Simotang Alleviates the Gastrointestinal Side Effects of Chemotherapy by Altering Gut Microbiota.

Simotang oral liquid (SMT) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) consisting of four natural plants and is used to alleviate gastrointestinal side effects after chemotherapy and functional dyspepsia (FD). However, the mechanism by which SMT helps cure these gastrointestinal diseases is still unknown. Here, we discovered that SMT could alleviate gastrointestinal side effects after chemotherapy by altering gut microbiota. C57BL/6J mice were treated with cisplatin (DDP) and SMT, and biological samples were collected. Pathological changes in the small intestine were observed, and the intestinal injury score was assessed. The expression levels of the inflammatory factors IL-1ß and IL-6 and the adhesive factors Occludin and ZO-1 in mouse blood or small intestine tissue were also detected. Moreover, the gut microbiota was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons. SMT was found to effectively reduce gastrointestinal mucositis after DDP injection, which lowered inflammation and tightened the intestinal epithelial cells. Gut microbiota analysis showed that the abundance of the anti-inflammatory microbiota was downregulated and that the inflammatory microbiota was upregulated in DDP-treated mice. SMT upregulated anti-inflammatory and anticancer microbiota abundance, while the inflammatory microbiota was downregulated. An antibiotic cocktail (ABX) was also used to delete mice gut microbiota to test the importance of gut microbiota, and we found that SMT could not alleviate gastrointestinal mucositis after DDP injection, showing that gut microbiota might be an important mediator of SMT treatment. Our study provides evidence that SMT might moderate gastrointestinal mucositis after chemotherapy by altering gut microbiota.

Balanophora polyandra Griff. prevents dextran sulfate sodium-induced murine experimental colitis via the regulation of NF-κB and NLRP3 inflammasome.

Balanophora polyandra Griff. (B. polyandra) is a folk medicine used as an antipyretic, antidote, haemostatic, dressing and haematic tonic, for the treatment of gonorrhea, syphilis, wounds, and the bleeding of the alimentary tract by the local people in China. This study was designed to investigate the effects of B. polyandra on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-treated colitis mice in vivo and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages in vitro. Mice were induced with B. polyandra total extract (BPE, 250 and 1000 mg kg-1) and B. polyandra polysaccharides (BPP, 100 and 400 mg kg-1) for 22 days and treated with 3.5% DSS in their drinking water for the last 7 days and the LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with BPE (100 µg ml-1) and BPP (100 µg ml-1). Mice treated with DSS developed severe mucosal colitis, with a marked distortion and crypt loss of colonic surface epithelium and a colonic shortening. B. polyandra significantly inhibited colonic shortening and reduced the severity of colitis in the colon and lowered the colonic inflammation score (p < 0.05) and decreased the expression of interleukin (IL)-1ß, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and anti-serum amyloid A3 (SAA3) as well as the pro-inflammatory chemokine C-X-C motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10). B. polyandra also significantly suppressed the activation of nucleotide-binding domain like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and the nuclear factor kB (NF-κB). These results suggest that dietary intake of B. polyandra ameliorates colitis. Such activities of B. polyandra in humans remain to be investigated.