Cordyceps cicadae Prevents Renal Tubular Epithelial Cell Apoptosis by Regulating the SIRT1/p53 Pathway in Hypertensive Renal Injury

Filtration effect of Cordyceps chanhua mycoderm on bacteria and its transport function on nitrogen

IMPORTANCE

During the natural growth of Cordyceps chanhua, it will form a mycoderm structure specialized from hyphae. We found that the bacterial membrane of C. chanhua not only filters environmental bacteria but also absorbs and transports nitrogen elements inside and outside the body of C. chanhua. These findings are of great significance for understanding the stable mechanism of the internal microbial community maintained by C. chanhua and how C. chanhua maintains its own nutritional balance. In addition, this study also enriched our understanding of the differences in bacterial community composition and related bacterial community functions of C. chanhua at different growth stages, which is of great value for understanding the environmental adaptation mechanism, the element distribution network, and the changing process of symbiotic microbial system after Cordyceps fungi infected the host. At the same time, it can also provide a theoretical basis for some important ecological imitation cultivation technology of Cordyceps fungi.

Role of the blue light receptor gene Icwc-1 in mycelium growth and fruiting body formation of Isaria cicadae

The Isaria cicadae, is well known highly prized medicinal mushroom with great demand in food and pharmaceutical industry. Due to its economic value and therapeutic uses, natural sources of wild I. cicadae are over-exploited and reducing continuously. Therefore, commercial cultivation in controlled environment is an utmost requirement to fulfill the consumer's demand. Due to the lack of knowledge on fruiting body (synnemata) development and regulation, commercial cultivation is currently in a difficult situation. In the growth cycle of macrofungi, such as mushrooms, light is the main factor affecting growth and development, but so far, specific effects of light on the growth and development of I. cicadae is unknown. In this study, we identified a blue light receptor white-collar-1 (Icwc-1) gene homologue with well-defined functions in morphological development in I. cicadae based on gene knockout technology and transcriptomic analysis. It was found that the Icwc-1 gene significantly affected hyphal growth and fruiting body development. This study confirms that Icwc-1 acts as an upstream regulatory gene that regulates genes associated with fruiting body formation, pigment-forming genes, and related genes for enzyme synthesis. Transcriptome data analysis also found that Icwc-1 affects many important metabolic pathways of I. cicadae, i.e., amino acid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism. The above findings will not only provide a comprehensive understanding about the molecular mechanism of light regulation in I. cicadae, but also provide new insights for future breeding program and improving this functional food production.

Antihyperuricemic and Renal Protective Effect of Cordyceps chanhua (Ascomycetes) Fruiting Bodies in Acute Hyperuricemia and Chronic Gout Rodent Models

Cordyceps chanhua has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. The uric acid-lowering effect of artificially cultivated fruiting bodies of C. chanhua (FBCC) was studied using the acute hyperuricemia (AH) and chronic gout (CG) animal models. The AH mice and CG rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: the negative control group, model group, positive control group, low-dose group, medium-dose group, and high-dose group of FBCC, respectively. Serum uric acid, creatinine, urea nitrogen, and liver xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity were detected. Renal tubulointerstitial injury and urate crystals in CG rats were evaluated. The results showed that the uric acid content in AH mice with the high-dose FBCC group decreased statistically (P < 0.05). In the CG rats, the serum uric acid level in all FBCC groups and the serum creatinine value in the high-dose group exhibited a significant decrease (P < 0.05); the scores of renal tubulointerstitial damage and urate deposit were reduced in the high-dose group of FBCC. FBCC can reduce uric acid and improve renal function, demonstrating it as a beneficial supplement for uric acid-lowering and gout-relieving drugs.

Potential Therapeutic Strategies for Renal Fibrosis: Cordyceps and Related Products

At present, there is no effective drug for the treatment of renal fibrosis; in particular, a safe and effective treatment for renal fibrosis should be established. Cordyceps has several medical effects, including immunoregulatory, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects, and may prevent kidney, liver, and heart diseases. Cordyceps has also been reported to be effective in the treatment of renal fibrosis. In this paper, we review the potential mechanisms of Cordyceps against renal fibrosis, focusing on the effects of Cordyceps on inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, regulation of autophagy, reduction of extracellular matrix deposition, and fibroblast activation. We also discuss relevant published clinical trials and meta-analyses. Available clinical studies support the possibility that Cordyceps and related products provide benefits to patients with chronic kidney diseases as adjuvants to conventional drugs. However, the existing clinical studies are limited by low quality and significant heterogeneity. The use of Cordyceps and related products may be a potential strategy for the treatment of renal fibrosis. Randomized controlled trial studies with good methodological quality, favorable experimental design, and large sample size are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Cordyceps.

Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction, Antioxidant and Renal Protective Effects of Polysaccharides from Spores of Cordyceps cicadae

The aim of this study was to investigate the aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE), in vitro antioxidant, and in vivo renal protective effects of polysaccharides from spores of Cordyceps cicadae (CCSPs). The optimal ATPE parameters were as follows: an extraction temperature of 61 °C, an ammonium sulfate concentration of 18%, an ethanol concentration of 40%, a liquid-to-material ratio of 33 mL/g, and an extraction time of 60 min. Under these parameters, the CCSPs yield was 6.96 ± 0.11% (n = 3), which was consistent with the predicted yield (6.92%). Among the three purified polysaccharide fractions, CCSP-2 displayed stronger scavenging activities against DPPH radicals and hydroxyl radicals, reducing power and ferrous-ion-chelating ability to a greater extent than CCSP-1 and CCSP-3. CCSP-2 exhibited its protective effect in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced septic acute kidney injury (AKI) mice by significantly alleviating renal edema; reducing 24 h urine protein, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and serum creatinine (SCr); inhibiting the release of serum proinflammatory cytokines; boosting the activities of antioxidant enzymes; and reducing the levels of oxidative damage products. These results suggest that CCSP-2 exerted its protective effect against LPS-induced septic AKI in mice through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant pathways.

Cordyceps cicadae Ameliorates Renal Hypertensive Injury and Fibrosis Through the Regulation of SIRT1-Mediated Autophagy

Hypertensive renal injury is a complication of hypertension. Cordyceps cicadae (C. cicadae) is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat chronic kidney diseases especially renal fibrosis. Autophagy is described as a cell self-renewal process that requires lysosomal degradation and is utilized for the maintenance of cellular energy homeostasis. The present study explores the mechanism underlying C. cicadae’s renoprotection on hypertensive nephropathy (HN). First, HN rat models were established on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The expression of fibrosis-related protein and autophagy-associated protein was detected in vivo. NRK-52E cells exposed to AngII were chosen to observe the potential health benefits of C. cicadae on renal damage. The level of extracellular matrix accumulation was detected using capillary electrophoresis immunoquantification and immunohistochemistry. After treatment with lysosomal inhibitors (chloroquine) or an autophagy activator (rapamycin), the expression of Beclin-1, LC3II, and SQSTM1/p62 was further investigated. The study also investigated the change in sirtuin1 (SIRT1), fork head box O3a (FOXO3a), and peroxidation (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA)) expression when intervened by resveratrol. The changes in SIRT1 and FOXO3a were measured in patients and the SHRs. Here, we observed that C. cicadae significantly decreased damage to renal tubular epithelial cells and TGFβ1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen I (Col-1), and fibronectin expression. Meanwhile, autophagy defects were observed both in vivo and in vitro. C. cicadae intervention significantly downregulated Beclin-1 and LC3II and decreased SQSTM1/p62, showing an inhibition of autophagic vesicles and the alleviation of autophagy stress. These functions were suppressed by rapamycin, and the results were just as effective as the resveratrol treatment. HN patients and the SHRs exhibited decreased levels of SIRT1 and FOXO3a. We also observed a positive correlation between SIRT1/FOXO3a and antifibrotic effects. Similar to the resveratrol group, the expression of SIRT1/FOXO3a and oxidative stress were elevated by C. cicadae in vivo. Taken together, our findings show that C. cicadae ameliorates tubulointerstitial fibrosis and delays HN progression. Renoprotection was likely attributable to the regulation of autophagic stress mediated by the SIRT1 pathway and achieved by regulating FOXO3a and oxidative stress.

