Recuperative herbal formula Jing Si maintains vasculature permeability balance, regulates inflammation and assuages concomitants of "Long-Covid".

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide health threat that has long-term effects on the patients and there is currently no efficient cure prescribed for the treatment and the prolonging effects. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have been reported to exert therapeutic effect against COVID-19. In this study, the therapeutic effects of Jing Si herbal tea (JSHT) against COVID-19 infection and associated long-term effects were evaluated in different in vitro and in vivo models. The anti-inflammatory effects of JSHT were studied in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and in Omicron pseudotyped virus-induced acute lung injury model. The effect of JSHT on cellular stress was determined in HK-2 proximal tubular cells and H9c2 cardiomyoblasts. The therapeutic benefits of JSHT on anhedonia and depression symptoms associated with long COVID were evaluated in mice models for unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS). JSHT inhibited the NF-ƙB activities, and significantly reduced LPS-induced expression of TNFα, COX-2, NLRP3 inflammasome, and HMGB1. JSHT was also found to significantly suppress the production of NO by reducing iNOS expression in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Further, the protective effects of JSHT on lung tissue were confirmed based on mitigation of lung injury, repression in TMRRSS2 and HMGB-1 expression and reduction of cytokine storm in the Omicron pseudotyped virus-induced acute lung injury model. JSHT treatment in UCMS models also relieved chronic stress and combated depression symptoms. The results therefore show that JSHT attenuates the cytokine storm by repressing NF-κB cascades and provides the protective functions against symptoms associated with long COVID-19 infection.

Ginkgolide B facilitates muscle regeneration via rejuvenating osteocalcin-mediated bone-to-muscle modulation in aged mice.

BACKGROUND: The progressive deterioration of tissue-tissue crosstalk with aging causes a striking impairment of tissue homeostasis and functionality, particularly in the musculoskeletal system. Rejuvenation of the systemic and local milieu via interventions such as heterochronic parabiosis and exercise has been reported to improve musculoskeletal homeostasis in aged organisms. We have shown that Ginkgolide B (GB), a small molecule from Ginkgo biloba, improves bone homeostasis in aged mice by restoring local and systemic communication, implying a potential for maintaining skeletal muscle homeostasis and enhancing regeneration. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of GB on skeletal muscle regeneration in aged mice. METHODS: Muscle injury models were established by barium chloride induction into the hind limb of 20-month-old mice (aged mice) and into C2C12-derived myotubes. Therapeutic efficacy of daily administrated GB (12 mg/kg body weight) and osteocalcin (50 µg/kg body weight) on muscle regeneration was assessed by histochemical staining, gene expression, flow cytometry, ex vivo muscle function test and rotarod test. RNA sequencing was used to explore the mechanism of GB on muscle regeneration, with subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments validating these findings. RESULTS: GB administration in aged mice improved muscle regeneration (muscle mass, P = 0.0374; myofiber number/field, P = 0.0001; centre nucleus, embryonic myosin heavy chain-positive myofiber area, P = 0.0144), facilitated the recovery of muscle contractile properties (tetanic force, P = 0.0002; twitch force, P = 0.0005) and exercise performance (rotarod performance, P = 0.002), and reduced muscular fibrosis (collagen deposition, P < 0.0001) and inflammation (macrophage infiltration, P = 0.03). GB reversed the aging-related decrease in the expression of osteocalcin (P < 0.0001), an osteoblast-specific hormone, to promote muscle regeneration. Exogenous osteocalcin supplementation was sufficient to improve muscle regeneration (muscle mass, P = 0.0029; myofiber number/field, P < 0.0001), functional recovery (tetanic force, P = 0.0059; twitch force, P = 0.07; rotarod performance, P < 0.0001) and fibrosis (collagen deposition, P = 0.0316) in aged mice, without an increased risk of heterotopic ossification. CONCLUSIONS: GB treatment restored the bone-to-muscle endocrine axis to reverse aging-related declines in muscle regeneration and thus represents an innovative and practicable approach to managing muscle injuries. Our results revealed the critical and novel role of osteocalcin-GPRC6A-mediated bone-to-muscle communication in muscle regeneration, which provides a promising therapeutic avenue in functional muscle regeneration.

