Curcumin inhibits the formation of atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice by suppressing cytomegalovirus activity in endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Curcumin (Cur) is a hydrophobic polyphenol compound derived from the rhizome of the herb Curcuma longa. Cur has a wide spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities. It has been shown that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection was an important risk factor for atherosclerosis (AS) and Cur exhibited an outstanding anti-HCMV effect. However, anti-AS effects of Cur remain unclear when HCMV infected endothelial cells. AIMS: This study will investigate the anti-AS activities and mechanism of Cur,when HCMV infected in vivo and in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cur (0.5, 1, and 2 µM) was used to explore the anti-AS activities and mechanism after HCMV infected endothelial cells in vitro. ApoE-/- mice were fed a high fat and cholesterol diet (HD) and given 4000,000 copies/mouse MCMV infection by intraperitoneal and treated with ganciclovir (5 mg/kg/d), Cur (25, 15 mg/kg/d) for 10 weeks in vivo. KEY FINDINGS: As our results showed that Cur inhibited CMV replication and proliferation, reduced the intracellular ROS overproduction, decreased the release of inflammatory cytokines, down-regulated the level of HMGB1-TLRS-NF-κB signaling pathway-related proteins in vitro experiments. Cur reduced the serum levels of LDL-C, TC and TG, significantly decreased the formation of atherosclerotic plaque in the aorta, reduced the lipid deposition in liver and inflammatory damage in heart, lung and kidney in vivo experiments. SIGNIFICANCE: This study showed that Cur prevent AS progression by inhibiting CMV activity and CMV-induced HMGB1-TLRS-NF-κB signaling pathway.

Vitamin D supplementation rescues simvastatin induced myopathy in mice via improving mitochondrial cristae shape.

Statin induced myopathy (SIM) is a main deleterious effect leading to the poor treatment compliance, while the preventive or therapeutic treatments are absent. Mounting evidences demonstrated that vitamin D plays a vital role in muscle as a direct modulator. The deficiency of vitamin D was considered as a cause of muscle dysfunction, whereas the supplementation resulted in a remission. However, there is no causal proof that vitamin D supplementation rescues SIM. Here, using the mice model of simvastatin-induced myopathy, we investigated the role of vitamin D supplementation and the mechanisms associated with mitochondria. Results indicated that simvastatin administration (80 mg/kg) impaired skeletal muscle with the increased serum creatine kinase (CK) level and the declined grip strength, which were alleviated by vitamin D supplementation. Moreover, vitamin D supplementation rescued the energy metabolism dysfunction in simvastatin-treated mice gastrocnemius by reducing the abnormal aggregation of muscular glycogen and lactic acid. Mitochondrial homeostasis plays a key role in the process of energy metabolism. Thus, the mitochondrial dysfunction is a mortal damage for the highly energy-requiring tissue. In our study, the mitochondrial cristae observed under transmission electron microscope (TEM) were lytic in simvastatin-treated gastrocnemius. Interestingly, vitamin D supplementation improved the mitochondrial cristae shape by regulating the expression of mitofusin-1/2 (MFN1/2), optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) and dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1). As expected, the mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress was mitigated by vitamin D supplementation. In conclusion, these findings suggested that moderate vitamin D supplementation rescued simvastatin induced myopathy via improving the mitochondrial cristae shape and function.

Anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory potentials of Akebia saponin D.

Akebia saponin D, which is originates from Dipsacus asper Wall, has been used as a tonic, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent for the therapy of low back pain, rheumatic arthritis, traumatic hematoma, habitual abortion and bone fractures in traditional Chinese medicine. However, the anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activity and mechanism of Akebia saponin D has been rarely reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activity of Akebia saponin D and to assess its possible mechanism. The anti-nociceptive effect was measured by formalin test, hot plate, and acetic acid-induced writhing in mice while the anti-inflammatory effect was measured by carrageenan induced paw edema test, xylene-induced ear swelling and acetic acid-induced vascular permeability in mice and rats. Furthermore, anti-inflammatory effect was also measured in vitro using LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Our results demonstrated that Akebia saponin D dose-dependently decreased the licking time in the formalin test, delayed the reaction time of mice to the hot plate, and inhibited acetic acid-induced writhing. Treatment of Akebia saponin D attenuated the carrageenan induced paw edema in rats, inhibited the mouse ear swelling, and decreased Evans blue concentration in acetic acid induced vascular permeability test, revealing its strong anti-inflammatory effect. Akebia saponin D significantly decreased NO production and iNOS expression. Our results indicate that Akebia saponin D has anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects. It will provide experimental evidences for the use of Akebia saponin D and can be used to develop a therapeutic drug against pain and inflammation related diseases.

Akebia saponin D alleviates hepatic steatosis through BNip3 induced mitophagy.

