Effects of Bushen Huoxue Yin () on brain NF-κB and NO content in the parkinson's disease model mouse

Efficacy and Safety of Orally Administered East Asian Herbal Medicine Combined with Narrowband Ultraviolet B against Psoriasis: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis and Network Analysis

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease with many complications and a poor prognosis that imposes a significant burden on individuals and society. Narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) represents a cost-effective non-drug therapeutic intervention for psoriasis. East Asian herbal medicine (EAHM) is currently being investigated for its potential as a safe and effective psoriasis treatment. Consequently, it has the potential to be employed as a combination therapy with NB-UVB. The objective was to ascertain the efficacy and safety of the EAHM with NB-UVB combination therapy and to identify important drugs for further research. In this study, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved from ten databases in Korea, China, and Japan. All statistical analyses were conducted using R software version 4.3.0. The primary outcomes were the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and the incidence rate of adverse events (AEs), while the secondary outcomes were hematologic markers and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), which reflect the immune-mediated inflammatory pathology of psoriasis. The analysis of 40 RCTs, including 3521 participants, demonstrated that EAHM with NB-UVB combination therapy exhibited a statistically significant superiority over NB-UVB monotherapy with respect to primary and secondary outcomes. The Bayesian network meta-analysis revealed that Investigator Presciption 3 and Ziyin Liangxue Decoction exhibited a consistent relative advantage with respect to each PASI-based efficacy metric. The network analysis estimated the potential influence ranking for all individual herbs according to PageRank centrality. The findings of this study suggest that EAHMs co-administered with NB-UVB may provide additional efficacy and safety-related benefits for patients with psoriasis. However, the quality of evidence is still low, and further high-quality trials are needed to reach more definitive conclusions.

A review: traditional herbs and remedies impacting pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, leading to misbalance and loss of coordination. Current therapies are claimed only for symptomatic relief, on long-term use, which causes alteration in basal ganglia, and give rise to various adverse effects like dyskinesia and extra pyramidal side effects, which is reversed and proved to be attenuated with the help of various herbal approaches. Therefore, in order to attenuate the dopaminergic complications, focus of current research has been shifted from dopaminergic to non-dopaminergic strategies. Herbs and herbal remedies seems to be a better option to overcome the complications associated with current dopaminergic therapies. In recent years, various herbs and herbal remedies based on Ayurveda, traditional Chinese and Korean remedies, have become the target of various researches. These herbs and their bioactive compound are being extensively used to treat PD in India, China, Japan, and Korea. The major focus of this current review is to analyze preclinical studies with reference to various herbs, bioactive compounds, and traditional remedies for the management of Parkinson disorder, which will give an insight towards clinical trials.

Transcriptomic Profiling of Circular RNA in Different Brain Regions of Parkinson's Disease in a Mouse Model

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and although many studies have been done on this disease, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood and further studies are warranted. Therefore, this study identified circRNA expression profiles in the cerebral cortex (CC), hippocampus (HP), striatum (ST), and cerebellum (CB) regions of the 1-methyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD mouse model using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and differentially expressed circRNA were validated using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network analyses were also performed to explore the potential function of circRNAs. The results show that, compared with the control group, 24, 66, 71, and 121 differentially expressed circRNAs (DE-circRNAs) were found in the CC, HP, ST, and CB, respectively. PDST vs. PDCB, PDST vs. PDHP, and PDCB vs. PDHP groups have 578, 110, and 749 DE-circRNAs, respectively. Then, seven DE-cirRNAs were selected for qRT-PCR verification, where the expressions were consistent with the sequencing analysis. The GO and KEGG pathway analyses revealed that these DE-circRNAs participate in several biological functions and signaling pathways, including glutamic synapse, neuron to neuron synapse, cell morphogenesis involved in neuron differentiation, Parkinson's disease, axon guidance, cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Furthermore, the KEGG analysis of the target genes predicted by DE-circRNAs indicated that the target genes predicted by mmu_circRNA_0003292, mmu_circRNA_0001320, mmu_circRNA_0005976, and mmu_circRNA_0005388 were involved in the PD-related pathway. Overall, this is the first study on the expression profile of circRNAs in the different brain regions of PD mouse model. These results might facilitate our understanding of the potential roles of circRNAs in the pathogenesis of PD. Moreover, the results also indicate that the mmu_circRNA_0003292-miRNA-132-Nr4a2 pathway might be involved in the regulation of the molecular mechanism of Parkinson's disease.

