Solasonine alleviates high glucose-induced podocyte injury through increasing Nrf2-medicated inhibition of NLRP3 activation

Exploring the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in diabetic nephropathy and the advancements in herbal therapeutics

Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a prevalent complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), is clinically marked by progressive proteinuria and a decline in glomerular filtration rate. The etiology and pathogenesis of DN encompass a spectrum of factors, including hemodynamic alterations, inflammation, and oxidative stress, yet remain incompletely understood. The NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, a critical component of the body's innate immunity, plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of DN by promoting the release of inflammatory cytokines, thus contributing to the progression of this chronic inflammatory condition. Recent studies highlight the involvement of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the renal pathology associated with DN. This article delves into the activation pathways of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its pathogenic implications in DN. Additionally, it reviews the therapeutic potential of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in modulating the NLRP3 inflammasome, aiming to provide comprehensive insights into the pathogenesis of DN and the current advancements in TCM interventions targeting NLRP3 inflammatory vesicles. Such insights are expected to lay the groundwork for further exploration into TCM-based treatments for DN.

Anticancer effects of solasonine: Evidence and possible mechanisms

The effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine's active ingredients in anti-tumor effects have attracted widespread attention worldwide. Solasonine is the main anti-tumor component of the traditional Chinese medicine Solanum nigrum L, which can inhibit tumor cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, induce ferroptosis in tumor cells, and inhibit of tumor cell metastasis, thereby inhibiting tumor progression. Therefore, we summarized anti-tumor mechanisms and targets of solasonine to provide new ideas and theoretical basis for its further development and application.

Solasonine ameliorates cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury via suppressing TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway and activating AMPK/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway

Solasonine (SS), the main active ingredient of Solanum nigrum L., has been reported to possess a variety of pharmacological properties. A recent study demonstrated a neuroprotective effect of SS in a mouse nerve injury model. However, its protective effects on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CIRI) remain to be elucidated. We investigated herein the in vitro and in vivo neuroprotective effects of SS. Primary hippocampal neurons were exposed to oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) to construct an in vitro model while rats were treated with middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) to establish an in vivo CIRI model. The results showed that SS reduced OGD/R-induced inflammatory responses of neurons by blocking secretion of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Moreover, SS ameliorated OGD/R-induced oxidative stress in neurons by decreasing the level of ROS and MDA and increasing the activity of SOD and GPx. We also found that SS protected neurons from OGD/R-induced apoptosis by down-regulating bax and cleaved caspase-3 and up-regulating bcl-2. The in vivo results revealed that SS administration reduced the infarct volume and alleviated the neurological deficit of MCAO/R rats as well as diminished neuronal damages in these rats. Our investigation on the underlying mechanisms indicated that the neuroprotective effect of SS on CIRI may be associated with the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and AMPK/Nrf2/HO-1 pathways. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that SS ameliorates CIRI via suppressing TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway and activating AMPK/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

Research progress on multiple cell death pathways of podocytes in diabetic kidney disease

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the main cause of end-stage renal disease, and its clinical manifestations are progressive proteinuria, decreased glomerular filtration rate, and renal failure. The injury and death of glomerular podocytes are the keys to DKD. Currently, a variety of cell death modes have been identified in podocytes, including apoptosis, autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, pyroptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, mitotic catastrophe, etc. The signaling pathways leading to these cell death processes are interconnected and can be activated simultaneously or in parallel. They are essential for cell survival and death that determine the fate of cells. With the deepening of the research on the mechanism of cell death, more and more researchers have devoted their attention to the underlying pathologic research and the drug therapy research of DKD. In this paper, we discussed the podocyte physiologic role and DKD processes. We also provide an overview of the types and specific mechanisms involved in each type of cell death in DKD, as well as related targeted therapy methods and drugs are reviewed. In the last part we discuss the complexity and potential crosstalk between various modes of cell death, which will help improve the understanding of podocyte death and lay a foundation for new and ideal targeted therapy strategies for DKD treatment in the future.

Natural products in attenuating renal inflammation via inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome in diabetic kidney disease

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a prevalent and severe complications of diabetes and serves as the primary cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) globally. Increasing evidence indicates that renal inflammation is critical in the pathogenesis of DKD. The nucleotide - binding oligomerization domain (NOD) - like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is the most extensively researched inflammasome complex and is considered a crucial regulator in the pathogenesis of DKD. The activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is regulated by various signaling pathways, including NF- κB, thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), and non-coding RNAs (ncRNA), among others. Natural products are chemicals extracted from living organisms in nature, and they typically possess pharmacological and biological activities. They are invaluable sources for drug design and development. Research has demonstrated that many natural products can alleviate DKD by targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome. In this review, we highlight the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in DKD, and the pathways by which natural products fight against DKD via inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome activation, so as to provide novel insights for the treatment of DKD.

Advances in natural product anti-coronavirus research (2002-2022)

COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus that has triggered acute respiratory infections in countries around the world. In the last 20 years, there have been several outbreaks of coronaviruses, which have had a tremendous impact on productive life and globalization. Since coronaviruses are mutagenic and highly susceptible to mutation, there are no specific drugs against coronaviruses. Medicines made from natural products gains worldwide attention, and the mechanism and effectiveness of natural products for the treatment of coronavirus-related diseases have received much attention after the global pandemic of COVID-19 in 2020. The vitro research results and clinical data from various countries have shown protective effects of good effects against coronaviruses. This review summarizes representative natural products for the treatment of coronavirus-related diseases in the past 20 years, and demonstrates the promising prospects of natural products against coronavirus-related diseases by listing herbal formulas, Chinese patent medicines and natural small molecule compounds and their therapeutic mechanisms, providing references for subsequent related studies.

Breviscapine alleviates podocyte injury by inhibiting NF-κB/NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis in diabetic nephropathy

Podocyte injury is a critical factor in the pathogenesis of diabeticnephropathy (DN). Emerging evidence has demonstrated that breviscapine (Bre) exerts a renoprotective effect on diabetic rats. However, the effects of Bre on regulating podocyte injury under high glucose (HG) conditions remain unclear. In this study, an experimental mouse model of DN was induced by intraperitoneal injections of streptozotocin (STZ) in vivo. The effects of Bre on podocyte injury were assessed using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, TdT-mediated dUTPnick-endlabelling (TUNEL) staining, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT‒PCR) and western blot analysis. We found that renal function was significantly decreased in diabetic mice, and this effect was blocked by Bre treatment. Bre effectively increased podocyte viability and inhibited HG-induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, Bre ameliorated HG-induced podocyte injury, as evidenced by decreased α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression and increased podocin and synaptopodin expression. Mechanistically, Bre inhibited HG-induced nuclear factorkappaB (NF-κB) signalling activation and subsequently decreased NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation, resulting in a decrease in pyroptosis. Pharmacological inhibition of NLRP3 decreased HG-induced podocyte injury, whereas the NLRP3 agonist abrogated the effects of Bre on inhibiting podocyte injury. In summary, these results demonstrate that Bre alleviates HG-induced podocyte injury and improves renal function in diabetic mice, at least in part by inhibiting NF-κB/NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis.