Global trends in bufalin application research for cancer from 2003 to 2022: A bibliometric and visualised analysis.

Background: Bufalin, the main active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine huachansu, is used in the clinical treatment of colorectal cancer and has multiple effects, including the inhibition of migratory invasion, reversal of multi-drug resistance, induction of apoptosis and differentiation, and inhibition of angiogenesis. Methods: We collected relevant articles on bufalin from 2003 to 2022 using the Web Science platform, and analysed the information using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Microsoft Excel to categorise and summarise the publications over the past 20 years. Results: We collected 371 papers, with a steady increase in the number of articles published globally. China has the highest number of published articles, whereas Japan has the highest number of citations. Currently, there is considerable enthusiasm for investigating the anti-tumour mechanism of bufalin and optimising drug delivery systems for its administration. Conclusion: For the first time, we present a comprehensive overview of papers published worldwide on bufalin over the past two decades and the progress of its application in tumour therapy. We summarised the key authors, institutions, and countries that have contributed to the field and the potential of bufalin for the treatment of cancer. This will help other researchers obtain an overview of progress in the field, enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing, and promote future research on bufalin.

ErZhiFormula prevents UV-induced skin photoaging by Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling: An in vitro and in vivo studies.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: ErZhiFormula (EZF) is a classical traditional Chinese medicinal formulation. It can be used to treat liver and kidney yin deficiency, dizziness, lumbar debility, insomnia, nocturnal emission, lower extremity weakness, and other aging-related diseases. However, the protective effect of EZF in skin photoaging and its potential mechanism has not been clarified. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to explore the role of EZF in the skin photoaging mechanism induced by UV radiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) was used to identify the fingerprint of EZF. The mice were irradiated with UVA and UVB to establish the photoaging model in vivo. Human immortalized keratinocytes (HaCaT) were irradiated with UVB to establish the photoaging model in vitro. The activity of cells was detected by CCK-8 and LDH kits, the level of reactive oxygen species was detected by DCF fluorescent probe, and the apoptosis was detected by PE annexin V and 7-Amino-Actinomycin (7-AAD) staining. Comet assay was used to detect cell DNA damage. The antioxidant enzyme levels in cell and mouse serum were detected by antioxidant kit, and Western blot was used to detect protein expression. RESULTS: We found that EZF contain many active ingredients, including salidroside, specnuezhenide, isoquercitrin, etc. EZF can improve the photoaging of HaCaT cells and mouse skin caused by UV radiation. The results of animal experiments are consistent with those of cell experiments. Combined with Western blot analysis, we found that EZF finally played an anti-skin photoaging role by regulating the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 pathway. CONCLUSIONS: EZF can protect skin from UV-induced photoaging by regulating the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signal pathway. EZF may become a traditional Chinese medicine with the potential to prevent skin photoaging.

Efficient and recyclable sericin-derived carbon aerogel for oils and organic solvents adsorption.

Sericin, an industrial waste of the silk industry, is a promising precursor for adsorbent preparation. In this work, an efficient and novel sericin-derived carbon aerogel (SCA) was used to improve the adsorption efficiency of oils and organic solvents. The SCA demonstrated a high-efficiency sorption capacity of not only soybean oil (adsorption capacity reached up to 167.69 times its weight) but also chloroform and methylene chloride (adsorption capacity of 193.67 g/g and 173.25 g/g respectively). It is observed that SCA could be regenerated multiple times through combustion and after five cycles, its adsorbability to ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, and soybean oil remained high at 59.08 g/g, 59.34 g/g, and 137.36 g/g, respectively. The physical and chemical characteristics of sericin and SCA were analyzed using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The results suggest that SCA is an adsorbent with excellent properties and can significantly increase the adsorption capacity of oils and organic solvents. The overall results indicate that SCA is effectively used as an adsorbent for the adsorption of oils and organic solvents, which will contribute to reduce the discharge of sericin-containing wastewater and alleviate pollution caused by oil and organic solvent leakage.

