Sasa quelpaertensis leaf extract mitigates fatigue and regulates the transcriptome profile in mice

Anti-fatigue Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicines: A Review

A third of the world's population suffers from unexplained fatigue, hugely impacting work learning, efficiency, and health. The fatigue development may be a concomitant state of a disease or the side effect of a drug, or muscle fatigue induced by intense exercise. However, there are no authoritative guides or clinical medication recommendations for various fatigue classifications. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) are used as dietary supplements or healthcare products with specific anti-fatigue effects. Thus, TCM may be a potential treatment for fatigue. In this review, we outline the pathogenesis of fatigue, awareness of fatigue in Chinese and western medicine, pharmacodynamics mechanism, and substances. Additionally, we offer a comprehensive summary of fatigue and forecast the potential effect of novel herbal-based medicines against fatigue.

Establishment of a novel myocarditis mouse model based on cyclosporine A

BACKGROUND

Myocarditis is a myocardial injury that can easily cause adolescent death. Traditional research models of animal invasion with viral components, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or porcine myocardial myosin, among others, have the shortcomings of potential biological safety hazards and high animal mortality.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the construction of a novel myocarditis model with cyclosporine A and the potential genes and pathways associated with it.

METHODS

BALB/c mice were used in this study, and cyclosporin A and LPS were injected into the peritoneal cavity of mice. The successful establishment of the model was assessed by detecting serum myocardial injury markers and inflammatory factors levels, HE, IHC staining, and RT-qPCR methods. Key genes were obtained using the GSE35182 dataset from the GEO database and validated with the RT-qPCR method.

RESULTS

We found that a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrated the myocardium of mice in each group of Cyclosporin A constructed model, while the expression of inflammatory factor indicators was increased, and this model has the characteristics of high degree of local inflammation in myocardial tissue, low mortality, and safe and non-toxic treatment. Using GSE35182 data, we selected 18 Hub genes and validated Hub genes in myocardial tissue with RT-qPCR and found that multiple signaling pathways such as Toll-likereceptor signaling pathway(TLRs), Rap1 signal pathway(Rap1), and Chemokine signaling pathway may be involved in the development of myocarditis.

CONCLUSION

Cyclosporin A can construct a new myocarditis model, and TLRs, Chemokines and Rap1 signaling pathways may be the core pathways of myocarditis.

Dietary Supplementation of Octacosanol Improves Exercise-Induced Fatigue and Its Molecular Mechanism

Several publications report that octacosanol (OCT) has different biological functions. This study was designed to evaluate the antifatigue effect and molecular mechanism of octacosanol (200 mg/(kg day)) in forced exercise-induced fatigue models of trained male C57BL/6 mice. Results showed that octacosanol ameliorated the mice's autonomic activities, forelimb grip strength, and swimming endurance, and the levels of liver glycogen (LG), muscle glycogen (MG), blood lactic acid (BLA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were also regulated. Gene analysis results showed that treatment with OCT upregulated 29 genes, while 38 genes were downregulated in gastrocnemius tissue. Gene ontology (GO) analyses indicated that these genes enriched functions in relation to myofibril, contractile fiber, and calcium-dependent adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity. Octacosanol supplementation significantly adjusted the messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression levels related to fatigue performance. Octacosanol has an observably mitigating effect in exercise-induced fatigue models, and its molecular mechanism may be related to the regulation of tripartite motif-containing 63 (Trim63), periaxin (Prx), calcium voltage-gated channel subunit α1 H (Cacna1h), and myosin-binding protein C (Mybpc3) expression.

Effects of p-coumaric acid on microRNA expression profiles in SNU-16 human gastric cancer cells

BACKGROUND

p-Coumaric acid (p-CA), a phenolic compound abundantly found in edible plants, was found to induce apoptosis in SNU-16 gastric cancer cells. However, the effects of p-CA on the microRNA expression pattern in SNU-16 cells have not been reported.

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this study was to investigate microRNA expression profiles in p-CA-treated SNU-16 cells.

METHODS

SNU-16 cells were treated with 1.5 mM p-CA for 48 h. High-throughput RNA sequencing was performed. The accuracy and validity of the RNA sequencing results were tested by real-time PCR. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed using the differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMs).

RESULTS

Thirty-two DEMs were identified between p-CA-treated and control cells, 9 of which were upregulated, and 23 downregulated. GO and KEGG pathway analyses of the target genes indicated that these genes were involved in a variety of biological functions and several cancer-related pathways. The miRNA interactive network analysis identified hsa-miR-125a-5p, hsa-miR-30a-5p, and hsa-miR-7-5p as the major nodes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated that p-CA exerted its anticancer effects in SNU-16 gastric cancer cells by modulating the expression of certain microRNAs, providing a better understanding of the anticancer properties of p-CA in gastric cancer cells.

Sasa Quelpaertensis Nakai Induced Antidepressant-Like Effect in Ovariectomized Rats

Background

Sasa quelpaertensis Nakai extract (SQE) or dwarf bamboo has been extensively investigated for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects; however, no previous study assessed its effect as an antidepressant agent. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the effect of oral SQE administration in ameliorating menopausal depressive symptoms and to evaluate its mechanisms in ovariectomized rats with repeated stress.

Methods

All experimental groups except normal group underwent ovariectomy and then immobilization for 14 consecutive days. During these 2 weeks, two rat groups received SQE (100 and 300 mg/kg orally) and their cutaneous body temperature was measured. The tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST) were performed in order to evaluate depression-like behavior. Additionally, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry were carried out to evaluate the central monoaminergic neurotransmitter levels and activity.

Results

Oral SQE (100 mg/kg) administration had reduced immobility time in TST and FST. Additionally, the SQE 100 and 300 mg/kg administration had decreased the cutaneous body temperature in the rats compared to those without treatment. In ELISA analysis, the SQE 100 group expressed elevated levels of serotonin and dopamine in the hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. Antityrosine hydroxylase (anti-TH) antibodies showed a tremendous increase in the density of TH positive cells in the locus coeruleus (LC) region of the SQE 100 group. Likewise, the SQE 100 elevated the number of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) and protein kinase C (PKC) immunoreactive cell counts and density in the hypothalamic region.

Conclusion

These results suggested that the oral SQE administration induced the antidepressant-like effect in the ovariectomized rats with repeated stress via upregulating the levels of serotonin and dopamine through enhancing the expression of TH, TPH, and PKC in many brain areas.