A four-component combination derived from Huang-Qin Decoction significantly enhances anticancer activity of irinotecan

Banxia Xiexin decoction combined with 5-ASA protects against CPT-11-induced intestinal dysfunction in rats via inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway

BACKGROUND

Banxia Xiexin decoction (BXD) can control irinotecan (CPT-11)-caused delayed diarrhea, but the corresponding mechanism remains undefined.

AIMS

This paper aimed to uncover the mechanism of BXD in regulating CPT-11-caused delayed diarrhea.

MATERIALS & METHODS

Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were assigned into the control, model, BXD low-dose (BXD-L, 5 g/kg), BXD medium-dose (BXD-M, 10 g/kg), BXD high-dose (BXD-H, 15 g/kg), 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA, 10 mL/kg), and BXD-M + 5-ASA groups. Rats were injected intraperitoneally with 150 mg/kg CPT-11 at Day 4 and Day 5 to induce delayed diarrhea, and later treated with various doses (low, medium, and high) of BXD and 5-ASA for 9 days, except for rats in control group. The body weight of rats was measured. The rat colon tissue injury, inflammatory cytokine levels, and the activation of toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-κB (TLR4/NF-κB) signaling pathway were detected.

RESULTS

BXD (5, 10, or 15 g/kg) or 5-ASA (10 mL/kg) alleviated body weight loss and colon tissue injury, decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines, and inactivated TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway in CPT-11-induced model rats. BXD at 10 g/kg (the optimal concentration) could better treat CPT-11-induced intestinal dysfunction, as evidenced by the resulting approximately 50% reduction on injury score of model rats. Moreover, BXD-M (10 g/kg) synergistic with 5-ASA (10 mL/kg) further strengthened the inhibition on rat body weight loss, colon tissue injury, inflammatory cytokine levels, and TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

To sum up, BXD has a protective effect against CPT-11-induced intestinal dysfunction by inhibiting inflammation through inactivation TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. In particular, the combined use of BXD and 5-ASA holds great promise for treating CPT-11-induced delayed diarrhea.

Huang Qin decoction increases SLC6A4 expression and blocks the NFκB-mediated NLRP3/Caspase1/GSDMD pathway to disrupt colitis-associated carcinogenesis

Huang Qin decoction (HQD) is a traditional Chinese medicine formula for treating colitis, but the effects and molecular mechanism of action of HQD in colitis-associated carcinogenesis (CAC) are still unclear. Therefore, we aimed to determine the beneficial effects of HQD on CAC in mice and to reveal the underlying mechanism involved. AOM/DSS was used to induce CAC in mice, and the effects of HQD on tumorigenesis in mice were examined (with mesalazine serving as a positive control). Mesalazine or HQD treatment alleviated body weight loss and decreased the disease activity index in mice induced by AOM/DSS. Mesalazine or HQD treatment also suppressed the shortening of colon tissue length, the number of tumors, and the infiltration of inflammatory cells. The genes targeted by HQD were predicted and verified, followed by knockout experiments. Elevated SLC6A4 and inhibited serotonin production and inflammation were observed in HQD-treated mice. HQD inhibited the NFκB and NLRP3/caspase1/GSDMD pathways. The therapeutic effect of HQD was diminished in SLC6A4-deficient AOM/DSS mice. Additionally, the downregulation of SLC6A4 mitigated the inhibitory effect of HQD-containing serum on MODE-K cell pyroptosis. Our findings suggest that SLC6A4 is a pivotal regulator of HQD-alleviated CAC via its modulation of the NLRP3/caspase1/GSDMD pathway.

The effective combination therapies with irinotecan for colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer worldwide and has become one of the major human disease burdens. In clinical practice, the treatment of colorectal cancer has been closely related to the use of irinotecan. Irinotecan combines with many other anticancer drugs and has a broader range of drug combinations. Combination therapy is one of the most important means of improving anti-tumor efficacy and overcoming drug resistance. Reasonable combination therapy can lead to better patient treatment options, and inappropriate combination therapy will increase patient risk. For the colorectal therapeutic field, the significance of combination therapy is to improve the efficacy, reduce the adverse effects, and improve the ease of treatment. Therefore, we explored the clinical advantages of its combination therapy based on mechanism or metabolism and reviewed the rationale basis and its limitations in conducting exploratory clinical trials on irinotecan combination therapy, including the results of clinical trials on the combination potentiation of cytotoxic drugs, targeted agents, and herbal medicine. We hope that these can evoke more efforts to conduct irinotecan in the laboratory for further studies and evaluations, as well as the possibility of more in-depth development in future clinical trials.

Efficiency of Protective Interventions on Irinotecan-Induced Diarrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Irinotecan is widely used in the treatment of various solid tumors, but the adverse effects from it, especially diarrhea, limit its use. Several clinical trials of prophylactic treatment of irinotecan-induced diarrhea (IID) have been ongoing, and some of the data are controversial. This encouraged us to conduct a meta-analysis of the effects of interventions on preventing IID.

