Protective effects and mechanism of action of ruscogenin in a mouse model of ovalbumin-induced asthma

Ruscogenin attenuates osteoarthritis by modulating oxidative stress-mediated macrophage reprogramming via directly targeting Sirt3

BACKGROUND

Synovial inflammation, Cartilage erosion, and subchondral osteosclerosis, which are collectively referred to as the triad of pathogenesis, contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Specifically, the M1 macrophage in the synovium worsens the development of the illness and is a significant factor in the deterioration and functioning of cartilage.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether Ruscogenin attenuates progressive degeneration of articular cartilage in rats with anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT)-induced osteoarthritis (OA) by modulating macrophage reprogramming and to explore its specific mechanism of action.

METHODS

In vitro, SW1353 cells and RAW264.7 cells were applied to elucidate the mechanisms by which Ruscogenin protects articular cartilage. Specifically, the expression levels of molecules related to cartilage ECM synthesis and degradation enzymes and macrophages were analysed. In vivo, a rat osteoarthritis model was established using ACLT. The protective effect of Ruscogenin on articular cartilage was observed.

RESULTS

Ruscogenin significantly reversed LPS-induced macrophage inflammatory response and promoted cartilage regeneration-related factors. In addition, Ruscogenin had a significant protective effect on the knee joint of ACLT rats, effectively preventing cartilage degeneration. These positive therapeutic effects were achieved on the one hand by Ruscogenin regulating macrophage reprogramming by targeting Sirt3, and on the other hand Ruscogenin could attenuate the ROS level of chondrocytes thereby inhibiting chondrocyte ferroptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Ruscogenin exerts chondroprotective effects by regulating macrophage reprogramming and inhibiting chondrocyte ferroptosis.

The Protective Effects of Ruscogenin Against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Myocardial Injury in Septic Mice

ABSTRACT

Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction commonly occurs in individuals with sepsis and is a severe complication with high morbidity and mortality rates. This study aimed to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of the natural steroidal sapogenin ruscogenin (RUS) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced myocardial injury in septic mice. We found that RUS effectively alleviated myocardial pathological damage, normalized cardiac function, and increased survival in septic mice. RNA sequencing demonstrated that RUS administration significantly inhibited the activation of the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway in the myocardial tissues of septic mice. Subsequent experiments further confirmed that RUS suppressed myocardial inflammation and pyroptosis during sepsis. In addition, cultured HL-1 cardiomyocytes were challenged with LPS, and we observed that RUS could protect these cells against LPS-induced cytotoxicity by suppressing inflammation and pyroptosis. Notably, both the in vivo and in vitro findings indicated that RUS inhibited NOD-like receptor protein-3 (NLRP3) upregulation in cardiomyocytes stimulated with LPS. As expected, knockdown of NLRP3 blocked the LPS-induced activation of inflammation and pyroptosis in HL-1 cells. Furthermore, the cardioprotective effects of RUS on HL-1 cells under LPS stimulation were abolished by the novel NLRP3 agonist BMS-986299. Taken together, our results suggest that RUS can alleviate myocardial injury during sepsis, at least in part by suppressing NLRP3-mediated inflammation and pyroptosis, highlighting the potential of this molecule as a promising candidate for sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction therapy.

An Updated Comprehensive Review of Plants and Herbal Compounds with Antiasthmatic Effect

Background

Asthma is a common disease with rising prevalence worldwide, especially in industrialized countries. Current asthma therapy with traditional medicines lacks satisfactory success, hence the patients' search for alternative and complementary treatments for their diseases. Researchers have conducted many studies on plants with antiallergic and antiasthmatic effects in recent decades. Many of these plants are now used in clinics, and searching for their mechanism of action may result in creating new ideas for producing more effective drugs.

Purpose

The goal of this review was to provide a compilation of the findings on plants and their active agents with experimentally confirmed antiasthmatic effects. Study Design and Method. A literature search was conducted from 1986 to November 2023 in Scopus, Springer Link, EMBASE, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science to identify and report the accumulated knowledge on herbs and their compounds that may be effective in asthma treatment.

Results

The results revealed that 58 plants and 32 herbal extracted compounds had antiasthmatic activity. Also, 32 plants were shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects or may act as bronchodilators and potentially have antiasthmatic effects, which must be investigated in future studies.

Conclusion

The ability of herbal medicine to improve asthma symptoms has been confirmed by clinical and preclinical studies, and such compounds may be used as a source for developing new antiasthmatic drugs. Moreover, this review suggests that many bioactive compounds have therapeutic potential against asthma.

Ruscogenin attenuates cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis through suppressing chondrocyte ferroptosis via Nrf2/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint degenerative disease, and chondrocyte injury is the main pathological and physiological change. Ruscogenin (Rus), a bioactive compound isolated from Radix Ophiopogon japonicus, exhibits various pharmacological effects. The aim of this research was to test the role and mechanism of Rus on OA both in vivo and in vitro. Destabilized medial meniscus (DMM)-induced OA model was established in vivo and IL-1β-stimulated mouse chondrocytes was used to explore the role of Rus on OA in vitro. In vivo, Rus exhibited protective effects against DMM-induced OA model. Rus could inhibit MMP1 and MMP3 expression in OA mice. In vitro, IL-1β-induced inflammation and degradation of extracellular matrix were inhibited by Rus, as confirmed by the inhibition of PGE2, NO, MMP1, and MMP3 by Rus. Also, IL-1β-induced ferroptosis was suppressed by Rus, as confirmed by the inhibition of MDA, iron, and ROS, as well as the upregulation of GSH, GPX4, Ferritin, Nrf2, and SLC7A11 expression induced by Rus. Furthermore, the suppression of Rus on IL-1β-induced inflammation, MMPs production, and ferroptosis were reversed when Nrf2 was knockdown. In conclusion, Rus attenuated OA progression through inhibiting chondrocyte ferroptosis via Nrf2/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway.

