Bibliometric and visual analysis of intestinal flora and immunity.

BACKGROUND: The gut microbiota and its stability have important relationships with immunity. However, bibliometric analysis in this field is underdeveloped. This study aims to visualize publications related to the gut microbiota and immunity to identify research frontiers and hotspots, providing references and guidance for further research. METHODS: Gut microbiota and immunity data were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database, and Microsoft Excel, Scimago Graphica and VOSviewer software were used to analyze publication output trends, the most productive countries/regions, journals, authors, co-cited references, and keywords. RESULTS: This study analyzed 16,611 publications, including 10,865 articles and 5746 reviews, and found a continuous increase in publications related to gut microbiota and immunity since 2013. We identified 62,872 authors contributing to this field from 2144 journals and 9965 organizations/institutions in 145 countries/regions. The top publisher with the highest output is University of California System with 525 papers. Among these journals, the top 3 most prolific journals are Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Microbiology, and PLOS ONE. The literature with the highest citation frequency is published in Science and has been cited 3006 times by Patrick M. Smith and others.Gut microbiota research hotspots include gut microbiota inflammation, immune response, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), and microbiota tumors. The gut microbiota and its microbial homeostasis play critical roles in immune reactions, inflammation, and even tumors and IBDs.Current research on gut microbiota and immunity is a popular field. Previous studies have shown that the gut microbiota and its microbial species have important effects on maintaining human health, immune function, inflammation, tumorigenesis, and IBDs. Understanding the roles of microbial communities and specific bacterial species as well as their interactions with humans has led to numerous discoveries that provide unique opportunities for exploring human health and future research. CONCLUSION: This study used bibliometric and visualization analysis to identify the development trends and hotspots of publications related to the gut microbiota and immunity. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the emerging trends and future directions in this field.

Trends in research on dietary behavior and cardiovascular disease from 2002 to 2022: a bibliometric analysis.

Background: Dietary behaviors and cardiovascular disease are two major health issues that have attracted a lot of attention from researchers worldwide. In this study, we aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the publication trends, authorship patterns, institutional affiliations, country/region contributions, journal outlets, highly cited documents, and keyword clusters in the field of dietary behaviors and cardiovascular disease research over the past two decades. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles published from 2002 to 2022 in the Web of Science Core Collection database. We extracted and analyzed data on the annual publication volume, authorship patterns, institutional affiliations, country/region contributions, journal outlets, highly cited documents, and keyword clusters using bibliometric methods and visualization tools. Results: Our study analyzed 3,904 articles, including 702 reviews and 3,202 research articles. The results revealed a continuous increase in the number of publications in this field over the past two decades. The top 10 authors, institutions, and countries/regions with the highest publication output were identified, indicating the leading contributors to this field. Moreover, the most frequently cited documents and highly clustered keywords were identified, providing insights into the research themes and topics in this field. Conclusion: Our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the publication trends, authorship patterns, institutional affiliations, country/region contributions, journal outlets, highly cited documents, and keyword clusters in the field of dietary behaviors and cardiovascular disease research over the past two decades. The findings provide valuable information for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to understand the research landscape, identify research gaps, and develop future research directions in this field.

Network Pharmacology Prediction and Metabolomics Validation of the Mechanism of Fructus Phyllanthi against Hyperlipidemia.

Hyperlipidemia has become a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and liver injury worldwide. Fructus Phyllanthi (FP) is an effective drug against hyperlipidemia in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Indian Medicine theories, however the potential mechanism requires further exploration. The present research aims to reveal the mechanism of FP against hyperlipidemia based on an integrated strategy combining network pharmacology prediction with metabolomics validation. A high-fat diet (HFD)-induced mice model was established by evaluating the plasma lipid levels, including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Network pharmacology was applied to find out the active ingredients of FP and potential targets against hyperlipidemia. Metabolomics of plasma and liver were performed to identify differential metabolites and their corresponding pathways among the normal group, model group, and intervention group. The relationship between network pharmacology and metabolomics was further constructed to obtain a comprehensive view of the process of FP against hyperlipidemia. The obtained key target proteins were verified by molecular docking. These results reflected that FP improved the plasma lipid levels and liver injury of hyperlipidemia induced by a HFD. Gallic acid, quercetin, and beta-sitosterol in FP were demonstrated as the key active compounds. A total of 16 and six potential differential metabolites in plasma and liver, respectively, were found to be involved in the therapeutic effects of FP against hyperlipidemia by metabolomics. Further, integration analysis indicated that the intervention effects were associated with CYP1A1, AChE, and MGAM, as well as the adjustment of L-kynurenine, corticosterone, acetylcholine, and raffinose, mainly involving tryptophan metabolism pathway. Molecular docking ensured that the above ingredients acting on hyperlipidemia-related protein targets played a key role in lowering lipids. In summary, this research provided a new possibility for preventing and treating hyperlipidemia.

