Therapeutic potential of Angelica sinensis in addressing organ fibrosis: A comprehensive review.

Fibrosis-related diseases (FRD) include conditions like myocardial fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, hepatic fibrosis, renal fibrosis, and others. The impact of fibrosis can be severe, causing organ dysfunction, reduced functionality, and even organ failure, leading to significant health issues. Currently, there is a lack of effective modern anti-fibrosis drugs in clinical practice. However, Chinese medicine has a certain beneficial effect on the treatment of such diseases. Angelica sinensis, with its considerable medicinal value, has garnered attention for its anti-fibrosis properties in recent investigations. In the past few years, there has been a growing number of experimental inquiries into the impact of angelica polysaccharide (ASP), angelica water extract, angelica injection, and angelica compound preparation on fibrosis-associated ailments, piquing the interest of researchers. This paper aims to consolidate recent advances in the study of Angelica sinensis for the treatment of fibrosis-related disorders, offering insights for prospective investigations. Literature retrieval included core electronic databases, including Baidu Literature, CNKI, Google-Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science. The applied search utilized specified keywords to extract relevant information on the pharmacological and phytochemical attributes of plants. The investigation revealed that Angelica sinensis has the potential to impede the advancement of fibrotic diseases by modulating inflammation, oxidative stress, immune responses, and metabolism. ASP, Angelica sinensis extract, Angelica sinensis injection, and Angelica sinensis compound preparation were extensively examined and discussed. These constituents demonstrated significant anti-fibrosis activity. In essence, this review seeks to gain a profound understanding of the role of Angelica sinensis in treating fiber-related diseases. Organ fibrosis manifests in nearly all tissues and organs, posing a critical challenge to global public health due to its widespread occurrence, challenging early diagnosis, and unfavorable prognosis. Despite its prevalence, therapeutic options are limited, and their efficacy is constrained. Over the past few years, numerous studies have explored the protective effects of traditional Chinese medicine on organ fibrosis, with Angelica sinensis standing out as a multifunctional natural remedy. This paper provides a review of organ fibrosis pathogenesis and summarizes the recent two decades' progress in treating fibrosis in various organs such as the liver, lung, kidney, and heart. The review highlights the modulation of relevant signaling pathways through multiple targets and channels by the effective components of Angelica sinensis, whether used as a single medicine or in compound prescriptions.

Pharmacological action of Hedysarum polysaccharides: a review.

Hedysarum, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine and food with a long history of clinical application, is used to improve health conditions and treat various diseases. Hedysarum polysaccharides (HPS), flavonoids, saponins, and alkaloids, are the primary components of Hedysarum. HPS is the most important natural active ingredient of Hedysarum, which has many pharmacological effects. Currently, HPS exhibits significant promise in drug development for various ailments such as tumors, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and fibrosis. This review paper discusses the extraction, separation, and content determination techniques of HPS, along with the investigation of its chemical constituents. More importantly, we reviewed the anti-inflammatory pharmacological effects of HPS, such as inhibition of inflammatory factors and NF-κB signaling pathway; antitumor activity through apoptosis induction in tumor cells and blocking tumor cell proliferation and metastasis; antioxidant effects; regulation of various cytokines and immune cells; regulation of blood sugar levels, such as in type I and type II diabetes and in diabetic complications; improvement in symptoms of Alzheimer disease; anti-aging and anti-fibrosis properties; and improvement in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. This review paper establishes the theoretical foundation for future studies on the structure, mechanism, and clinical use of HPS.

Research progress of natural medicine Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in treatment of myocardial fibrosis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a common pathological manifestation of many cardiovascular diseases at a certain stage, with excessive accumulation of collagen fibers, excessive increase in collagen content, and a significant increase in collagen volume as the main pathological changes. There are currently no effective drugs for the treatment of myocardial fibrosis. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the main component of the medical practice used for more than 5000 years, especially in China, often exerts a wider action spectrum than previously attempted options in treating human diseases. In recent times, the great potential of TCM in the treatment of MF has received much attention. Especially many experimental studies on the treatment of MF by Astragalus mongholicus Bunge have been conducted, and the effect is remarkable, which may provide more comprehensive database and theoretical support for the application of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in the treatment of MF and could be considered a promising candidate drug for preventing MF. AIM OF THE REVIEW: This review summarizes the chemical components of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, Astragalus mongholicus Bunge extract, Astragalus mongholicus Bunge single prescription, and Astragalus mongholicus Bunge compound preparation in the treatment of MF, and provides comprehensive information and a reliable basis for the exploration of new treatment strategies of botanical drugs in the therapy of MF. METHODS: The literature information was obtained from the scientific databases on ethnobotany and ethnomedicines (up to August 2022), mainly from the PubMed, Web of Science, and CNKI databases. The experimental studies on the anti-myocardial fibrosis role of the effective active components of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge and the utility of its compound preparation and the involved mechanisms were identified. The search keywords for such work included: "myocardial fibrosis" or "Cardiac fibrosis ", and "Astragalus mongholicus Bunge", "extract," or "herb". RESULTS: Several studies have shown that the effective active components of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge and its formulas, particularly Astragaloside IV, Astragalus polysaccharide, total saponins of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, triterpenoid saponins of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, and cycloastragenol, exhibit potential benefits against MF, the mechanisms of which appear to involve the regulation of inflammation, oxidant stress, and pro-fibrotic signaling pathways, etc. Conclusion: These research works have shown the therapeutic benefits of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in the treatment of MF. However, further research should be undertaken to clarify the unconfirmed chemical composition and regulatory mechanisms, conduct standard clinical trials, and evaluate the possible side effects. The insights in the present review provided rich ideas for developing new anti-MF drugs. THESIS: Myocardial fibrosis (MF) with excessive accumulation of collagen fibers, excessive increase in collagen content, and a significant increase in collagen volume as the main pathological changes is a common pathological manifestation of many cardiovascular diseases at a certain stage, which seriously affects cardiac function. At present, there is still a lack of effective drugs for the treatment of MF. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the main component of the medical practice used for more than 5000 years especially in China, often exerts wider action spectrum than previously attempted options in treating human diseases. In recent times, the great potential of TCM in the treatment of MF has received much attention. Especially many experimental studies on the treatment of MF by Astragalus mongholicus Bunge have been conducted, and the effect is remarkable, which may provide more comprehensive data base and theoretical support for the application of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge in the treatment of MF and could be considered a promising candidate drug for preventing MF.