Ruscogenin interacts with DPPC and DPPG model membranes and increases the membrane fluidity: FTIR and DSC studies

Ruscogenin, a kind of steroid saponin, has been shown to have significant anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-thrombotic characteristics. Furthermore, it has the potential to be employed as a medicinal medication to treat a variety of acute and chronic disorders. The interaction of a drug molecule with cell membranes can help to elucidate its system-wide protective and therapeutic effects, and it's also important for its pharmacological activity. The molecular mechanism by which ruscogenin affects membrane architecture is still a mystery. Ruscogenin's interaction with zwitterionic dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and anionic dipalmitoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) was studied utilizing two non-invasive approaches, including: Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Ruscogenin caused considerable alterations in the phase transition profile, order, dynamics and hydration state of head groups and glycerol backbone of DPPC and DPPG MLVs at all concentrations. The DSC results indicated that the presence of ruscogenin decreased the main phase transition temperature (T_m) and enthalpy (ΔH) values of both membranes and increased half height width of the main transition (ΔT_1/2). The FTIR results demonstrated that all concentrations (1, 3, 6, 9, 15, 24 and 30 mol percent) of ruscogenin disordered the DPPC MLVs both in the gel and liquid crystalline phases while it increased the order of DPPG MLVs in the liquid crystalline phase. Moreover, ruscogenin caused an increase in the dynamics of DPPC and DPPG MLVs in both phases. Additionally, it enhanced the hydration of the head groups of lipids and the surrounding water molecules implying ruscogenin to interact strongly with both zwitterionic and charged model membranes.

Plants and their Bioactive Compounds as a Possible Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Traumatic brain injury is an outcome of the physical or mechanical impact of external forces on the brain. Thus, the silent epidemic has complex pathophysiology affecting the brain along with extracranial or systemic complications in more than one organ system, including the heart, lungs, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal and endocrine system. which is referred to as Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome. It is driven by three interconnected mechanisms such as systemic hyperinflammation, paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity, and immunosuppression-induced sepsis. These multifaceted pathologies accelerate the risk of mortality in clinical settings by interfering with the functions of distant organs through hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, acute lung injury, neurogenic pulmonary edema, reduced gastrointestinal motility, Cushing ulcers, acute liver failure, acute kidney injury, coagulopathy, endocrine dysfunction, and many other impairments. The pharmaceutical treatment approach for this is highly specific in its mode of action and linked to a variety of side effects, including hallucinations, seizures, anaphylaxis, teeth, bone staining, etc. Therefore, alternative natural medicine treatments are widely accepted due to their broad complementary or synergistic effects on the physiological system with minor side effects.

CONCLUSION

This review is a compilation of the possible mechanisms behind the occurrence of multiorgan dysfunction and reported medicinal plants with organoprotective activity that have not been yet explored against traumatic brain injury and thereby, highlighting the marked possibilities of their effectiveness in the management of multiorgan dysfunction. As a result, we attempted to respond to the hypothesis against the usage of medicinal plants to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

Ruscogenin Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia-Induced Ferroptosis through the Activation of BCAT1/BCAT2

Ruscogenin (RUS), a natural steroidal sapogenin, exerts various biological activities. However, its effectiveness for preventing myocardial ischemia (MI) and its molecular mechanisms need further clarification. The model of MI mice and oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced cardiomyocytes injury was performed. RUS significantly alleviated MI, as evidenced by decreased infarct size, ameliorated biochemical indicators and cardiac pathological features, and markedly inhibited ferroptosis by means of the up-regulation of GPX4 and down-regulation of ACSL4 and FLC. Simultaneously, RUS notably mitigated cell injury and oxidative stress, and ameliorated ferroptosis in vitro. Subsequently, HPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based metabolomics identified BCAT1/BCAT2 as possible regulatory enzymes responsible for the cardioprotection of RUS. Importantly, RUS treatment significantly increased the expression of BCAT1 and BCAT2 in MI. Furthermore, we found that BCAT1 or BCAT2 siRNA significantly decreased cell viability, promoted ferroptosis, and increased Keap1 expression, and induced Nrf2 and HO-1 degradation in cardiomyocytes. Conversely, cardiac overexpression of BCAT1 or BCAT2 in MI mice activated the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Moreover, RUS significantly activated the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in MI, whereas BCAT1 or BCAT2 siRNA partially weakened the protective effects of RUS, suggesting that RUS might suppress myocardial injury through BCAT1 and BCAT2. Overall, this study demonstrated that BCAT1/BCAT2 could alleviate MI-induced ferroptosis through the activation of the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and RUS exerted cardioprotective effects via BCAT1/BCAT2.