The potential health benefits of aloin from genus Aloe.

The Aloe species is known for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. Aloin is an active ingredient found in the leaves of medicinal plants of the genus Aloe. Aloin has attracted considerable interest for its antiinflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities. However, since its clinical application is restricted by its unclear mechanism of action, a deeper understanding of its pharmacological activity is required. This review provides an overview of current pharmacological and toxicological studies published in English from February 2000 to August 2021. Herein, we summarized the sources and potential health benefits of aloin from a clinical application perspective to guide for further studies on the sources of aloin, aimed at efficiently increasing aloin production. Importantly, the function and mechanism of action of aloin remain unclarified. In future research, it is necessary to develop new approaches for studying the pharmacological molecular mechanisms underlying the activity of this compound against various diseases.

Kombucha ameliorates LPS-induced sepsis in a mouse model.

As a popular traditional fermented beverage, kombucha has been extensively studied for its health benefits. However, the science behind the anti-inflammatory effect of kombucha has not been well studied, and there is an urgent need to uncover the secrets of the anti-inflammatory properties of kombucha. Here, we investigate kombucha's protective effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis and on the intestinal microecology in mice. The contents of reducing sugars, polyphenols, catechins, and organic acids in the kombucha group were identified using various methods. The results showed that the concentrations of acetic acid, gluconic acid, polyphenol, and glucuronic acid in the kombucha group were 55.70 ± 2.57 g L-1, 50.20 ± 1.92 g L-1, 2.36 ± 0.31, and 1.39 ± 0.22 g L-1, respectively. The result also demonstrated that kombucha effectively improves the survival rate from 0% to 40%, and increases the thermoregulation in LPS-treated mice, which showed decreased mobility and had lost their appetite for food. Furthermore, kombucha reduced the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukins (IL)-1ß and IL-6, restored the levels of T cells and macrophages in LPS-challenged mice, alleviated the histopathological damage, and inhibited NF-κB signaling in mice with LPS-induced sepsis. We demonstrated that kombucha effectively prevents cellular immune function disorder in mice at the initial stage of sepsis and exerts an immunomodulatory effect. In addition, the effect of kombucha on the gut microbiota was investigated during sepsis. Kombucha supplementation altered the diversity of the gut microbiota and promoted the growth of butyrate-producing bacteria, which exert anti-inflammatory effects. Our results illustrate the potential of kombucha as a novel anti-inflammatory agent against the development of systemic inflammatory responses associated with sepsis.

Insights into salvianolic acid B biosynthesis from chromosome-scale assembly of the Salvia bowleyana genome.

Salvia bowleyana is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that is a source of nutritional supplements rich in salvianolic acid B and a potential experimental system for the exploration of salvianolic acid B biosynthesis in the Labiatae. Here, we report a high-quality chromosome-scale genome assembly of S. bowleyana covering 462.44 Mb, with a scaffold N50 value of 57.96 Mb and 44,044 annotated protein-coding genes. Evolutionary analysis revealed an estimated divergence time between S. bowleyana and its close relative S. miltiorrhiza of ~3.94 million years. We also observed evidence of a whole-genome duplication in the S. bowleyana genome. Transcriptome analysis showed that SbPAL1 (PHENYLALANINE AMMONIA-LYASE1) is highly expressed in roots relative to stem and leaves, paralleling the location of salvianolic acid B accumulation. The laccase gene family in S. bowleyana outnumbered their counterparts in both S. miltiorrhiza and Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting that the gene family has undergone expansion in S. bowleyana. Several laccase genes were also highly expressed in roots, where their encoded proteins may catalyze the oxidative reaction from rosmarinic acid to salvianolic acid B. These findings provide an invaluable genomic resource for understanding salvianolic acid B biosynthesis and its regulation, and will be useful for exploring the evolution of the Labiatae.