METHOD

This systematic review was conducted based on the PRISMA statement. We performed literature searches from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library. The number registered in PROSPERO is CRD42022368633. After searching 1034 articles in the database and references, 8 studies were included in this meta-analysis.

RESULT

The RR of high-grade diarrhea and all-grade diarrhea were 0.31 (I2 = 51%, 95% CI: 0.14-0.69; P = .004) and .76 (I2 = 65%, 95% CI: 0.62-0.93; P < .008) respectively, thus the use of intervention measures for preventing IID is effective, and the risk reduction of high-grade diarrhea was more significant. Subgroup analysis revealed that the monotherapy group (RR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.21-1.13, I2 = 0%) and combination therapy group (RR: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.06-0.32, I2 = 0%) in the risk of high-grade diarrhea had no significant heterogeneity within the groups, and traditional herbal medicines (Kampo medicine Hangeshashin-to, PHY906 and hot ironing with Moxa Salt Packet on Tianshu and Shangjuxu) were effective preventive measures (RR:0.20, 95% CI: 0.07-0.60, I2 = 0%). The Jadad scores for traditional herbal medicines studies were 3, and the follow-up duration was only 2 to 6 weeks.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that preventive treatments significantly reduced the risk of high-grade and all-grade diarrhea, confirming the efficacy in the incidence and severity of IID, among which traditional herbal medicines (baicalin-containing) provided a protective effect in reducing the severity of IID. However, the traditional herbal medicines studies were of low quality. Combined irinotecan therapy can obtain better preventive effects than monotherapy of IID. These would be helpful for the prevention of IID in clinical practice.

Network pharmacology and molecular docking-based analyses to predict the potential mechanism of Huangqin decoction in treating colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

To analyze the potential action mechanism of Huangqin decoction (HQD) in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment on the basis of network pharmacology and molecular docking.

AIM

To investigate the molecular mechanisms of HQD for CRC treatment by using network pharmacology and molecular docking.

METHODS

All HQD active ingredients were searched using the Systematic Pharmacology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology databases and the Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular Mechanisms in traditional Chinese medicine. Then, the targets of the active ingredients were screened. The abbreviations of protein targets were obtained from the UniProt database. A “drug–compound–target” network was constructed to screen for some main active ingredients. Some targets related to the therapeutic effect of CRC were obtained from the GeneCards, DisGeNET, Therapeutic Target Database, and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man databases. The intersection of targets of Chinese herbs and CRC was taken. A Venn diagram was drawn to construct the intersection target interactions network by referring to the STRING database. Topological analysis of the protein interaction network was performed using Cytoscape 3.7.2 software to screen the core HQD targets for CRC. The core targets were imported into the DAVID 6.8 analysis website for gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses and visualization. Finally, molecular docking was performed using AutoDockTool and PyMOL for validation.

RESULTS

In total, 280 potential drug-active ingredients were present in HQD, including 1474 targets of the drug-active ingredients. The main active ingredients identified were betulin, tetrahydropalmatine, and quercetin. In total, 10249 CRC-related targets and 1014 drug-disease intersecting targets were identified, including 28 core targets of action such as Jun proto-oncogene, AP-1 transcription factor subunit, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, tumor protein p53, vascular endothelial growth factor, and AKT serine/threonine kinase 1. The gene ontology enrichment functional analysis yielded 503 enrichment results, including 406 biological processes that were mainly related to the positive regulation of both gene expression and transcription and cellular response to hypoxia, etc. In total, 38 cellular components were primarily related to polymer complexes, transcription factor complexes, and platelet alpha granule lumen. Then, 59 molecular functions were closely related to the binding of enzymes, homologous proteins, and transcription factors. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis yielded 139 enrichment results, involving epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance and HIF-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.

CONCLUSION

HQD can play a role in CRC treatment through the “multi-component-target–pathway”. The active ingredients betulin, tetrahydropalmatine, and quercetin may act on targets such as Jun proto-oncogene, AP-1 transcription factor subunit, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, tumor protein p53, vascular endothelial growth factor, and AKT serine/threonine kinase 1, which in turn regulate HIF-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in CRC treatment. The molecular docking junction clarified that all four key target proteins could bind strongly to the main HQD active ingredients. This indicates that HQD could slow down CRC progression by modulating multiple targets and signaling pathways.

Network pharmacology-based analysis of heat clearing and detoxifying drug JC724 on the treatment of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs has protective effect on colorectal cancer (CRC). Given the complicated features of Traditional Chinese medicine formulas, network pharmacology is an effective approach for studying the multiple interactions between drugs and diseases.

AIM

To systematically explore the anticancer mechanism of heat-clearing and detoxifying drug JC724.

