Anti-obesity and Gut Microbiota Modulation Effect of Astragalus Polysaccharides Combined with Berberine on High-Fat Diet-Fed Obese Mice / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate whether astragalus polysaccharides (APS) combined with berberine (BBR) can reduce high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mice.@*METHODS@#Except for normal mice, 32 HFD-induced obese mice were randomized into HFD, APS (1,000 mg/kg APS), BBR (200 mg/kg BBR), and APS plus BBR (1,000 mg/kg APS plus 200 mg/kg BBR) groups, respectively. After 6-week treatment (once daily by gavage), the obesity phenotype and pharmacodynamic effects were evaluated by histopathological examination of epididymal fat, liver, and colon using hematoxylin-eosin staining and serum biochemical analyses by an automated chemistry analyzer. The feces were collected at the 12 th week, and taxonomic and functional profiles of gut microbiota were analyzed by 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (16S rRNA) sequencing.@*RESULTS@#Compared with HFD group, the average body weight of APS plus BBR group was decreased (P<0.01), accompanied with the reduced fat accumulation, enhanced colonic integrity, insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Importantly, APS combined with BBR treatment was more effective than APS or BBR alone in improving HFD-induced insulin resistance (P<0.05 or P<0.01). 16S rRNA sequence-based analysis of fecal samples demonstrated that APS combined with BBR treatment exhibited a better impact on HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis, exclusively via the enriched abundances of Bacteroides, which corresponded to the large increase of predicted bacterial genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism.@*CONCLUSION@#APS combined with BBR may synergistically reduce obesity and modulate the gut microbiota in HFD-fed mice.

Analysis of Crucial Transcription Factors of Berberine Against Cerebral Ischemia Based on Transcriptomics and Proteomics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveOn the basis of determining the protective effect of berberine （BBR） on cerebral ischemia， crucial transcription factors （TFs） of BBR against cerebral ischemia was identified by using transcriptome and proteome sequencing. MethodThe model of middle cerebral artery occlusion （MCAO） was established by thread embolization. The sham operation group， model group， low-dose group of BBR （dose of 37.5 mg·kg-1·d-1） and high-dose group of BBR （75 mg·kg-1·d-1） were set up. The rats were killed after continuous intragastric administration for 7 days. The pharmacodynamics was evaluated by Longa score and cerebral infarction rate， and the expressions of inflammatory cytokines， such as interleukin （IL）-1β， tumor necrosis factor （TNF）-α and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 （MCP-1） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Then， RNA-Seq technique was used to detect the differentially expressed genes （DEGs） before and after BBR intervention， and DAVID 6.8 was used for enrichment analysis of DEGs. CatTFREs technique was used to detect differential TFs before and after BBR intervention， and DAVID 6.8 and STRING 11.0 were used for enrichment analysis and TFs association analysis. Finally， by integrating the activity of TFs and the changes of downstream target genes， crucial TFs were identified and the related regulatory network was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.1. ResultCompared with the sham operation group， the neurological impairment was significant in the model group （P<0.01）， and compared with the model group， the low and high dose BBR groups could significantly reduce the neurological function damage （P<0.01） and decrease the rate of cerebral infarction （P<0.01）. Transcriptome data analysis showed that BBR was involved in the recovery process after cerebral ischemia mainly by affecting cell adhesion， brain development， neuron migration， calcium signaling pathway， cyclic adenosine monophosphate （cAMP） signaling pathway， inflammatory response and other related functions and signaling pathways. Proteomic data analysis showed that the differentially expressed TFs after BBR intervention interfered with cerebral ischemia mainly by regulating cell differentiation， immune system process， cell proliferation and other biological processes. In addition， integration analysis of TFs and DEGs revealed that transcription factor CP2-like 1 （TFCP2L1）， nuclear factor erythroid-2 like 1 （NFE2L1）， neurogenic differentiation protein 6 （NeuroD6） and POU domain， class 2， transcription factor 1 （POU2F1） were crucial TFs against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury mediated by BBR. ConclusionBBR has obvious protective effect on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury and its crucial TFs include TFCP2L1， NFE2L1， NeuroD6 and POU2F1.

High-throughput pyrosequencing of the complete chloroplast genome of Magnolia officinalis and its application in species identification / 药学学报

Chloroplast genome sequences have comprehensive application prospects in DNA barcoding and chloroplast engineering in traditional Chinese medicine. The complete chloroplast genome of Magnolia officinalis sequenced by high-throughput pyrosequencing and a sequencing procedure was established. Fourteen contigs were obtained after de nove assembly. The sequencing percent of coverage was 99.99%. The chloroplast genome is 160 183 bp in size, and has a typical quadripartite structure with the large (LSC, 88 210 bp) and small copy (SSC, 18 843 bp) regions separated by two copies of an inverted repeat (IRs, 26 565 bp each). chloroplast genes were successfully annotated, of which 17 genes located in each IR region. The chloroplast genome features in Magnolia officinalis are nearly identical to those from other Magnoliid chloroplast genomes. Phylogenetic analyses were performed based on 81 shared coding-genes for a total of 9 Magnolia samples of 5 closely related species. Results showed that distinguishing among species was generally straightforward at the species and population level. This study confirmed the effectiveness of our chloroplast genome sequencing procedure. The chloroplast genome can provide distinguishing differences to help identify Magnolia officinalis and its closely related plants.