Mechanism of Huoxue Tongluo Decoction in treatment of erectile dysfunction caused by ischemic stroke based on network pharmacology

Quantitative proteomics based bioactive proteins discovery and quality control of medicinal leeches

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Leech, a classical traditional Chinese medicine for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, is mainly used in the clinical treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The discovery of activity proteins or peptides in the dead and dried medicinal leech is an important task with great challenges.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study was to provide a basic proteome profile and help further discover active proteins and quality control for medicinal leeches, which would also provide insight into the research of animal medicines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seventeen batches of dried medicinal leeches covering three species were collected from medicinal markets, which were authenticated by DNA barcoding. Then the proteome of different species leeches was profiled to reveal the significantly different proteins using label-free proteomics. The characteristic peptides were screened out based on biological pathways analysis, which were further absolutely quantified using the developed stable isotope-labeled based parallel reaction monitoring method.

RESULTS

Seventeen batches of leech materials were Whitmania pigra Whitman (WP), Whitmania laevis Whitman (WL) and Poecilobdella manillensis Lesson (PM), respectively. A total of 1,035 proteins (452 in WP, 425 in WL and 158 in PM) were identified. Among them, 90 overlapping proteins were mainly concentrated in diverse metabolic pathways and primarily localized in the cytoplasm and mitochondrial inner membrane, which mainly related to ATP binding, catalytic activity and structural molecular activity. In total of 51 uniquely expressed proteins (21 in WP, 23 in WL and 7 in PM), associated with multiple key signaling pathways, including Rap1, cGMP-PKG, PI3K-Akt, Wnt and HIF-1, etc., relevant to treating cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and even a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Three proteins with potential bioactivities, including Neurohemerythrin, Hirudin and Eglin C, were selected as the quality makers and then quantified based on the characteristic peptides.

CONCLUSIONS

This work profiled the proteome of three species of leeches, and addressed potential active proteins of the medicinal leech, which would help to provide the potential molecular mechanisms involved in disease treatment. The proteomics-based approach developed in this work is not only useful for the discovery of proteins with potential bioactivities but also helpful for the bioactivity relevant quality control of animal medicines.

Mailuoning oral liquid attenuates convalescent cerebral ischemia by inhibiting AMPK/mTOR-associated apoptosis and promoting CREB/BDNF-mediated neuroprotection

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ischemic stroke is divided into acute, subacute and convalescent phases according to the time of onset. Clinically, Mailuoning oral liquid (MLN O) is a traditional Chinese patent medicine for treating ischemic stroke. Previous studies have shown that MLN O could prevent acute cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. However, its underlying mechanism remains unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To investigate the relationship between neuroprotection and apoptosis for clarifying MLN O mechanism in the recovery phase of ischemic stroke.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We imitated stroke using middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) in vivo and oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) in vitro models. The infarct volume, neurological deficit scores, HE staining, Nissl staining, TUNEL staining, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot were correspondingly performed to find pathological changes and detect neuronal apoptosis in rat cerebral cortex. The contents of LDH, Cyt-c, c-AMP and BDNF in rat plasma and cerebral cortex were detected by ELISA. Cell viability was measured by CCK8 assay. Cell morphology, Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin-V-Alexa Fluor 647/PI staining were performed to assess neuronal apoptosis. The expression levels of proteins were evaluated by western blotting.

RESULTS

MLN O obviously reduced brain infarct volume and neurological deficit scores in MCAO rats. MLN O inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration and neuronal apoptosis, but promoted gliosis, neuronal survival, and neuroprotection in the cortical region of MCAO rats. Additionally, MLN O decreased the amount of LDH and cytochrome c, while increasing the expression of c-AMP in the plasma and ischemic cerebral cortex of MCAO rats, and promoting the expression of BDNF in the cortical tissue of MCAO rats. Besides, MLN O improved cell viability, restored cell morphology, while attenuating cell damage, inhibiting neuronal apoptosis following OGD/R in PC-12 cells. Moreover, MLN O inhibited apoptosis by suppressing the expression of pro-apoptotic-associated proteins, including Bax, cytochrome c, Cleaved caspase 3 and HIF-1α, whereas accelerating the expression of Bcl-2 in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, MLN O inhibited the activity of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), but activated the signaling pathway of cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB)/brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in MCAO rats and OGD/R-stimulated PC-12 cells.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrated that MLN O inhibited AMPK/mTOR to affect apoptosis associated with mitochondria, leading to improve CREB/BDNF-mediated neuroprotection in the recovery period of ischemic stroke in vivo and in vitro.

