Molecular mechanisms of Chengshi Beixie Fenqing Decoction based on network pharmacology: pivotal roles of relaxin signaling pathway and its associated target proteins against Benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common disease that affects the quality of life of middle-aged and older men. We investigated the therapeutical effects of Chengshi Beixie Fenqing Decoction (CBFD), a classic traditional Chinese medicine prescription, on BPH through in vivo model and network pharmacology. Bioactives in CBFD were detected through UPLC-Q-Tof-MS/MS and GC-MS, and filtered by the modified Lipinski's rule. Target proteins associated with the filtered compounds and BPH are selected from public databases. Venn diagram identified the overlapping target proteins between the bioactives-interacted target proteins and the BPH-targeted proteins. The bioactive-protein interactive networking of BPH was analyzed through the KEGG pathway on STRING to identify potential ligand-target and visualized the rich factors on the R packet. After that, the molecular docking test (MDT) was performed between bioactives and target proteins. It showed that the mechanism of CBFD against BPH was related to 104 signaling pathways of 42 compounds. AKT1, 6-demethyl-4'-methyl-N-methylcoclaurine and relaxin signaling pathways were selected as a hub target, key bioactivitie and hub signaling pathway, respectively. In addition, three major compounds, 6-demethyl-4'-methyl-N-methylcoclaurine, isoliensinine and liensinine, had the highest affinity on MDT for the three crucial target proteins, AKT1, JUN and MAPK1. These proteins were associated with the relaxin signaling pathway, which regulated the level of nitric oxide and is implicated in both BPH development and CBFD. We concluded that the three key bioactivities found in Plumula nelumbinis of CBFD may contribute to improving BPH condition by activating the relaxin signaling pathways.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Lysosomal dysfunction in carbon black-induced lung disorders.

Carbon black (CB), a component of environmental particulate pollution derived from carbon sources, poses a significant threat to human health, particularly in the context of lung-related disease. This study aimed to investigate the detrimental effects of aggregated CB in the average micron scale on lung tissues and cells in vitro and in vivo. We observed that CB particles induced lung disorders characterized by enhanced expression of inflammation, necrosis, and fibrosis-related factors in vivo. In alveolar epithelial cells, CB exposure resulted in decreased cell viability, induction of cell death, and generation of reactive oxidative species, along with altered expression of proteins associated with lung disorders. Our findings suggested that the damaging effects of CB on the lung involved the targeting of lysosomes. Specifically, CB promoted lysosomal membrane permeabilization, while lysosomal alkalization mitigated the harmfulness of CB on lung cells. Additionally, we explored the protective effects of alkaloids derived from Nelumbinis plumula, with a focus on neferine, against CB-induced lung disorders. In conclusion, these findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the pathophysiological effects of CB particles on the lungs and propose a potential therapeutic approach for pollution-related diseases.

Aqueous extract of Platycodon grandiflorus attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced apoptosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in mouse lungs by inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling.

BACKGROUND: Acute lung injury (ALI), an acute inflammatory lung disease, can cause a rapid inflammatory response in clinic, which endangers the patient's life. The components of platycodon grandiflorum, such as platycodins have a wide range of pharmacological activities such as expectorant, anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-oxidant properties, and can be used for improving human immunity. Previous studies have shown that aqueous extract of platycodon grandiflorum (PAE) has a certain protective effect on ALI, but the main pharmacodynamic components and the mechanism of action are not clear. METHODS: The anti-inflammatory properties of PAE were studied using the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI animal model. Hematoxylin and eosin stains were used to assess the degree of acute lung damage. Changes in RNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lungs were measured using quantitative RT-qPCR. The potential molecular mechanism of PAE preventing ALI was predicted by lipidomics and network pharmacology. To examine the anti-apoptotic effects of PAE, TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) was employed to determine apoptosis-related variables. The amounts of critical pathway proteins and apoptosis-related proteins were measured using Western blotting. RESULTS: Twenty-six chemical components from the PAE were identified, and their related pathways were obtained by the network pharmacology. Combined with the analysis of network pharmacology and literature, it was found that the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway is related to ALI. The results of lipidomics show that PAE alleviates ALI via regulating lung lipids especially phosphatidylinositol (PI). Finally, the methods of molecular biology were used to verify the mechanism of PAE. It can be found that PAE attenuates the inflammatory response to ALI by inhibiting apoptosis through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that the PAE attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced apoptosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in mouse lungs by inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling. Furthermore, our findings provide a novel strategy for the application of PAE as a potential agent for preventing patients with ALI.

