Exploring the chemical composition, medicinal benefits, and antioxidant activity of Plumula nelumbinis essential oil from different habitats in China.

Plumula nelumbinis, a widely used traditional Chinese medicine known for its calming and nerve-soothing properties, contains essential oil as a primary component. However, research on P. nelumbinis essential oil (PNEO) is limited. This study aimed to investigate PNEO components, network target analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses, and antioxidant activity of P. nelumbinis from ten different habitats. GC-MS analysis identified 14 compounds in the essential oil, with CP12 (ß-Sitosterol) having the highest concentration. Five compounds were identified for the first time in P. nelumbinis, with three of them reported for the first time in the Nelumbo. Network target analysis revealed 185 potential targets for 11 compounds and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that PNEO was mainly located in the plasma membrane and could regulate a variety of molecular functions. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the essential oil was primarily enriched in pathways related to cancer and the nervous system. PNEO demonstrated strong antioxidant activity, with N8 (Fujiannanping) showing the highest ABTS scavenging capacity and N7 (Hunanxiangtan) showing the highest DPPH radical scavenging capacity. Cell experiments showed that CP4, CP5 and CP10 had protective effects against H2O2-induced oxidative damage. The study suggests that P. nelumbinis from different regions may have slightly different pharmacological effects due to the presence of unique compounds, and further research is necessary to explore the potential therapeutic benefits of PNEO.

Evaluation of Renal Impairment in Patients with Diabetic Kidney Disease by Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors related to renal impairment in patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) from the perspective of integrated Chinese and Western medicine. METHODS: Totally 492 patients with DKD in 8 Chinese hospitals from October 2017 to July 2019 were included. According to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) staging guidelines, patients were divided into a chronic kidney disease (CKD) 1-3 group and a CKD 4-5 group. Clinical data were collected, and logistic regression was used to analyze the factors related to different CKD stages in DKD patients. RESULTS: Demographically, male was a factor related to increased CKD staging in patients with DKD (OR=3.100, P=0.002). In clinical characteristics, course of diabetes >60 months (OR=3.562, P=0.010), anemia (OR=4.176, P<0.001), hyperuricemia (OR=3.352, P<0.001), massive albuminuria (OR=4.058, P=0.002), atherosclerosis (OR=2.153, P=0.007) and blood deficiency syndrome (OR=1.945, P=0.020) were factors related to increased CKD staging in patients with DKD. CONCLUSIONS: Male, course of diabetes >60 months, anemia, hyperuricemia, massive proteinuria, atherosclerosis, and blood deficiency syndrome might indicate more severe degree of renal function damage in patients with DKD. (Registration No. NCT03865914).

Protective role of antioxidant supplementation for depression and anxiety: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: New research supports an integrated approach to treating depression, and lifestyle modifications should be a regular component of both preventative and treatment programs. Therefore, in order to investigate the relationship between various antioxidant supplements and depressive status, we carried out a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT). METHODS: We thoroughly searched PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to screen publications focusing on the effects of antioxidant supplements on depression status. The meta-analysis mainly compared depression scores between groups that received antioxidant supplements and controls. We also pooled studies reporting changes in anxiety status as a secondary outcome. RESULTS: 52 studies with 4049 participants were eventually identified. The meta-analysis found that the positive effect of antioxidant supplementation, such as magnesium (SMD = 0.16, p = 0.03), zinc (SMD = 0.59, p = 0.01), selenium (SMD = 0.33, p = 0.009), CoQ10 (SMD = 0.97, p = 0.05), tea and coffee (SMD = 1.15, p = 0.001) and crocin (MD = 6.04, p < 0.00001), on depressive status were all significant. And antioxidant supplementation also showed significant improvement in anxiety (SMD = 0.40, p < 0.00001). Subgroup analysis by scale types and countries were performed, and antioxidant supplementation's positive effects on depressive and anxiety states remained significant. LIMITATIONS: This study did not limit the characteristics of the included population, and the diversity of scales also contributed to the heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: Intake of antioxidant supplements is associated with improved depression and anxiety states, further affirms the therapeutic potential of antioxidant supplements as adjunctive therapy to conventional antidepressants.

Anticoagulant activity of crude extract of Holotrichia diomphalia larvae.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Holotrichia diomphalia larvae are one classical folk medicinal material in East Asia which has clinically been used to promote blood circulation and dispel blood stasis for several hundred years. AIM OF THE STUDY: The anticoagulant activity of crude extract of H. diomphalia larvae (CEHDL) in vitro and in vivo was evaluated to explore its mechanism as antithrombotic medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of CEHDL on plasma recalcification time, platelet aggregation, bleeding time, hydrolysis of fibrinogen and fibrin were measured with normal human plasma, plasma-rich platelet, transected mouse tails and bovine fibrinogen; the anti-thrombosis activities of CEHDL in vitro and in vivo were analyzed with clots lysis assay and carrageenan-induced mouse tail thrombosis model. RESULTS: CEHDL was found to contain large numbers of proteins and could inhibit blood coagulation and platelet aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CEHDL preferentially cleaved α- and ß-chains followed by γ-chains of fibrinogen. Besides, CEHDL could directly degrade fibrin rather than activate plasminogen. It has been noted that fibrinogenolytic activity of CEHDL could be unaffected by metal ions such as Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Zn(2+), Fe(2+), Fe(3+), Cu(2+) and buffers with pH 3-10. Moreover, protease inhibitors like TPSI, aprotinin, leupetin, PMSF, DTT and EDTA only slightly or not inhibited fibrinogenolytic activity of CEHDL. However, CEHDL could be completely inactivated at 75°C and 100°C. In addition, CEHDL exhibited anti-thrombosis activities in both blood clot lysis assay and carrageenan-induced thrombosis model. CONCLUSION: CEHDL possessed potent anticoagulant activity and several fibrin(ogen)olytic agents from H. diomphalia larvae were responsible for its antithrombotic effect as medicine.

Construction of stable chainlike Au nanostructures via silica coating and exploration for potential photothermal therapy.

A facile one-pot approach is successfully developed to construct the stable Au nanochains with silica shell via self-assembly and classical Stöber process. The resulting Au chain@SiO2 nanoparticles holds great promise for serving as a safe, reusable, and high-performance photothermal agent against cancer.

Effect of ginsenoside-Rb1 on cardiomyocyte apoptosis after ischemia and reperfusion in rats.

The effect of ginsenoside Rb1 on cardiomyocyte apoptosis after ischemia (30 min) and reperfusion (6 h) in rats was observed. The ischemia/reperfusion heart model was established by ligating left anterior descending branch of coronary artery in Wistar rats. The apoptotic cardiomyocytes were examined under transmission electron microscopy and counted by in situ nick end labeling (TUNEL) method and light microscopy. Results showed that (1) The apoptotic cardiomyocytes were found in ischemic regions in the ischemia/reperfusion group, but not in the sham-operating group under transmission electron microscopy; (2) The number of apoptotic cells were 134.45 +/- 45.61/field in the ischemia/reperfusion group, 0/field in the sham-operating group and 51.65 +/- 13.71/field in the ginsenoside Rb1-treated group. The differences were significant among the three groups (P < 0.01). It was concluded that myocardial ischemia-reperfusion could induce cardiomyocyte apoptosis, and ginsenoside Rb1 could significantly inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion in rats, indicating that ginsenoside Rb1 could inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion, thus alleviating ischemia-reperfusion injury.