ABSTRACT
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of types of inflammatory bowel disease with high recurrence. Recent studies have highlighted that microbial dysbiosis as well as abnormal gut immunity are crucial factors that initiate a series of inflammatory responses in the UC. Modulating the gut microbiota-intestinal immunity loop has been suggested as one of key strategies for relieving UC. Many Chinese herbal medicines including some of single herb, herbal formulas and the derived constituents have been reported with protective effect against UC through modulating gut microbiome and intestinal immunity. Some clinical trials have shown promising results. This review thus focused on the current knowledge on using Chinese herbal medicines for treating UC from the mechanism aspects of regulating intestinal homeostasis involving microbiota and gut immunity. The existing clinical trials are also summarized.
ABSTRACT
Tumor cells along with a small proportion of cancer stem cells exist in a stromal microenvironment consisting of vasculature, cancer-associated fibroblasts, immune cells and extracellular components. Recent epidemiological and clinical studies strongly support that vitamin D supplementation is associated with reduced cancer risk and favorable prognosis. Experimental results suggest that vitamin D not only suppresses cancer cells, but also regulates tumor microenvironment to facilitate tumor repression. In this review, we have outlined the current knowledge on epidemiological studies and clinical trials of vitamin D. Notably, we summarized and discussed the anticancer action of vitamin D in cancer cells, cancer stem cells and stroma cells in tumor microenvironment, providing a better understanding of the role of vitamin D in cancer. We presently re-propose vitamin D to be a novel and economical anticancer agent.