Research Progress of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Myocardial fibrosis.

Effective drugs for the treatment of myocardial fibrosis (MF) are lacking. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has garnered increasing attention in recent years for the prevention and treatment of myocardial fibrosis. This Article describes the pathogenesis of myocardial fibrosis from the modern medicine, along with the research progress. Reports suggest that Chinese medicine may play a role in ameliorating myocardial fibrosis through different regulatory mechanisms such as reduction of inflammatory reaction and oxidative stress, inhibition of cardiac fibroblast activation, reduction in extracellular matrix, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system regulation, transforming growth Factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) expression downregulation, TGF-ß1/Smad signalling pathway regulation, and microRNA expression regulation. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine serves as a valuable source of candidate drugs for exploration of the mechanism of occurrence and development, along with clinical prevention and treatment of MF.

[Study on the mechanism of paeonol in improving low-density lipoprotein-induced human vascular endothelial cell injury].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of paeonol on low-density lipoprotein-induced human vascular endothelial cell injury and its molecular mechanisms. METHODS: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were divided into 9 groups, normal control (NC) group, ox-LDL group (100 ng/L ox-LDL), low, medium, and high-dose paeonol groups (60 µmol/L, 120 µmol/L, 240 µmol/L paeonol+100 ng/L ox-LDL), ox-LDL+small interfering RNA negative control (si-NC) group, ox-LDL+circ_0003204 small interfering RNA (si-circ_0003204) group, middle dose group+ox-LDL+circ_0003204 overexpression negative control (pcDNA-NC) group, middle dose group+ox-LDL+circ_0003204 overexpression (pcDNA-circ_0003204) group, three replicate wells in each group. MTT flow cytometry, and Western blot were used to detect cell proliferation, apoptosis and protein (CDK2, Bcl2, p27, Bax) expressions, respectively. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) kit were used to detect MDA content and SOD activity; real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of circ_0003204. RESULTS: Compared with the NC group, the proliferation activity, protein expressions of CDK2 and Bcl2, and SOD activity of HUVECs in the ox-LDL group were decreased significantly (P＜0.05), and the apoptosis rate, protein expressions of p27 and Bax, MDA content, and circ_0003204 expression were increased significantly (P＜ 0.05). Compared with the ox-LDL group, the proliferation activity, protein (CDK2, Bcl2) expressions and SOD activity of HUVECs in the low, medium and high dose paeonol groups were increased significantly (P＜0.05), and the apoptosis rate, protein (p27, Bax) expressions, MDA content And circ_0003204 expression were decreased significantly (P＜ 0.05). Compared with ox-LDL+si-NC group, the proliferation activity, protein (CDK2, Bcl2) expressions, SOD activity of HUVECs in ox-LDL+si-circ_0003204 group were increased significantly (P＜0.05), the apoptosis rate, protein (p27, Bax) expressions, and the content of MDA were decreased significantly (P＜0.05). Compared with the middle-dose+ox-LDL+pcDNA-NC group, the HUVECs proliferation activity, protein (CDK2, Bcl2) expressions, and SOD activity in the middle-dose+ox-LDL+pcDNA-circ_0003204 group were decreased significantly (P＜0.05), and the levels of circ_0003204, apoptosis rate, protein (p27, Bax) expressions and MDA content were increased significantly (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: Paeonol can inhibit ox-LDL-induced apoptosis and oxidative stress of human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and alleviate human umbilical vein endothelial cell injury. The mechanism of action may be related to the down-regulation of circ_0003204 expression.