A Systematic Review on the Research Progress on Polysaccharides from Fungal Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a class of natural drugs with multiple components and significant therapeutic effects through multiple targets. It also originates from a wide range of sources containing plants, animals and minerals, and among them, plant-based Chinese medicine also includes fungi. Fungal traditional Chinese medicine is a medicinal resource with a long history and widespread application in China. Accumulating evidence confirms that polysaccharide is the main pharmacodynamic material on which fungal TCM is based. The purpose of the current systematic review is to summarize the extraction, isolation, structural identification, biological functions, quality control and medicinal and edible applications of polysaccharides from fungal TCM in the past three years. This paper will supplement and deepen the understanding and application of polysaccharides from fungal TCM, and propose some valuable insights for further research and development of drugs and functional foods.

Metabolomics and Lipidomics Study Unveils the Impact of Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid on Hyperlipidemic Mice.

Bear bile powder is an essential, traditional and valuable Chinese herbal medicine that clears heat, calms the liver, and improves eyesight. Early studies have shown that bear bile powder has lipid-lowering activity, but due to the scarcity of natural bear bile powder resources, it has yet to be used on a large scale. Researchers have found that tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is the primary characteristic bioactive substance of bear bile powder. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of TUDCA on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemia. A hyperlipidemia model was established by feeding mice high-fat chow, following the intervention of different concentrations of TUDCA (25/50/100 mg/kg) orally, the hallmark biochemical indexes (total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)), histopathological examination (hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and oil red O (ORO) staining), and metabolomic analysis of serum and liver. The results showed that TUDCA could downregulate total TC, TG, LDL-C, upregulate HDL-C, reduce fat deposition in hepatocytes, reverse hepatocyte steatosis, and exhibit prominent lipid-lowering activity. In addition, it may play a therapeutic role by regulating glycerophospholipid metabolism.

[Study on drug properties of Arisaematis Rhizoma and Arisaema Cum Bile based on substance and energy metabolism in normal and cold/heat syndrome model rats].

This paper clarified the scientific connotation of the changes in cold and heat properties of Arisaematis Rhizoma and Arisaema Cum Bile through investigating the changes of substance and energy metabolism after drug intervention in the rats with normal and cold/heat syndrome, so as to improve the method of evaluating the drug properties of Chinese medicine. After one week of adaptive feeding, healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into three parts: normal rats, heat syndrome rat models, and cold syndrome rat models. Through ice water bath and oral euthyrox(120 µg·kg~(-1)), the models of cold syndrome and heat syndrome were induced, respectively. The models were made at 9:00 am. and administrated by gavage at 3:00 pm. every day. All administration groups were administrated with Arisaematis Rhizoma and Arisaema Cum Bile decoction, respectively, and the blank group was given the same dose of normal saline. After continuous administration for 15 d, the rats were anesthetized by chloral hydrate, blood was taken from abdominal aorta, and the hearts and livers were removed and stored at-80 ℃. The changes in the body weight and anal temperature of rats during administration were detected, and the liver coefficient of rats was detected after removing the liver. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was adopted to detect the expression level of the indexes related to substance and energy metabolism in liver and heart of rat, and Western blot was used to detect the expression of key proteins in AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway for further verification. The results showed that Arisaematis Rhizoma enhanced the expression level of enzymes related to substance and energy metabolism in the normal and cold and heat syndrome rat models, and increased anal temperature, which exhibited warm(hot) drug property. Arisaema Cum Bile inhibited the level of substance and energy metabolism in rats, and reduced anal temperature, which showed cold(cool) drug property. Chinese Pharmacopoeia has recorded "Arisaematis Rhizoma has warm property and Arisaema Cum Bile has cool property", which is consistent with the phenomenon in this study. Therefore, it is feasible to evaluate the drug properties of Chinese medicine based on the substance and energy metabolism of normal and cold/heat syndrome model rats, which completes the method of evaluating drug properties of Chinese medicine.

Cattle Bile Arisaema Aqueous Extracts Protect Against Febrile Seizures in Rats Through Regulating Neurotransmitters and Suppressing Neuroinflammation.

Cattle bile Arisaema (CBA) is a traditional medicine used for the treatment of febrile seizures (FS) for thousands of years in China. However, its application is greatly limited due to cost reasons, and pig bile Arisaema (PBA) is the main commercial product instead. Additionally, the underlying mechanism of CBA for the treatment of FS still remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the anti-convulsant effect and potential mechanism of the CBA aqueous extract for the first time through a hot-water bath-induced FS rat model. Our results showed that pre-treatment with CBA dramatically lowered the incidence rate and generation times and prolonged the latency of FS. In addition, CBA effectively ameliorated neuronal damage and regulated neurotransmitter disorder induced by FS in the rat hippocampus. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blotting, immunohistochemical, and qRT-PCR results exhibited that CBA suppressed the expression of GFAP, TLR4, NF-κB, HMGB1, NLRP3, TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6 and consequently inhibited the neuroinflammation induced by FS. Interestingly, although the CBA and PBA aqueous extracts possessed the same trend on the changes caused by FS, the improvement of FS by CBA is markedly better than that by PBA. These findings indicate that CBA exerts a protective effect on febrile seizures through regulating neurotransmitter disorder and suppressing neuroinflammation.

