Baicalein protects cardiomyocytes from oxidative stress induced programmed necrosis by stabilizing carboxyl terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein

Advances in research on the protective mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury

CONTEXT

Developing effective drugs to treat myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury is imperative. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have had considerable success in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Elucidating the mechanisms by which TCMs improve MI/R injury can supplement the literature on MI/R prevention and treatment.

OBJECTIVE

To summarise TCMs and their main protective mechanisms against MI/R injury reported over the past 40 years.

METHODS

Relevant literature published between 1980 and 2020 in Chinese and English was retrieved from the Web of Science, PubMed, SpringerLink, PubMed Central, Scopus, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. Search terms included 'medicinal plants', 'myocardial ischaemia reperfusion injury', 'Chinese medicine prescriptions', 'mechanisms', 'prevention', 'treatment' and 'protection'. For inclusion in the analysis, medicinal plants had to be searchable in the China Medical Information Platform and Plant Database.

RESULTS

We found 71 medicinal species (from 40 families) that have been used to prevent MI/R injury, of which Compositae species (8 species) and Leguminosae species (7 species) made up the majority. Most of the effects associated with these plants are described as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Furthermore, we summarised 18 kinds of Chinese compound prescriptions, including the compound Danshen tablet and Baoxin pill, which mainly reduce oxidative stress and regulate mitochondrial energy metabolism.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

We summarised TCMs that protect against MI/R injury and their pharmacological mechanisms. This in-depth explanation of the roles of TCMs in MI/R injury protection provides a theoretical basis for the research and development of TCM-based treatment drugs.

Pharmacological properties of total flavonoids in Scutellaria baicalensis for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

BACKGROUND

Scutellaria baicalensis, a medicinal herb belonging to the Lamiaceae family, has been recorded in the Chinese, European, and British Pharmacopoeias. The medicinal properties of this plant are attributed to the total flavonoids of Scutellaria baicalensis (TFSB), particularly the main component, baicalin. This study provides a systematic and comprehensive list of the identified TFSB components and their chemical structures. The quality control process, pharmacokinetics, clinical application, and safety of Scutellaria baicalensis are discussed, and its pharmacological effect on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is detailed. Finally, the future research trends and prospects of this medicinal plant are provided.

METHODS

The Chinese and English papers related to TFSB were collected from the PubMed and CNKI databases using the relevant keywords. To highlight the pharmacological mechanism, clinical application, and safety of TFSB, the collected articles were screened and classified based on their research content.

RESULTS

TFSB contains at least 100 different kinds of flavonoids, of which baicalin, baicalein, wogonin, wogonoside, scutellarin, and scutellarein are the main active ingredients. The preparation process of TFSB is relatively well established, and the extraction rate can be significantly increased by enzymatic pretreatment and ultrasonication. The low oral availability of TFSB may be effectively enhanced using nanoformulations. The available pharmacokinetic data show that flavonoid glycosides and aglycones with the same parent nucleus may be converted to structures that are conducive to absorption in vivo. Moreover, TFSB can protect against CVDs by inhibiting apoptosis, regulating oxidative stress response, participating in inflammatory response, protecting against myocardial fibrosis, inhibiting myocardial hypertrophy, and regulating blood vessels. In terms of clinical application and animal safety, the available studies show that TFSB can be applied in a wide range of clinical treatments and is safe to use is animals.

CONCLUSION

This article systematically reviews the therapeutic effect and underlying pharmacological mechanism of TFSB against CVDs. The available studies clearly suggest that TFSB has great potential for the treatment of CVDs and is worthy of in-depth research and development.

iTRAQ-based proteomics revealed baicalein enhanced oxidative stress of Candida albicans by up-regulating CPD2 expression

Baicalein could inhibit the growth and biofilm formation of Candida albicans, the most common clinical fungal pathogen. However, the antifungal mechanism of baicalein has not been elucidated. In this study, isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) was used to verify the mechanism of antifungal fluconazole and baicalein. A total of 58 common proteins were detected in cells treated with fluconazole. These proteins encompassed fluconazole-targeted sterol synthesis pathway, including Erg11p, Erg6p, Erg3p, Erg25p, Erg5p, Erg10p and Ncp1p. Next, iTRAQ was applied to the comparison of baicalein-treated C. albicans proteins, which detected 16 common proteins. The putative NADH dehydrogenase Cpd2p and the ATP-binding cassette transporter Snq2p were the most up-regulated proteins with the treatment of baicalein. Our results showed that CPD2 disruption elevated C. albicans resistance to baicalein significantly both in vitro and in vivo. Further in-depth studies revealed that CPD2 disruption reduced the activation of C. albicans metacaspase and partially restored the mitochondrial membrane potential reduction caused by the treatment of baicalein, which indicated that CPD2 was involved in the apoptosis induced by baicalein. Consistently, under the treatment of baicalein, CPD2Δ/Δ mutant produced lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) that was critical in causing oxidative damage and apoptosis in C. albicans. These results indicated that baicalein could increase intracellular oxidative damage by up-regulating the expression of Cpd2p so as to inhibit the growth of C. albicans, which provides new insights for investigating the antifungal target of baicalein.