Akebia Saponin D (ASD) is the most abundant constituent of the rhizome of Dipsacus asper Wall. The prior studies have shown that ASD alleviates hepatic steatosis targeted at the modulation of autophagy and exerts hepatoprotective effects through mitochondria. However, it is still unclear which signal transduction pathway that ASD increase autophagy and protect the mitochondria. The purpose of this paper was to explore the mechanisms through which ASD alleviates hepatic steatosis. ASD significantly reduced lipid accumulation in BRL cells. Furthermore, ASD significantly increased the mitophagy acting as increase the colocalization between mitochondria and punctate EGFP-LC3. ASD treatment increased the expression of BNip3, phospho-AMPK, prevented oleic acid (OA) induced LC3-II and phospho-mTOR expression. These effects were similar to the effects cotreatment with rapamycin. ASD treatment could not attenuate the expression of BNip3 blocked by chloroquine (CQ) or siRNA-mediated knockdown of BNip3. These results suggest that Akebia saponin D alleviates hepatic steatosis targeted at BNip3 mediated mitophagy. Activation of BNip3 via ASD may offer a new strategy for treating NAFLD.

In silico identification of anti-cancer compounds and plants from traditional Chinese medicine database.

There is a constant demand to develop new, effective, and affordable anti-cancer drugs. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a valuable and alternative resource for identifying novel anti-cancer agents. In this study, we aim to identify the anti-cancer compounds and plants from the TCM database by using cheminformatics. We first predicted 5278 anti-cancer compounds from TCM database. The top 346 compounds were highly potent active in the 60 cell lines test. Similarity analysis revealed that 75% of the 5278 compounds are highly similar to the approved anti-cancer drugs. Based on the predicted anti-cancer compounds, we identified 57 anti-cancer plants by activity enrichment. The identified plants are widely distributed in 46 genera and 28 families, which broadens the scope of the anti-cancer drug screening. Finally, we constructed a network of predicted anti-cancer plants and approved drugs based on the above results. The network highlighted the supportive role of the predicted plant in the development of anti-cancer drug and suggested different molecular anti-cancer mechanisms of the plants. Our study suggests that the predicted compounds and plants from TCM database offer an attractive starting point and a broader scope to mine for potential anti-cancer agents.

Curcumin inhibits human cytomegalovirus by downregulating heat shock protein 90.

Curcumin is a traditional Chinese medicine extracted from the rhizome of the herb Curcuma longa, which exhibits anti-human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) activity, however, the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. The present study reported that the pharmacogenomics of curcumin are similar to that of the antiviral drug, geldanamycin, which targets heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90). Comparative analysis of 3,000 clinical drugs demonstrated that curcumin had a positive association with the gene expression profiles of several drugs, among which the pharmacogenomics of the antiviral drug, geldanamycin, were most similar to that of curcumin. Molecular docking simulation analysis revealed that curcumin fit well in the binding pocket of Hsp90, with hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions and conjugation to maintain adhesion. Consistently, HCMV infection of human embryonic lung fibroblast cells resulted in increased expression of Hsp90α, which was significantly inhibited by treatment with curcumin. These findings suggested that targeting Hsp90 contributed to the anti­HCMV activity of curcumin.

Protective effect of curcumin against cytomegalovirus infection in Balb/c mice.

Curcumin has been found to suppress the activity of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in vitro, whereas its protective effects against HCMV infection in vivo remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effects of curcumin against HCMV infection in Balb/c mice. Mice were randomly divided into the control, model, model+ganciclovir (positive control), and model+high-dose, model+middle-dose, and model+low-dose curcumin groups. In the model groups, each mouse was given HCMV by tail injection intravenously. Positive control animals were given ganciclovir. Animals in the curcumin treatment groups were given different concentrations of curcumin. The anti-HCMV activities of ganciclovir and curcumin were assessed by serological examination and pathology. Ganciclovir and curcumin treatment reduced the HCMV IgM level and HCMV DNA load; decreased the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as well as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) generation in infected mice. These treatments also suppressed malondialdehyde (MDA) content and upregulated superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) levels. In addition, both treatments prevented pathological changes of the lung, kidney, liver, and heart tissues in infected mice. Our findings indicate that curcumin protected Balb/c mice against HCMV infection possibly by its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.

Changes of biomass, lipid content and fatty acids composition under a light-dark cyclic culture of Chlorella pyrenoidosa in response to different temperature.

For outdoor culture with light-dark cycle, the biomass and lipid losing at night resulted in lowering the biomass and lipid productivity. Previous studies focused on the contents of carbohydrate and protein in response to temperature for production of animal feed and nutritional supplements. In this study, the effects of temperature on the variations of biomass concentration, lipid content and fatty acids composition for production of biofuels were investigated under a light-dark cyclic culture. The results showed that 30 °C was the optimal daytime temperature for achieving high biomass and lipid; raising daytime temperature can lessen night biomass loss and stimulate lipid accumulation. Subsequently, outdoor culture strategy has been improved: keeping culture broth no less than 30 °C during the daytime. Consequently, the net biomass and lipid productivity were increased by 37.8% and 44.9% when compared to the former culture process in the same outdoor climatic conditions.