METHODS

This study obtained the active compounds and their targets in JC724 from Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database. In addition, the CRC targets were obtained from Drugbank, TTD, DisGeNET and GeneCards databases. We performed transcriptome analysis of differentially expressed genes in CRC treated with JC724. Venn diagram was used to screen the JC724-CRC intersection targets as candidate targets. Core targets were selected by protein-protein interaction network and herb ingredient-target-disease network analysis. The functional and pathway of core targets were analysed by enrichment analysis.

RESULTS

We found 174 active ingredients and 283 compound targets from JC724. 940 CRC-related targets were reserved from the four databases and 304 CRC differentially expressed genes were obtained by transcriptome analysis. We constructed the network and found that the five core ingredients were quercetin, β Beta sitosterol, wogonin, kaempferol and baicalein. The core JC724-CRC targets were CYP1A1, HMOX1, CXCL8, NQO1 and FOSL1. JC724 acts on multiple signaling pathways associated with CRC, including the Nrf2 signaling pathway, oxidative stress, and the IL-17 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we systematically analyzed the active ingredients, core targets and main mechanisms of JC724 in the treatment of CRC. This study could bring a new perspective to the heat-clearing and detoxifying therapy of CRC.

Classic mechanisms and experimental models for the anti‐inflammatory effect of traditional Chinese medicine

Inflammation is a common disease involved in the pathogenesis, complications, and sequelae of a large number of related diseases, and therefore considerable research has been directed toward developing anti‐inflammatory drugs for the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat inflammatory and related diseases since ancient times. According to the review of abundant modern scientific researches, it is suggested that TCM exhibit anti‐inflammatory effects at different levels, and via multiple pathways with various targets, and recently a series of in vitro and in vivo anti‐inflammatory models have been developed for anti‐inflammation research in TCM. Currently, the reported classic mechanisms of TCM and experimental models of its anti‐inflammatory effects provide reference points and guidance for further research and development of TCM. Importantly, the research clearly confirms that TCM is now and will continue to be an effective form of treatment for many types of inflammation and inflammation‐related diseases.

Identification of AHSA1 as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Breast Cancer: Bioinformatics Analysis and In Vitro Studies

BACKGROUND

Shenling Baizhu Powder (SBP), a famous Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulation, has been widely used in the adjuvant treatment of cancers, including breast cancer. This study aims to identify potential new targets for breast cancer treatment based on the network pharmacology of SBP. <P> Methods: By analyzing the relationship between herbs and target proteins, potential targets of multiple herbs in SBP were identified by network pharmacology analysis. Besides, by comparing the data of breast cancer tissue with normal tissue, upregulated genes in two breast cancer expression profiles were found. Thereafter, the expression level and prognosis of activator of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) ATPase activity 1 (AHSA1) were further analyzed in breast cancer by bioinformatics analysis, and the network module of AHSA1 binding protein was constructed. Furthermore, the effect of knocking down AHSA1 on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells was verified by MTT, clone formation assay, and transwell assay. <P> Results: Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 8 (CXCL8), AHSA1, and serpin family E member 1 (SERPINE1) were associated with multiple herbs in SBP. AHSA1 was remarkably upregulated in breast cancer tissues and positively correlated with poor overall survival and disease metastasis-free survival. Furthermore, knockdown of AHSA1 significantly inhibited the migration and invasion in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells but had no obvious effect on proliferation. In addition, among the proteins that bind to AHSAl, the network composed of proteasome, chaperonin, and heat shock proteins is closely connected, and these proteins are associated with poor prognosis in a variety of cancers. <P> Conclusion: AHSA1 is positively correlated with breast cancer progression and might act as a novel therapeutic target for breast cancer.

Absolute Quantification of Acylcarnitines Using Integrated Tmt-PP Derivatization-Based LC-MS/MS and Quantitative Analysis of Multi-Components by a Single Marker Strategy

Acylcarnitines (ACs) play important roles in the fatty acid β-oxidation and are considered as diagnostic markers for many diseases. Accurate determination of ACs remains challenging due to their low abundance, high structure diversity, and limited availability of standard compounds. In this study, microwave-assisted Tmt-PP (p-[3,5-(dimethylamino)-2,4,6-triazine] benzene-1-sulfonyl piperazine) derivatization was utilized to facilitate the liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) determination of ACs. The result indicated that Tmt-PP labeling enables the prediction of the retention time and MS response of ACs and enhances their MS response up to 4 times. The introduction of the microwave during the derivatization procedure greatly improved the reaction efficiency, demonstrated by the shortened reaction time from 90 to 1 min. Furthermore, we applied a strategy named quantitative analysis of multi-components by a single marker (QAMS) for the assay of 26 ACs with only 5 AC standards, solving the standard availability issue to a large extent. The established workflow was applied to discover dysregulated ACs in xenograft colon cancer mice, and the quantification results were highly comparable with traditional methods where there were the corresponding standards for each AC. Our study demonstrated that chemical derivatization-based LC-MS/MS integrated with the QAMS strategy is robust for the identification and quantification of ACs and has great potential in targeted metabolomics study.