Protective effect of C-phycocyanin and apo-phycocyanin subunit on programmed necrosis of GC-1 spg cells induced by H2 O2

C-phycocyanin (C-PC) is an effective antioxidant and has an important value in medical research. Oxidative stress is considered to be one of the main underlying mechanisms of cell death, and reducing oxidative stress is one of the strategies to enhance germ cell viability. Herein, we investigated the protective effect and the mechanism of C-PC and apo-phycocyanin subunit on oxidative stress damage induced by H₂ O₂ in GC-1 spg cells. C-PC genes were cloned into the pGEX-4T-1 vectorand transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 to achieve the efficient expression of C-PC subunit. GC-1 spg cells were treated with 600 μM H₂ O₂ for 24 h to establish the oxidative stress damage model. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8. The degree of oxidative stress was detected by testing Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was evaluated utilizingby 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescent-diacetate (DCFH-DA). Mitochondrial membrane potential was determined by JC-1. Cell necrosis rate was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI. Expression of protein was detected by western blot. We found that C-PC and GST-CPC β significantly inhibited H₂ O₂ -induced oxidative damage of GC-1 spg cells, improved the ability of antioxidation, reduced ROS overproduction, and mitochondrial membrane potential loss, and inhibited the RIP-1/RIP-3/ p-MLKL signaling pathway to reduce the necrosis rate. The results demonstrated that C-PC played a protective role against H₂ O₂ -induced cell damage, especially its β subunit. This study provides a theoretical basis for C-PC as a potential protective agent of reproductive system.

1,8-cineole alleviates bisphenol A-induced apoptosis and necroptosis in bursa of Fabricius in chicken through regulating oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT pathway

Bisphenol A (BPA), an important chemical raw material, is now a ubiquitous environmental contaminant. As an endocrine disruptor similar to estrogen, BPA increases the risk of various metabolic and chronic diseases. BPA has immunotoxicity to humans and animals. 1,8-cineole (CIN) is a plant-derived monoterpene with antioxidant and antiapoptosis actions. However, there are no reports about whether CIN could antagonize the BPA-induced apoptosis and necroptosis in bursa of Fabricius (BF) of chicken. This study was to elucidate the ameliorative mechanism of CIN on the apoptosis and necroptosis in BF induced by BPA. 120 broilers (1-day-old) were randomly divided into four groups: control group, CIN group, CIN and BPA co-treatment group, and BPA group. TUNEL analysis results, histopathological variations, and the overexpression of proapoptosis biomakers (Caspase 3, Bax, Cyt-c, and p53) and necroptosis pathway-related factors (RIPK1, RIPK3, MLKL, and FADD) indicated that BPA exposure induced the apoptosis and necroptosis in chicken BF. Moreover, BPA treatment elevated the levels of oxidative stress indexes (MDA, iNOS, and NO) and weaken antioxidases activity (SOD, GPx, and CAT) and total antioxidant capacity in chicken BF. BPA administration also lessened the expression of PI3K and AKT and promoted HSPs (HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, and HSP70) activation. whereas CIN supplementation prominently mitigated BPA-caused these changes and the apoptosis and necroptosis damages. In brief, this study illuminated that CIN could protect the chicken BF against BPA-induced apoptosis and necroptosis through restraining oxidative stress and activating PI3K/AKT pathway.

Flavonoids and Omega3 Prevent Muscle and Cardiac Damage in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Animal Model

Nutraceutical products possess various anti-inflammatory, antiarrhythmic, cardiotonic, and antioxidant pharmacological activities that could be useful in preventing oxidative damage, mainly induced by reactive oxygen species. Previously published data showed that a mixture of polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, mediate an antioxidative response in mdx mice, Duchenne muscular dystrophy animal model. Dystrophic muscles are characterized by low regenerative capacity, fibrosis, fiber necrosis, inflammatory process, altered autophagic flux and inadequate anti-oxidant response. FLAVOmega β is a mixture of flavonoids and docosahexaenoic acid. In this study, we evaluated the role of these supplements in the amelioration of the pathological phenotype in dystrophic mice through in vitro and in vivo assays. FLAVOmega β reduced inflammation and fibrosis, dampened reactive oxygen species production, and induced an oxidative metabolic switch of myofibers, with consequent increase of mitochondrial activity, vascularization, and fatigue resistance. Therefore, we propose FLAVOmega β as food supplement suitable for preventing muscle weakness, delaying inflammatory milieu, and sustaining physical health in patients affected from DMD.

Effects of Traditional Chinese Medication-Based Bioactive Compounds on Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Oxidative Stress

The oxidative stress reaction is the imbalance between oxidation and antioxidation in the body, resulting in excessive production of oxygen free radicals in the body that cannot be removed, leading to excessive oxidation of the body, and causing damage to cells and tissues. A large number of studies have shown that oxidative stress is involved in the pathological process of many diseases, so inhibiting oxidative stress, that is, antioxidation, is of great significance for the treatment of diseases. Studies have shown that many traditional Chinese medications contain antioxidant active bioactive compounds, but the mechanisms of those compounds are different and complicated. Therefore, by summarizing the literature on antioxidant activity of traditional Chinese medication-based bioactive compounds in recent years, our review systematically elaborates the main antioxidant bioactive compounds contained in traditional Chinese medication and their mechanisms, so as to provide references for the subsequent research.