Insights into gastrointestinal microbiota-generated ginsenoside metabolites and their bioactivities.

The gastrointestinal microbiota and host co-evolve into a complex 'super-organism,' and this relationship plays a vital role in many physiological processes, such as drug metabolism. Ginseng is an important medicinal resource and the main ingredients are ginsenosides, which are less polar, difficult to absorb, and have low bioavailability. However, studies have shown that the biological activity of ginsenosides such as compound K (CK), ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3), ginsenoside Rh2 (Rh2), 20(S)-protopanaxatriol (20(S)-PPT), and 20(S)-protopanaxadiol (20(S)-PPD) is closely related to the gastrointestinal microbiota. In this paper, the metabolic pathway of gastrointestinal microbiota-generated ginsenosides and the main pharmacological effects of these metabolites are discussed. Furthermore, our study provides a new insight into the discovery of novel drugs. Specifically, in new drug screening process, candidates with low biological activity and bioavailability should not be excluded. Because their metabolites may exhibit good pharmacological effects due to the involvement of the gastrointestinal microbiota. In addition, in further research studies to develop probiotics, a combination of agents could exert greater efficacy than single agents. Moreover, differences in lifestyle and diet lead to differences in the gastrointestinal microbiota in the human body. Therefore, administration of the same drug dose to different individuals could elicit different therapeutic effects, owing to the involvement of the gastrointestinal microbiota. Thus, treatment accuracy could be achieved by detecting the gastrointestinal microbiota before drug treatment.HighlightsGastrointestinal microbiota plays a decisive role in bioactivities of ginsenosides.The metabolic pathway and main pharmacological effects of ginsenoside metabolites are discussed.It provides new insights into novel drug discovery and further research to find probiotic, combinations to exert greater efficacy.Differences in lifestyle and diet, varies the gastrointestinal microbiota in the human body. However, the same dose of a drug producing different therapeutic effects may involve gastrointestinal microbiota.

A conjunctive lipidomic approach reveals plasma ethanolamine plasmalogens and fatty acids as early diagnostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer patients.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents a third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The reliable diagnostic biomarkers for detecting CRC at early stage is critical for decreasing the mortality.Method: A conjunctive lipidomic approach was employed to investigate the differences in plasma lipid profiles of CRC patients (n = 101) and healthy volunteers (n = 52). Based on UHPLC-Q-TOF MS and UHPLC-QQQ MS platforms, a total of 236 lipids were structurally detected. Multivariate data analysis was conducted for biomarkers discovery.Results: A total of 11 lipid species, including 1 Glycerophosphoethanolamine (PE), 3 ethanolamine plasmalogens (PlsEtn), 1 plasmanyl glycerophosphatidylethanolamine (PE-O), 3 fatty acids (FFA), 1 Fatty acid ester of hydroxyl fatty acid (FAHFA) and 2 Diacylglycerophosphates (PA) were identified to distinguish the CRC patients at early stage from healthy controls. In addition, these potential lipid biomarkers achieved an estimated AUC=0.981 in a validation set for univariate ROC analysis.Conclusion: By combining Q-TOF MS and QQQ MS analysis, the 11 lipids exhibited good performance in differentiating early-stage CRC and healthy control. This study also demonstrated that lipidomics is a powerful tool in discovering new potential biomarkers for cancer diagnosis.

Trace polymer coated clarithromycin spherulites: Formation mechanism, improvement in pharmaceutical properties and development of high-drug-loading direct compression tablets.

Clarithromycin (CLA) is a high dose antibiotic drug exhibiting poor flowability and tabletability, making the tablet development challenging. This study aims to develop spherulitic CLA by introducing trace amount of polymer in crystallization solution. Its formation mechanism, physicochemical properties and potential for the direct compression (DC) tablets development were also investigated. Morphological analyses and the in situ observation on crystallization process revealed that the CLA spherulites are formed by fractal branching growth from both sides of the threadlike precursor fibers. 1H NMR analysis and nucleation time monitoring indicated that the existence of hydroxypropyl cellulose in solution slowed down the crystal nucleation and growth rate by forming hydrogen bonding interactions with CLA molecules, making the system maintain high supersaturation, providing high driving forces for CLA spherulitic growth. In comparison to commercial CLA, the CLA spherulites exhibit profoundly improved flowability, tabletability and dissolution behaviors. XPS, contact angle and Raman mapping analysis confirmed the presence of a thin HPC layer on the surfaces and interior of CLA spherulitic particles, resulting in increasing powder plasticity, interparticulate bonding strength and powder wettability, thus better tabletability and dissolution performances. The improved flowability and tabletability of CLA spherulites also enabled the successful development of DC tablet formulation with a high CLA loading (82.8 wt%) and similar dissolution profiles to reference listed drug. This study provides a novel solid form of CLA with superior manufacturability for further development.

Conductivity Evaluation of Horizontal Wells in Coalbed Methane Reservoirs: Applicability of Micromaterial Tracer Testing Technology.

Horizontal well-staged fracturing technology is widely used in the exploitation of coalbed methane reservoirs. Most coalbed methane wells have little or no flowback fluid after fracturing due to strong adsorption in the reservoir. The fracture conductivity of each fracturing interval can only be evaluated in the water drainage and gas production stage. Traditional chemical tracer monitoring technologies are risky to operate and do not provide accurate qualitative measurements. The potential applicability of trace material tracer testing technology in coalbed methane reservoirs has theoretical and practical significance, as does establishing a set of fracturing tracer technologies (e.g., reagent systems, construction schemes, detection interpretation) suitable for coalbed methane horizontal wells. Geological, laboratory, and field test data are used in this study to preliminarily resolve the trace material tracer adsorption problem in the coalbed by improving the chemical agent formula. The proposed method is applied to determine the conductivity of a fractured section in a coalbed methane well.

Targeting PLA2G16, a lipid metabolism gene, by Ginsenoside Compound K to suppress the malignant progression of colorectal cancer.

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor with a high global incidence, metastasis rate and low cure rate. Changes in lipid metabolism-related genes can affect the occurrence and development of CRC, and may be a potential therapeutic target for CRC. Therefore, starting from lipid metabolism-related genes to find natural medicines for tumor treatment may become a new direction in CRC research. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of PLA2G16, a key gene involved in lipid metabolism, on the biological function of CRC, and whether the anti-CRC effect of GCK is related to PLA2G16. Methods: To explore the role of PLA2G16 in CRC in vitro and in vivo, we performed cell proliferation, migration, invasion and nude mice tumorigenesis assays. As for the mechanism, we designed RNA-seq analysis and verified by western blotting and immunofluorescence experiments. Subsequently, we found the anti-CRC effect of GCK is related to PLA2G16 through western blotting and rescue experiments. Results: We showed that PLA2G16 was significantly higher in CRC tissues than the adjacent normal appearing tissues, and high PLA2G16 expression correlates with unfavorable prognosis of CRC patients. Further, PLA2G16 promoted the malignant progression of CRC by inhibiting the Hippo signaling pathway determined by RNA-seq analysis, and GCK exerted anti-CRC effects by inhibiting the protein expression of PLA2G16 in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Our results suggested that PLA2G16 promote the malignant progression of CRC by inhibiting the Hippo signaling pathway and the anti-CRC effect of GCK is through inhibiting the protein expression of PLA2G16.