Causal association of cardiovascular disease with erectile dysfunction: a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis

BACKGROUND

The association between cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including ischemic stroke (IS), heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI), and coronary heart disease (CHD), and erectile dysfunction (ED) remains unclear from observational studies.

OBJECTIVES

We explored the potential bidirectional association between CVD and ED by Mendelian randomization (MR).

METHODS

Data from genome-wide association studies for CVD in individuals with European ancestry were obtained from several databases, with 1,711,875-977,323 participants, while that for ED included 223,805 participants. We conducted univariate MR (UVMR), inverse variance-weighting (IVW), weighted median, MR-Egger, and multivariate MR (MVMR) analyses to explore the bidirectional causal effects between CVD and ED.

RESULTS

UVMR indicated that IS (odds ratios [OR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-1.21, P = 0.007), HF (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.07-1.74, P = 0.013), and CHD (OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.18, P = 0.022) were associated with ED. By MVMR, IS estimates remained significant after accounting for combining single nucleotide polymorphisms from CVDs (OR = 1.42, 95%CI: 1.13-1.79, P = 0.002). Moreover, the effect of a genetic susceptibility to IS on ED was not mediated by type 2 diabetes or triglycerides; that of HF was not mediated by type 2 diabetes, and that of CHD was not mediated by body mass index. Bidirectional analyses showed that genetic susceptibility to ED did not confer any increased CVD risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results, based on MR, indicated that genetic susceptibility to IS, HF, and CHD was causally associated with ED. These findings can inform prevention and intervention strategies for ED in IS, HF, and CHD patients.

Simultaneous Separation and Determination of Nine Active Ingredients in Sanyetangzhiqing by Cyclodextrin-Modified Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Electrophoresis-Diode Array Detector

A simple and sensitive strategy using cyclodextrin-modified micellar electrokinetic chromatography with diode array detector was developed and applied for the simultaneous separation and determination of nine components in Sanyetangzhiqing (SYTZQ), a hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic agent. Several important parameters affecting separation performance were evaluated and optimized using single variable methods. Under the optimal conditions, baseline separation of the nine components, including four flavonoids (hyperoside, isoquercitrin, quercetin-3-O-glucuronoside, and astragalin), four phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid B, and lithospermic acid), and a monoterpenoids (paeoniflorin), were achieved in less than 16 min. The correlation coefficients of the calibration curves were over 0.9996 for all the analytes. Intraday and interday precisions ranged from 0.4% to 4.8% and 1.7% to 5.0%, respectively. Recoveries of analytes varied from 95.3% to 105%. Validation results as well as the application to analyse SYTZQ samples demonstrated the applicability of the proposed method and thus provided an effective tool for the quality control of SYTZQ. Moreover, with the advantages of short time consuming, low energy consumption, high efficiency, and low cost, this method has laid a foundation for the determination and quality evaluation of multicomponents in Chinese herbal compounds.

Standards for Collection, Preservation, and Transportation of Fecal Samples in TCM Clinical Trials

Background

Unlike chemical drugs with a single or a few kinds of active compounds, traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs)uses herbal formulas composed of numerous kinds of chemical constituents. Therefore, TCM clinical trials require unique and stricter standards for collecting, preserving, and transporting fecal samples than those used for chemical drugs. Unfortunately, there are no special standards for processing fecal samples in TCM clinical trials.

Methods

We invited interdisciplinary experts within TCM clinical trials and gut microbiome research to help formulate this standard. After more than a year’s in-depth discussion and amendments, we achieved a standard via expert interviews, literature research, questionnaire surveys, and public opinion solicitation. This standard has been reviewed and approved by the Standards Office of China of the Association of Chinese medicine.

Results

We established a sample information processing method prior to TCM clinical sample collection, which is adapted to the unique features of TCM. The method formulates detailed processing requirements for TCM information in addition to the factors that may disturb the gut microbiome. We also constructed a set of methods for collecting, preserving, and transporting fecal samples that meet the characteristics of TCM. These methods formulate detailed operating specifications on the collection approaches, storage conditions, transportation requirements, and management of fecal samples.

Conclusions

This standard guides the information processing prior to sample collection and the standard operating procedures for the collection, preservation, and transportation of fecal samples in TCM clinical trials, which also can be used as a reference by clinicians and researchers in modern medicines.