the treatment of colon cancer with Ganchenzan mainly acted through cancer-related signaling pathways such as AGE-RAGE and P13K-Akt, and the molecular docking results showed the best binding performance with TP53.

Corilagin Attenuates Allergy and Anaphylactic Reaction by Inhibiting Degranulation of Mast Cells.

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the anti-allergic activity of corilagin and also postulates the possible mechanism of its action. MATERIAL AND METHODS Corilagin was given orally at dose of 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg/day. All the animals (guinea pigs, rats, and mice) were sensitized for allergy such as eosinophilia and leukocytosis induced by milk; degranulation of mast cell by compound 48/80; and passive and active anaphylaxis. Moreover, the antagonistic effect was determined by estimating the effect of corilagin on contraction of guinea pig tracheal chain and ileum induced by Ach and histamine, respectively. RESULTS There was a significant decrease in the leukocyte and eosinophil counts in the corilagin-treated group compared to the negative control group. Treatment with corilagin significantly protects the degranulation of mast cells, and it also has significant anti-muscarinic and antihistaminic activity by reducing the muscle contraction induced by Acetylcholine (Ach) and histamine in guinea pig tracheal chain and ileum. CONCLUSIONS Corilagin possess anti-anaphylactic and anti-allergic activity by inhibiting the release of mediators from mast cells and by decreasing the serum concentration of immunoglobulin E (IgE).

Traditional Chinese medicine integrated with chemotherapy for stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer: a retrospective clinical analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is regarded as an important treatment for gastric cancer patients, especially for those in advanced stage. To evaluate the effects of TCM treatment on gastric cancer patients, the authors performed a retrospective study to report the result of the integrated treatment of TCM with chemotherapy for stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer. METHODS: In this study, 182 patients with stage IV and non-surgical gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the effects of TCM integrated with chemotherapy. Among the 182 cases, 88 cases received integrated therapy consisting of TCM and chemotherapy, while 94 cases received chemotherapy alone. The overall survival and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score were measured as the main outcome. RESULTS: The median overall survival of the integrated therapy group and chemotherapy group were 16.9 and 10.5 months, respectively. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of integrated therapy group vs. chemotherapy group were 70% vs. 32%, 18% vs. 4%, and 11% vs. 0%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups (χ2 = 42.244, P > 0.001). After six-month treatment, KPS scores of the integrated therapy group and the chemotherapy group were 75.00 ± 14.78 and 60.64 ± 21.39, respectively (P > 0.001). The Cox regression analysis showed that TCM treatment is a protective factor for patients' overall survival. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that TCM integrated with chemotherapy may prolong overall survival and improve survival rate and life quality of patients with stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer.

Anti-proliferation and anti-invasion effects of diosgenin on gastric cancer BGC-823 cells with HIF-1α shRNAs.

Drug resistance is a major factor for the limited efficacy of chemotherapy in gastric cancer treatment. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), a central transcriptional factor in hypoxia, is suggested to participate in the resistance. Here, we identified a hypoxia-mimic (cobalt chloride) sensitive gastric cell line BGC-823 to explore whether diosgenin, an aglycone of steroidal saponins, can inhibit cancer cell invasion and survival of solid tumor in a hypoxic mimic microenvironment. We have shown that diosgenin is a potent candidate for decreasing the ability of invasion and survival in cobalt chloride treated BGC-823 cells. In addition, when combined with HIF-1α specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA), diosgenin can inhibit BGC-823 cells more effectively. The anti-invasion role of diosgenin may be related to E-cadherin, integrinα5 and integrin ß6. These results suggest that diosgenin may be a useful compound in controlling gastric cancer cells in hypoxia condition, especially when combined with down-regulated HIF-1α.

[Effects of ethanol extract of Rhizome Pinelliae Preparata on intracellular pH value of human gastric adenocarcinoma cells].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of ethanol extract of Rhizome Pinelliae Preparata on the intracellular pH value of human gastric cancer SGC7901 cells. METHODS: After coculturing SGC7901 cells with ethanol extract of Rhizome Pinelliae Preparata (1, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125 mg/mL), cell viability was evaluated by chromatometry with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) staining. Intracellular pH value of SGC7901 cells was measured in the monolayer by using the pH-sensitive fluorescent probe 2,7-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-carboxyfluorescein-acetoxymethyl ester. The extracellular pH value of culture medium was measured by a pH211 Calibration Check Microprocessor pH Meter. Half-inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of ethanol extract culture to SGC7901 cells was decided by the MTT method and expressions of vacuolar-H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase) and Na(+)/H(+) exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1) mRNAs were examined by the method of fluorescence quantitative-polymerase chain reaction after 72 h of drug treatment. RESULTS: Ethanol extract of Rhizome Pinelliae Preparata at different concentrations significantly inhibited the proliferation of SGC7901 cells, lowered the intracellular pH values and heightened the extracellular pH values. The IC(50) of 72 h culture was 0.5mg/mL and it inhibited the expressions of V-ATPase and NHE1 mRNAs. CONCLUSION: Ethanol extract of Rhizome Pinelliae Preparata can lower down the intracellular pH value of SGC7901 cells. The mechanism may be related to inhibiting the expressions of V-ATPase and NHE1 mRNAs.

[Discussion of the correlation between phlegm and tumor microenvironment].

An abnormal microenvironment which is not fit for the living of normal cells is induced and maintained due to rapid growth, abnormal energy metabolism and self-regulation of specific proteins of the tumor cells. At the same time, the abnormal microenvironment is the guarantee of the neoplastic transformation, proliferation, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. The microenvironment mainly consists of interstitial cells and their components. There are correlations between the physiological role of body fluid and the physiological functions of microenvironment. Phlegm is the product of abnormal body fluid metabolism. So to discuss the correlations of them may contribute to clarifying the material base of phlegm and will further give new insight for integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in cancer research.