Sanguinarine Regulates Tumor-Associated Macrophages to Prevent Lung Cancer Angiogenesis Through the WNT/ß-Catenin Pathway.

Tumor-associated macrophage (TAM)-mediated angiogenesis in the tumor microenvironment is a prerequisite for lung cancer growth and metastasis. Therefore, targeting TAMs, which block angiogenesis, is expected to be a breakthrough in controlling the growth and metastasis of lung cancer. In this study, we found that Sanguinarine (Sang) inhibits tumor growth and tumor angiogenesis of subcutaneously transplanted tumors in Lewis lung cancer mice. Furthermore, Sanguinarine inhibited the proliferation, migration, and lumen formation of HUVECs and the expression of CD31 and VEGF by regulating the polarization of M2 macrophages in vitro. However, the inhibitory effect of Sanguinarine on angiogenesis remained in vivo despite the clearance of macrophages using small molecule drugs. Further high-throughput sequencing suggested that WNT/ß-Catenin signaling might represent the underlying mechanism of the beneficial effects of Sanguinarine. Finally, the ß-Catenin activator SKL2001 antagonized the effect of Sanguinarine, indicating that Sanguinarine can regulate M2-mediated angiogenesis through the WNT/ß-Catenin pathway. In conclusion, this study presents the first findings that Sanguinarine can function as a novel regulator of the WNT/ß-Catenin pathway to modulate the M2 macrophage polarization and inhibit angiogenesis, which has potential application value in immunotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy for lung cancer.

Targeting Reactive Oxygen Species in Cancer via Chinese Herbal Medicine.

Recently, reactive oxygen species (ROS), a class of highly bioactive molecules, have been extensively studied in cancers. Cancer cells typically exhibit higher levels of basal ROS than normal cells, primarily due to their increased metabolism, oncogene activation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. This moderate increase in ROS levels facilitates cancer initiation, development, and progression; however, excessive ROS concentrations can lead to various types of cell death. Therefore, therapeutic strategies that either increase intracellular ROS to toxic levels or, conversely, decrease the levels of ROS may be effective in treating cancers via ROS regulation. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is a major type of natural medicine and has greatly contributed to human health. CHMs have been increasingly used for adjuvant clinical treatment of tumors. Although their mechanism of action is unclear, CHMs can execute a variety of anticancer effects by regulating intracellular ROS. In this review, we summarize the dual roles of ROS in cancers, present a comprehensive analysis of and update the role of CHM-especially its active compounds and ingredients-in the prevention and treatment of cancers via ROS regulation and emphasize precautions and strategies for the use of CHM in future research and clinical trials.

Consensus on the integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine criteria of diagnostic classification in polycystic ovary syndrome (draft).

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine and metabolic disorder of women, with complex pathogenesis and heterogeneous manifestations. Professor Jin Yu recently wrote an article entitled "Proposal of Diagnosis and Diagnostic Classification of PCOS in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine."From this, the Obstetrics and Gynecology branches of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine and the China Association of Chinese Medicine collaborated with the Gynecology branch of the Chinese Association for Research and Advancement of Chinese Medicine to draft a report on the consensus of criteria for the diagnosis and classification of PCOS in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The diagnosis for PCOS includes all three features: (1) oligo-ovulation or anovulation; (2) clinical and/or laboratory evidence of hyperandrogenism;(3) PCOS is classified into four types: types Ia,Ib, IIa, and IIb. Syndrome differentiation types for PCOS in traditional Chinese medicine are as follows: Kidney deficiency with phlegm blockage syndrome, Kidney Yin deficiency with phlegm blockage and blood stasis syndrome, and Kidney deficiency with Liver Qi stagnation syndrome.

[Prelimary exploration on Chinese medicine syndrome type distribution in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the Chinese medicine syndrome type distribution in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its relationship with sexual hormones. METHODS: Chinese medicine syndrome types of 212 PCOS patients were differentiated and sorted by adopting fuzzy mean C clustering method, and their relationship with the indices of sexual hormones detected on the 3rd to 5th day of menstrual cycle was analyzed, with the values got from 20 healthy women for controls. RESULTS: Intermingling syndromes were commonly seen in PCOS patients. Shen-deficiency syndrome (presented in 64 patients) and Gan-qi stagnancy syndrome (61 patients) were the dominance, accounting for 30.2% and 28.8% respectively, significantly higher than that of other syndromes (P < 0.05), which were Pi-deficiency syndrome (41 patients, 19.3%), phlegm-dampness syndrome (33 patients, 15.6%) and blood stasis syndrome (13 patients, 6.1%). Levels of estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), luteinzing hormone (LH), dehydroiso-androsterone (DHEA-S) and prolactin (PRL) were higher, while the level of sexual hormone binding protein (SHBG) was lower in PCOS patients than those in control, follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) level in patients of Shen-deficiency syndrome and phlegm-dampness syndrome was high than that in control (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). However, no significant differences were found in comparing the various sexual endocrinal indices between patients with different syndrome types (P > 0.05). Besides, the level of PRL was positively correlated with LH and E2 levels in patients. CONCLUSION: Chinese medicine syndromes presented in patients with PCOS are mostly intermingling, Shen-deficiency and Gan-stagnancy are the basic syndromes, and there is some correlation between syndrome type and sexual hormone levels.