Tissue distribution of transcription for 29 lipid metabolism-related genes in Takifugu rubripes, a marine teleost storing lipid predominantly in liver.

The tissue distribution pattern of lipid is highly diverse among different fish species. Tiger puffer has a special lipid storage pattern, storing lipid predominantly in liver. In order to better understand the lipid physiology in fish storing lipid in liver, the present study preliminarily investigated the tissue distribution of transcription for 29 lipid metabolism-related genes in tiger puffer, which are involved in lipogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, biosynthesis and hydrolysis of glycerides, lipid transport, and relevant transcription regulation. Samples of eight tissues, brain, eye, heart, spleen, liver, intestine, skin, and muscle, from fifteen juvenile tiger puffer were used in the qRT-PCR analysis. The intestine and brain had high transcription of lipogenic genes, whereas the liver and muscle had low expression levels. The intestine also had the highest transcription level of most apolipoproteins and lipid metabolism-related transcription factors. The transcription of fatty acid ß-oxidation-related genes was low in the muscle. The peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation may dominate over mitochondrial ß-oxidation in the liver and intestine of tiger puffer, and the MAG pathway probably predominates over the G3P pathway in re-acylation of absorbed lipids in the intestine. The intracellular glyceridases were highly transcribed in the brain, eye, and heart. In conclusion, in tiger puffer, the intestine could be a center of lipid metabolism whereas the liver is more likely a pure storage organ for lipid. The lipid metabolism in the muscle could also be inactive, possibly due to the very low level of intramuscular lipid.

Dietary taurine stimulates the hepatic biosynthesis of both bile acids and cholesterol in the marine teleost, tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes).

Taurine (TAU) plays important roles in the metabolism of bile acids, cholesterol and lipids. However, little relevant information has been available in fish where TAU has been identified as a conditionally essential nutrient. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary TAU on the metabolism of bile acids, cholesterol and lipids in tiger puffer, which is both an important aquaculture species and a good research model, having a unique lipid storage pattern. An 8-week feeding trial was conducted in a flow-through seawater system. Three experimental diets differed only in TAU level, that is, 1·7, 8·2 and 14·0 mg/kg. TAU supplementation increased the total bile acid content in liver but decreased the content in serum. TAU supplementation also increased the contents of total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol in both liver and serum. The hepatic bile acid profile mainly includes taurocholic acid (94·48 %), taurochenodeoxycholic acid (4·17 %) and taurodeoxycholic acid (1·35 %), and the contents of all these conjugated bile acids were increased by dietary TAU. The hepatic lipidomics analysis showed that TAU tended to decrease the abundance of individual phospholipids and increase those of some individual TAG and ceramides. The hepatic mRNA expression study showed that TAU stimulated the biosynthesis of both bile acids and cholesterol, possibly via regulation of farnesoid X receptor and HDL metabolism. TAU also stimulated the hepatic expression of lipogenic genes. In conclusion, dietary TAU stimulated the hepatic biosynthesis of both bile acids and cholesterol and tended to regulate lipid metabolism in multiple ways.

[Inhibitive effect of acanthopanax senticosus injection on gentamicin-induced ototoxicity in guinea pigs].

AIM: To study the antagonistic action of acanthopanax senticosus injection (ASS) on gentamicin ototoxicity. METHODS: Guinea pigs were randomly divided into control group, GM group, ASS group, and ASS + GM group. The changes of hearing threshold, cochlear morphology, expression of caspases-3 were determined by ABR, TEM, and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: The ABR threshold in GM group increased markedly. There was no significant difference in ABR threshold between ASS group and control group, but the ABR threshold in ASS group was much lower than that both in GM group and ASS + GM group. Severely injured hair cells with morphological characteristics of apoptosis were found under TEM in GM group, and the hair cells were less injured in ASS + GM group. The results of Western blot showed that the expression of caspase-3 increased markedly in GM group, but it increased slightly in ASS + GM group. CONCLUSION: ASS may antagonize the GM ototoxicity by inhibiting the expression of caspases-3.