Telomere length in multiple cancer: insight into recurrence risk from a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have revealed the relationships between telomere length and the risk and mortality of numerous cancers. This meta-analysis aims to insightfully clarify the potential relationship between telomere length and the recurrence of multiple cancers. METHODS: PubMed database was used to search and identify interrelated citations. These reports investigated the relationship between telomere length and various cancer recurrences. Meta-analysis pooled data from studies that reported risk ratio (RR) of 95 (CI = 95%) confidence intervals and/or P-values. The cancer recurrence was investigated from an overall standpoint to the multiple levels of subtypes of cancers. RESULTS: The meta-analysis involved 5907 recurrent multiple cancer patients from 13 cohort studies. Compared to these cancer recurrence cases and the telomere length differences, there was no significant correlation between telomere length and cancer recurrence risk (short telomeres vs long telomeres; RR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.72-1.20, P = 0.59). Additionally, a negative association was observed between telomere length and cancer recurrence in gastrointestinal cancer and a positive association in head and neck cancer, while telomere length had little effect on the recurrence of hematological malignancies and genitourinary cancer in this analysis. CONCLUSION: There was no significant relationship between recurrence and telomere length in 5907 cases in 13 studies. However, there was a correlation between specific tumors. These results suggested that telomere length as a recurrence marker or telomere length to determine the possibility of recurrence must be evaluated on the specific type of cancer.

The Coexistence of Rathke Cleft Cyst and Pituitary Adenoma.

Both of Pituitary adenoma (PA) and Rathke cleft cyst (RCC) are the most common and benign sellar lesions. Generally, the origin of RCC is considered to be derived from remnants of Rathke punch, while PA is formed by proliferation of the anterior wall of Rathke pouch. Although they have a possibility to share a common embryological origin, the coexistence of PA and RCC is extremely rare. Here, the authors report a 50-year-old male patient who was found to have a large cystic sellar lesion, and surgical resection revealed components of a RCC coexisting with a PA. This collision reminded us of the possibility of RCC coexisting with PA. Furthermore, a clinicopathologic relation of them were reviewed and investigated.

[Circadian rhythm of melatonin and blood pressure changes in patients with essential hypertension].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the association between melatonin (MLT) secretion and blood pressure changes during 24 hours in hypertensive patients (HPT) with (dipping) or without (non-dipping) night time blood pressure reduction. METHODS: The 24-hour blood pressure and urine 6-SMT (6-sulfatoxymelatonin, metabolism product of MLT in urine) in the daytime and nighttime were measured in normal control subjects (n = 20), non-dipping HPT group (n = 32) and dipping HPT group (n = 36). RESULTS: As expected, blood pressure reduction during the night was significantly lower in non-dipping HPT group compared to control and dipping HPT groups. Nighttime 6-SMT was significantly higher than daytime 6-SMT in all groups and nighttime urine 6-SMT levels and ratio of nighttime/daytime urine 6-SMT levels were significantly lower in non-dipping HPT group compared to control and dipping HPT groups (all P < 0.01). Moreover, ratio of nighttime/daytime urine 6-SMT levels are positively correlated blood pressure reduction during nighttime (P < 0.05) in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Circadian rhythm of MLT secretion is maintained but nighttime MLT secretion was significantly reduced and related to disorders of circadian rhythm of blood pressure in non-dipping HPT group.