Therapeutic effect of Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. leaves on ischemic stroke via the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. leaves (ESL) are widely used to treat ischemic stroke (IS); however, the specific mechanism remains unclear. The microbiota-gut-brain axis plays a critical role in IS and has become a potential therapeutic target. This study aimed to reveal and verify the therapeutic effect of ESL on IS through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry-based untargeted/targeted metabolomics combined with 16S rRNA microbiota sequencing strategy were used to investigate the regulatory effect of ESL on the metabolism and intestinal microenvironment after IS. Lactobacillus reuteri and Clostridium butyricum were used to treat rats with IS to verify that elevated levels of probiotics are key factors in the therapeutic effect of ESL. The results showed that IS significantly altered the accumulation of 41 biomarkers, while ESL restored their concentrations back to normal. Moreover, ESL alleviated the dysbiosis of gut microbiota brought on by IS, by reducing the abundance of pathogens and increasing the abundance of probiotics (e.g., Lactobacillus reuteri and Clostridium butyricum); this could reduce post-stroke injury, thereby having a certain protective effect on IS. This study reveals that ESL plays an important role in treating IS through the microbiota-gut-brain axis, maintaining metabolic homeostasis in vivo.

In-depth investigation of the mechanisms of Schisandra chinensis polysaccharide mitigating Alzheimer's disease rat via gut microbiota and feces metabolomics.

Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) is an herbal medicine used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purified polysaccharide fraction, namely SCP2, was previously isolated from S. chinensis crude polysaccharide (SCP) and its structure and in vitro activity were investigated. However, the in vivo activity of SCP2 and its potential mechanism for the treatment of AD have yet to be determined. This study used a combination of microbiomics and metabolomics to comprehensively explore the microbiota and metabolic changes in AD rats under SCP2 intervention, with the aim of elucidating the potential mechanisms of SCP2 in the treatment of AD. SCP2 showed significant therapeutic effects in AD rats, as evidenced by improved learning and memory capacity, reduced neuroinflammation, and restoration of the integrity of the intestinal barrier. Fecal metabolomic and microbiomic analyses revealed that SCP2 significantly modulated 19 endogenous metabolites and reversed gut microbiota disorders in AD rats. Moreover, SCP2 significantly increased the content of short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs) in the AD rats. Correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between gut microbes, metabolites and the content of SCFAs. Collectively, these findings will provide the basis for further development of SCP2.

An integrated study on the comprehensive mechanism of Schisandra chinensis polysaccharides mitigating Alzheimer's disease in rats using a UPLC-Q-TOF-MS based serum and urine metabolomics strategy.

As a well-known traditional Chinese medicine and functional food, Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) has been proved to possess excellent neuroprotective effects, and particularly the role of the polysaccharide fraction in neuroprotection has been increasingly emphasized. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effects and potential mechanism of action of the homogeneous polysaccharide SCP2, isolated and purified from S. chinensis polysaccharide (SCP), on Alzheimer's disease (AD) rats based on a holistic metabolomics approach in serum and urine. The results of the pharmacodynamics study showed that SCP2 significantly improved Aß25-35-induced cognitive dysfunction, improved oxidative damage and reduced Aß deposition in the hippocampus. The holistic metabolomics results of serum and urine showed that the intervention with SCP2 significantly reversed the metabolic profile disorder in AD rats. A total of 40 metabolites (21 serum metabolites and 19 urine metabolites) were identified, which were mainly involved in linoleic acid metabolism, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism. The results obtained in this study will provide new insights into the mechanisms of SCP2 in the treatment of AD and provide a basis for the subsequent structure-activity studies of SCP2.

A multidimensional strategy to rapidly identify the chemical constituents in Shengxian Decoction by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion mobility spectrometry quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

As a well-known traditional Chinese medicine formula, the chemical constituents of Shengxian Decoction still remain unclear due to its complexity. In this study, a multidimensional strategy based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion mobility spectrometry quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and informatics UNIFI platform was applied to achieve rapid and comprehensive identification of the complex composition of Shengxian Decoction. Data-independent acquisition, fast data-directed analysis, and high-definition MSE were used to obtain more and cleaner mass spectrum information. As a result, a total of 120 compounds including 74 saponins, 17 flavonoids, 7 cinnamic acid derivatives, 8 triterpenoids, and 14 others were identified or tentatively characterized by high-resolution molecular mass, fragment ions, and collision cross-section values. Furthermore, high-definition MSE was used to identify six pairs of co-eluting isomers that could not be detected from conventional data-independent acquisition and fast data-directed analysis. This research strategy has a certain potential for the analysis of other compound formulae and lays the foundation for the study of traditional Chinese medicine efficacy.

[Ethyl acetate-soluble chemical constituents from branch of Hypericum petiolulatum].

The stems and branches of Hypericum petiolulatum were extracted by alcohol and liquid-liquid extraction. Seven furofuran lignans were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of ethanol extract of H. petiolulatum by using silica gelchromatography, Sephadex LH-20 chromatography, medium-pressure liquid chromatography and preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified by the spectroscopic methods as pinoresinol (1), medioresinol (2), 8-acetoxypinoresinol (3), epipinoresinol (4), (+)-syringaresinol (5), (+)-1-hydroxysyringaresinol (6) and erythro-buddlenolE (7). All the isolates were firstly found in H. petiolulatum. In the bioassay, compound 7 showed remarkable antioxidative activity inhibiting Fe(+2)-cystine induced rat liver microsomal lipid peroxidation with inhibitory rate 38% at a concentration of 1 x 10(-6) mol · L(-1) (positive control Vit E with the inhibitory rate of 35% at the same concentration).