Dietary Folate Deficiency Promotes Lactate Metabolic Disorders to Sensitize Lung Cancer Metastasis through MTOR-Signaling-Mediated Druggable Oncotargets.

Lactate metabolism plays a pivotal role in cancers but is often overlooked in lung cancer (LC). Folate deficiency has been linked to lung cancer development, but its impact on lactate metabolism and cancer malignancy is unclear. To investigate this, mice were fed either a folate-deficient (FD) or control diet and intrapleurally implanted with lung cancer cells pre-exposed to FD growth medium. Results showed that FD promoted lactate over-production and the formation of tumor oncospheroids (LCSs) with increased metastatic, migration, and invasion potential. Mice implanted with these cells and fed an FD diet developed hyperlactatemia in blood and lungs. This coincided with increased expression of hexokinase 2 (HK2), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and decreased expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). Pre-treatment of the FD-LCS-implanted mice with the mTORC1 inhibitor, rapamycin, and the anti-metabolic drug metformin abolished FD/LCS-activated mTORC1 and its targets including HIF1α, HK2, LDH, and monocarboxylate transporters (MCT1 and MCT4), which coincided with the reduction in lactate disorders and prevention of LC metastasis. The findings suggest that dietary FD promotes lactate metabolic disorders that sensitize lung cancer metastasis through mTOR-signaling-mediated targets.

A Botanical Drug Extracted From Antrodia cinnamomea: A First-in-human Phase I Study in Healthy Volunteers.

LEAC-102 is an emerging drug extracted from the medicinal fungus Antrodia cinnamomea (AC), which is traditionally used to ameliorate fatigue and liver disorders arising from excessive alcohol consumption. AC has been used as a health product with an immunomodulatory function, but its anticancer effect has not been applied in clinical therapy as a drug. This first-in-human study examined the safety and tolerability of LEAC-102 as a new drug in healthy adults.This standard 3 + 3 dose-escalation study included 18 participants administered LEAC-102 at doses of 597.6, 1195.2, 1792.8, 2390.4, or 2988 mg/day for 1 month plus 7 days of safety follow-up. The maximum planned dose was 2988 mg. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was monitored from the start of LEAC-102 administration up to the final visit. The dose of LEAC-102 was escalated to the subsequent cohort as long as there was no DLT in the previous cohort. Tolerability, clinical status, safety (by laboratory parameters), and adverse event occurrence were documented weekly during the treatment and 1 week after the conclusion of the treatment.All clinical biochemistry profiles were in the normal range, and no serious adverse effects were observed. The maximum tolerated dose of LEAC-102 was determined to be 2988 mg/day because one participant experienced urticaria. Additionally, our exploratory objectives revealed that LEAC-102 significantly elevated natural killer, natural killer T, and dendritic cells in a dose-dependent manner, activated effector T cells, and upregulated programmed cell death-1 expression.The outcomes suggested that LEAC-102 was well tolerated and safe in healthy adults and exhibited potential immunomodulatory function.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2022.2032868 .

Ribonucleotide reductase M2B in the myofibers modulates stem cell fate in skeletal muscle.

The balance among quiescence, differentiation, and self-renewal of skeletal muscle stem cells (MuSCs) is tightly regulated by their intrinsic and extrinsic properties from the niche. How the niche controls MuSC fate remains unclear. Ribonucleotide reductase M2B (Rrm2b) modulates MuSC quiescence/differentiation in muscle in response to injury. Rrm2b knockout in myofibers, but not in MuSCs, led to weakness of muscles, such as a loss of muscle mass and strength. After muscle injury, damaged myofibers were more efficiently repaired in the Rrm2b myofiber-specific knockout mice than the control mice, but these myofibers were thinner and showed weak functioning. Rrm2b-deleted myofibers released several myokines, which trigger MuSCs to differentiate but not re-enter the quiescent stage to replenish the stem cell pool. Overall, Rrm2b in the myofibers plays a critical role in modulating the MuSC fate by modifying the microenvironment, and it may lead to a possible strategy to treat muscle disorders.

Aged Skeletal Muscle Retains the Ability to Remodel Extracellular Matrix for Degradation of Collagen Deposition after Muscle Injury.