Baicalein exerts anti-neuroinflammatory effects to protect against rotenone-induced brain injury in rats

Baicalein, a major bioactive flavone constituent isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, has been shown to be neuroprotective in several Parkinson's disease (PD) animal models. Since neuroinflammation has been known to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of PD, potential explanation for the neuroprotective action of anti-PD compounds involves among others reduced inflammation. Our study investigated that one of the mechanisms of protection afforded by baicalein in rotenone-induced parkinsonian rats was associated with anti-inflammatory action and explored its underlying mechanism in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that baicalein treatment improved motor impairments, attenuated brain damage, suppressed the production of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6)), modulated the astrocytes and microglia activation, and blocked the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signals in rotenone-induced rats of PD. Furthermore, treatment of baicalein prominently suppressed the generation of nitric oxide (NO) and the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) protein by blocking LPS-induced IκBα phosphorylation and NF-κB translocation, and downregulated the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) which functions in the upstream of NF-κB signal in the activated BV₂ microglia. In conclusion, our studies suggest that baicalein may be effective in the treatment of PD through anti-neuroinflammation.

Effect and Mechanism of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Although both genetic and environmental factors are implicated in the development of Parkinson's disease, the cause of the disease is still unclear. So far conventional treatments to Parkinson's are symptomatic relief and focused mainly on motor symptoms. Chinese herbal medicine has been used to treat many conditions in China, Korea, Japan, and many Southeast Asian countries for 1000 years. During past a few decades, Chinese herbal medicine has gained wider and increasing acceptance within both public and medical profession due to its effectiveness on many conditions in western countries. In this chapter, mechanisms of action of many Chinese herbal compounds/extracts and Chinese herb formulas on the models of Parkinson's were reviewed. Further, reports of effectiveness of Chinese herb formulas on patients with Parkinson's were summarized. It was shown that both Chinese herbal compounds/extracts and herb formulas have either specific target mechanisms of action or multitargets mechanisms of action, as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antiapoptosis agents. Clinical studies showed that Chinese herb formulas as an adjunct improved both motor and nonmotor symptoms, and reduced dose of dopaminergic drugs and occurrence of dyskinesia. The evidence from the studies suggests that Chinese herb medicine has potential, acting as neuroprotective to slow down the progression of Parkinson's, and it is able to simultaneously treat both motor and nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson's. More studies are needed to explore the new compounds/extracts derived from Chinese herbs, in particular, their mechanisms of action. It is hopeful that new drugs developed from Chinese herb compounds/extracts and Chinese herb formulas will lead to better and complimentary therapy to PD.

Effect of acustimulation on nausea and vomiting and on hyperemesis in pregnancy: a systematic review of Western and Chinese literature

Background

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) have a significant impact on quality of life. Medication to relieve symptoms of NVP and HG are available but pregnant women and their caregivers have been concerned about the teratogenic effect, side effects and poor efficacy. The aim of this review was to investigate if there is any clinical evidence for the efficacy of acustimulation in the treatment of NVP or HG.

Methods

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including both English and Chinese databases was conducted to assess the efficacy of various techniques of acustimulation for NVP and HG. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane’s risks of bias tool. Revised STRICTA (2010) criteria were used to appraise acustimulation procedures. Pooled relative risks (RRp) and standard mean deviations (SMD) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated from the data provided by the investigators of the original trials.

Results

Twenty-nine trials including 3519 patients met the inclusion criteria. Twenty trials could be included in statistical pooling. The overall effect of different acustimulation techniques shows a significant reduction for the combined outcome for NVP or HG in pregnancy as a dichotomous variable (RRp 1.73, 95 % CI 1.43 to 2.08). Studies with continuous outcome measures for nausea, vomiting and the combined outcome did not show any evidence for relieving symptoms of NVP and HG (SMD −0.12, 95 % CI −0.35 to 0.12).

Conclusions

Although there is some evidence for an effect of acustimulation on nausea and vomiting or hyperemesis in pregnancy, results are not conclusive. Future clinical trials with a rigorous design and large sample sizes should be conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these interventions for NVP and HG.

How do Chinese medicines that tonify the kidney inhibit dopaminergic neuron apoptosis?

Wistar rats were intragastrically perfused with Chinese medicines used for tonifying the kidney. These included 0.180 g/mL of Herba Epimedii (Epimedium), Semen Cuscutae (Dodder Seed), or Herba Cistanches (Desertliving Cistanche), 0.04 mg/mL monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor selegiline, or distilled water for 14 consecutive days to prepare drug-containing serum or blank serum. MES23.5 cells in the logarithmic phase were cultured in media supplemented with 15% drug-containing serum for 24 hours, followed by incubation in culture solution containing 100 μmol/L H2O2 for 3 hours. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and flow tometry results showed that all drug-containing serums improved the survival rate of H2O2-injured MES23.5 cells, inhibited pro-apoptotic FasL and caspase-3 expression, promoted anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression. However, drug-containing serums had little influence on Fas expression in H2O2-injured MES23.5 cells. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results showed that serum containing Herba Cistanches or Herba Epimedii increased the expression of nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in injured MES23.5 cells; serum containing Semen Cuscutae only increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression; while expression of the above neurotrophic factors remained the same in cells treated with serum containing selegiline. These findings indicate that Chinese medicines used to tonify the kidney can protect nerve cells by regulating the expression of apoptosis-related factors and neuro-trophic factors in MES23.5 cells.