Effect of Liuzijue exercise in different periods on circadian rhythm of blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension: A randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Exercising at different times of the day is a widely employed strategy for treating essential hypertension, aimed at enhancing the circadian rhythm of blood pressure. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Liuzijue exercise in the morning and afternoon on the circadian rhythm of blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. METHODS: This clinical randomized trial recruited 36 patients. They were randomly divided into 3 groups: morning exercise, afternoon exercise, and waiting treatment group. Randomization was performed at a ratio of 1:1:1, ensuring an equal distribution of participants among the 3 groups. Based on maintaining routine work and rest and continuing the original drug treatment, the exercise performed Liuzijue exercise for 12 weeks. The exercise time was 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning exercise group and 14:00 to 15:00 in the afternoon exercise group. The waiting treatment group did not perform any form of fitness exercise. The subjects in the 3 groups were monitored by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure on the day before and after the first day. RESULTS: After the 12-week Liuzijue exercise intervention, mean systolic blood pressure during the night significantly decreased in the morning exercise group (P < .01). In contrast, the waiting group experienced substantial increases in 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure (24hSBP), 24-hour mean diastolic blood pressure (24hDBP), mean systolic blood pressure during the daytime (dSBP), and mean diastolic blood pressure during the daytime (dDBP) (P < .01). Further analysis showed that the morning exercise group had significantly lower 24hSBP, 24hDBP, dSBP, dDBP, and mean systolic blood pressure during the night than the waiting group (P < .05). Additionally, the morning exercise group had lower 24hSBP and dSBP levels than the afternoon exercise group (P < .05). In contrast, the afternoon exercise group had lower 24hDBP and dDBP than the waiting treatment group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The 12-week Liuzijue exercise in the morning regimen demonstrated superior efficacy in reducing 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure levels among patients with essential hypertension. Moreover, it facilitates the transition of non-dipper blood pressure patterns to dippers, thereby rectifying aberrant circadian rhythms.

Research trends and hotpots on the relationship between high salt and hypertension: A bibliometric and visualized analysis.

INTRODUCTION: A high salt diet is a significant risk factor for hypertension, and scholarly investigations into this relationship have garnered considerable attention worldwide. However, bibliometric analyses in this field remain underdeveloped. This study aimed to conduct a bibliometric and visual analysis of research progress on the link between high salt and hypertension from 2011 to 2022 with the goal of identifying future research trends and providing valuable insights for this field. METHODS: High salt and hypertension data were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Microsoft Excel, Scimago Graphica, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer software were employed to analyze publication output trends, the most productive countries or regions, journals, authors, co-cited references, and keywords. RESULTS: After screening, 1470 papers met the inclusion criteria. Relevant publications increased annually by 3.66% from 2011 to 2022. The United States led in research productivity, with The Journal of Hypertension publishing the most papers, and David L. Mattson as the most prolific author. Oxidative stress has emerged as a prominent research topic, and extensive investigations have been conducted on related mechanisms. "Oxidative stress," "gut microbiota," and "kidney injury" are recent hotspots that are expected to remain so, and this study carefully characterizes the mechanism of high salt-induced hypertension based on these hotspots. CONCLUSION: This study utilized bibliometric and visualization analysis to identify the development trends and hotspots of publications related to high salt and hypertension. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the forefront of emerging trends and future directions in this field.

Characterization of the anti-AChE potential and alkaloids in Rhizoma Coptidis from different Coptis species combined with spectrum-effect relationship and molecular docking.

Coptis species are the main source of Rhizoma Coptidis (RC) drugs, which have always been used to treat Alzheimer's disease in the clinical experience of ancient China. However, many species of this genus have been largely underutilized until now. With this fact, this research has been designed to investigate for the first time the anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) property of different extracts for RC drugs from four Coptis species (C. chinensis, C. deltoidea, C. teeta and C. omeiensis) and to quantify the main alkaloids. Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions of RC drugs were sequentially collected using an accelerated solvent extraction technique. Spectrum-effect relationship and molecular docking were applied to analyse the relationships between alkaloids and AChE inhibitory activity. The N-butanol extract was proven to be the main active fraction, and C. teeta may be the best source of RC drugs for Alzheimer's disease treatment, with significantly lower IC 20, IC 50 and IC 80 values for AChE inhibition. The UPLC/QqQ-MS quantitative analysis showed that the accumulations of 10 alkaloids in RC drugs from different sources greatly varied. Three data processing methods (Random forest, Boruta and Pearson correlation) comprehensively analysed the spectrum-effect relationship and revealed that columbamine, berberine and palmatine were the most important AChE inhibitors that could be used as quality markers to select RC drugs for Alzheimer's disease treatment. In addition, the dominant compounds were successfully docked against AChE to verify the binding affinity and interactions with the active site. The present study can contribute to the reasonable development and utilization of RC drugs from different sources, especially to provide certain evidence for their application in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Recent advances of tanshinone in regulating autophagy for medicinal research.

Initially described as an ancient and highly conserved catabolic biofunction, autophagy plays a significant role in disease pathogenesis and progression. As the bioactive ingredient of Salvia miltiorrhiza, tanshinone has recently shown profound effects in alleviating and treating various diseases by regulating autophagy. However, compared to the remarkable achievements in the known pharmacological effects of this traditional Chinese medicine, there is a lack of a concise and comprehensive review deciphering the mechanism by which tanshinone regulates autophagy for medicinal research. In this context, we concisely review the advances of tanshinone in regulating autophagy for medicinal research, including human cancer, the nervous system, and cardiovascular diseases. The pharmacological effects of tanshinone targeting autophagy involve the regulation of autophagy-related proteins, such as Beclin-1, LC3-II, P62, ULK1, Bax, ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, ATG9, and ATG12; the regulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR, MEK/ERK/mTOR, Beclin-1-related, and AMPK-related signaling pathways; the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS); and the activation of AMPK. Notably, we found that tanshinone played a dual role in human cancers in an autophagic manner, which may provide a new avenue for potential clinical application. In brief, these findings on autophagic tanshinone and its derivatives provide a new clue for expediting medicinal research related to tanshinone compounds and autophagy.