Aging causes a decline in skeletal muscle function, resulting in a progressive loss of muscle mass, quality, and strength. A weak regenerative capacity is one of the critical causes of dysfunctional skeletal muscle in elderly individuals. The extracellular matrix (ECM) maintains the tissue framework structure in skeletal muscle. As shown by previous reports and our data, the gene expression of ECM components decreases with age, but the accumulation of collagen substantially increases in skeletal muscle. We examined the structural changes in ECM in aged skeletal muscle and found restricted ECM degradation. In aged skeletal muscles, several genes that maintain ECM structure, such as transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and cathepsins, were downregulated. Muscle injury can induce muscle repair and regeneration in young and adult skeletal muscles. Surprisingly, muscle injury could not only efficiently induce regeneration in aged skeletal muscle, but it could also activate ECM remodeling and the clearance of ECM deposition. These results will help elucidate the mechanisms of muscle fibrosis with age and develop innovative antifibrotic therapies to decrease excessive collagen deposition in aged muscle.

A Pilot Study to Assess Food Safety and Potential Cholesterol-Lowering Efficacy of Antrodia cinnamomea Solid-State Cultivated Mycelium in Healthy Adults.

Antrodia cinnamomea is a Taiwanese medicinal mushroom with multiple pharmacological activities. Antrodia cinnamomea solid-state cultivated mycelium (LAC) exerts health-related effects in animal and cell models, but clinical data is limited. This study aimed to determine the safety and effects of LAC on human physiological functions. In an open-label, single-arm study, 32 healthy men and women ingested LAC capsules for three months. The subjects were monitored during the study and one month after the study end-point. LAC consumption did not significantly change fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, and triglyceride levels or liver and renal function indices. No adverse events occurred during the trial. Moreover, a significant change from baseline in total cholesterol levels was observed; men and women had decreases of 5.7% and 5.3%, respectively. Based on these, the ingestion of LAC-capsule has a considerable degree of safety and has the potential to reduce total cholesterol in healthy adults.

Low-folate stress reprograms cancer stem cell-like potentials and bioenergetics metabolism through activation of mTOR signaling pathway to promote in vitro invasion and in vivo tumorigenicity of lung cancers.

Low-folate (LF) nutritional status is associated with increased risks of lung cancer. It has unexplored effects on lung cancer malignancy, a cancer stem cell (CSC) disease. We hypothesized that LF may reprogram CSC-like potential and bioenergetics metabolism to increase metastasis potential of lung cancers. Cultivation of human non-small-cell lung cancer cells (H23) in an LF medium enhanced CSC-like properties signified by increased expressions of the CSC surface marker CD44 and pluripotency markers Sox2, Oct4 and ALDH1A1, and promoted self-renewal ability of anchorage-independent oncospheroid formation. The CSC-like phenotype of LF-treated H23 cells coupled with the metabolic reprogramming to aerobic glycolysis evident by elevated lactate release and medium acidification suppressed expressions of pyruvate dehydrogenase E1-α, and elevated redox status of the NADH/NAD+ and NADPH/NADP+ ratios. The LF-induced metabostemness phenotype of H23 cells was modified by DNA methylation inhibitor 5-AdC and histone acetylation inhibitor EX. Treatment of H23 cells with mTOR siRNA or the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin abrogated LF-activated Akt-mTOR-Hif1-Foxo signaling and stemness-associated sonic hedgehog pathway, reversed Warburg metabolic switch and diminished invasion of H23 cells. Intrapleural injection of LF-induced lung oncospheres into the LF recipient mice, but not the control recipient mice, caused metastasis xenograft lung tumors. The in vitro and in vivo data corroboratively demonstrate that LF stress reprograms metabostemness signatures through activated mTOR signaling pathway to promote metastasis tumorigenicity of lung cancers.

Frequent exercise: A healthy habit or a behavioral addiction?

It is well known that regular physical activity helps improve overall health and fitness and reduces the risk of many chronic diseases. However, excessive exercise might be harmful. Exercise addiction (EA) is a pattern of uncontrolled exercise that involves a craving for overwhelming exercise with addictive attributes. So far, little is known about this unique behavioral addiction. The aim of the current study is to introduce the diagnosis and assessment of EA, and to summarize several developing theoretical models. Eating disorders, body image disorder, low self-esteem, and high narcissism are related to high risk of EA. The paper also discusses the distinction between EA and highly involved physical activity.