A comprehensive review of research progress on the genus Arisaema: Botany, uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity and pharmacokinetics.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The genus Arisaema belongs to the family Araceae, which includes Chinese herbal medicines with wide-ranging pharmacological functions, including those useful for the treatment of stubborn phlegm, cough, epilepsy, tetanus, snakebite, rheumatoid arthritis, and other ailments. AIM OF THE STUDY: The current study aimed to comprehensively review the botany, uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, quality control and pharmacokinetics of plants in the genus Arisaema and to provide novel insights to develop future research in this field. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant information on the genus Arisaema was obtained from published scientific materials (including materials from PubMed, Elsevier, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Baidu Scholar, CNKI, and Wiley) and other literature sources (e.g., the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 2020 edition; Chinese herbal books and PhD and MSc thesis). RESULTS: The application information complied with this review and included processing techniques, traditional uses, clinical applications and classic prescriptions. Approximately 260 compounds, including flavonoids, alkaloids, saccharides, steroids, fatty acids, amino acids and volatile oils, have been separated and identified from the genus Arisaema. The isolated compounds exhibit wide-ranging pharmacological activities such as antitumor activity, analgesic and sedative activity, antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory activity. The toxicity and irritant impacts, quality control, and pharmacokinetics are also discussed in this review. CONCLUSIONS: Plants in the genus Arisaema are valuable resources with therapeutic potential for a broad spectrum of ailments. Based on the limited literature, this review comprehensively and systematically summarizes current knowledge regarding the genus Arisaema for the first time. However, there have been insufficient studies on the active ingredients and germplasm and insufficient in-depth mechanistic studies. Therefore, isolation and identification of additional effective components and through research on the germplasm, pharmacodynamic mechanisms, and toxicology should be conducted to assess effectiveness and safety and to ensure the quality of the related drugs.

Antipharyngitis Effects of Syringa oblata L. Ethanolic Extract in Acute Pharyngitis Rat Model and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Ir-Idoids in LPS-Induced RAW 264.7 Cells.

Acute pharyngitis is an inflammation of the pharyngeal mucous membrane and submucous lymphoid tissues. Unsatisfactory treatment and repeated occurrences might cause chronic pharyngitis and other complications. Syringa oblata L. (S. oblata) is a traditional Chinese medicine that exhibited a significant therapeutic effect on various inflammatory diseases. Its commercial drug Yan Li Xiao (YLX) capsule is used as a cure for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, such as bacillary dysentery, tonsillitis, bronchitis, and acute gastroenteritis. However, studies about S. oblata relieving acute pharyngitis are rare. In this study, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze the chemical profile of S. oblata, and the bioactive phytoconstituents were isolated and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry. An ammonia-induced acute pharyngitis rat model was established to estimate the protective effect of S. oblata in vivo for the first time. The severity of pharyngitis was observed by appearance index and HE staining. The cytokines expression was performed by ELISA. Crucial proteins expression associated with TLR4/NF-κB/MAPK and NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathways were analyzed by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory effect of isolated compounds was evaluated by suppressing lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced NO generation and regulating the cytokines levels in RAW 264.7 cells. The results showed that S. oblata exhibited a protective effect in the ammonia-induced acute pharyngitis rat model, and the compounds exert potential anti-inflammatory properties against LPS-activated RAW 254.7 cells.

Comprehensive Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology to Explore the Mechanism of 5-Hydroxymethyl Furfural in the Treatment of Blood Deficiency Syndrome.

Radix Rehmanniae (RR, from Radix Rehmanniae (Gaertn.) DC.) is a natural medicine used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) since ancient times for the treatment of blood disorders. RR is steamed to get Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata (RP), which has a tonic effect on blood; the content of 5-hydromethylfurfural (5-HMF) increases more than four times after steaming. Studies have shown that 5-HMF has positive pharmacological effects on cardiovascular and hematological disorders. This study aimed to explore and verify the impact of 5-HMF on rats with chemotherapy-induced blood deficiency syndrome (BDS). Rats were given cyclophosphamide (CP) and acetophenhydrazine (APH) to induce BDS, the coefficients of some organs (liver, spleen, and kidney) were measured, and a routine blood test examined the coefficients of several peripheral blood cells. Metabolomics and network pharmacology were combined to find important biomarkers, targets, and pathways. Western blot was used to detect the expression of CYP17A1 and HSD3B1 proteins in the spleen. All these findings suggested that the 5-HMF significantly increased the number of peripheral blood cells and reversed splenomegaly in rats. In addition, 5-HMF upregulated CYP17A1 and HSD3B1 protein expression in splenic tissues. Also, 5-HMF ameliorated chemotherapy-induced BDS in rats, and its therapeutic mechanism might depend on steroid hormone biosynthesis and other pathways. It acts on blood deficiency via multiple targets and pathways, which is unique to Chinese medicine.