Lowering the Intraocular Pressure in Rats and Rabbits by Cordyceps cicadae Extract and Its Active Compounds

Cordyceps cicadae (CC), an entomogenous fungus that has been reported to have therapeutic glaucoma, is a major cause of blindness worldwide and is characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death, mostly due to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Here, an ethanolic extract of C. cicadae mycelium (CCME), a traditional medicinal mushroom, was studied for its potential in lowering IOP in rat and rabbit models. Data showed that CCME could significantly (60.5%) reduce the IOP induced by microbead occlusion after 56 days of oral administration. The apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in rats decreased by 77.2%. CCME was also shown to lower the IOP of normal and dextrose-infusion-induced rabbits within 60 min after oral feeding. There were dose effects, and the effect was repeatable. The active ingredient, N6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-adenosine (HEA), was also shown to alleviate 29.6% IOP at 0.2 mg/kg body weight in this rabbit model. CCME was confirmed with only minor inhibition in the phosphorylated myosin light chain 2 (pMLC2) pathway.

Tribulus terrestris L. protects glomerular endothelial cells via the miR155-H2AC6 interaction network in hypertensive renal injury

Background

Hypertensive renal injury is one of the most lethal complications of hypertension. At present, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers are considered the best drugs for the treatment of renal injury in hypertension because of their nephroprotective effect of reducing proteinuria, but there are no specific drugs for this purpose, however, clinical trials proved that Chinese medicine has a protective effect on target organs in the treatment of hypertension. Tribulus terrestris L. (TrT), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has potential applications due to its reno-protective and immunomodulatory effects.

Methods

We investigated the underlying reno-protective mechanism of TrT on Angiotensin II (AngII)-induced hypertensive renal injury in glomerular endothelial cells by integrating the differential expression profiles of micro RNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) to construct a miRNA-mRNA interaction network associated with hypertensive kidney injury, followed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for validation.

Results

Seventy-six differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) and 1 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were identified in the control group and the AngII-induced hypertensive renal injury group, respectively. 110 DEmRNAs and 27 DEmiRNAs were identified in the TrT treatment group and the AngII-induced group, respectively. The core component of the miRNA-mRNA network was miR-155-5p. Our study showed that miR-155-5p expression levels were more decreased in the AngII-induced hypertensive renal injury group than the control group. TrT treatment also significantly upregulated miR-155-5p. Additionally, we found that miR-155-5p expression levels were negatively correlated with H2A clustered histone 6 (H2AC6).

Conclusions

The results of this study indicate that TrT has a reno-protective effect on AngII-induced hypertensive renal injury by miR-155-5p, which negatively regulates the expression of H2AC6. Our findings offer a new therapeutic strategy and have identified an effective candidate target for the treatment of hypertensive renal injury in clinical settings.

The effect of Bailing capsules combined with losartan to treat diabetic glomerulosclerosis and the combination's effect on blood and urine biochemistry

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the efficacy of Bailing capsules combined with losartan to treat diabetic glomerulosclerosis (DG) and the combination's effect on blood and urine biochemistry.

METHODS

160 DG patients admitted to our hospital were recruited as the study cohort and randomly divided into a control group and an observation group (n=80 in each group). The control group was treated with losartan, and the observation group was treated with losartan and Bailing capsules. The efficacy, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), blood creatinine (Scr), 24 h urine protein (24 h UP), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), urine microalbumin (mALB), urine β2 microglobulin (β2-MG), glomerular filtration rates (GFR), TCM scores, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), reactive oxygen species (ROS), 8-hydroxydeoxyguanine (8-OHdG), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), transforming growth factor β₁ (TGF-β₁), and the serum amyloid A (SAA) levels were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The overall effective rate was higher in the observation group (91.25%) than it was in the control group (78.75%) (P<0.05). After the treatment, the DBP, SBP, Scr, 24 h UP, BUN, mALB, and β2-MG levels were lower, and the GFR was higher in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.01). The TCM points were lower in the observation group than they were in the control group (P<0.01). The observation group also showed higher serum SOD and lower ROS, 8-OHdG, hs-CRP, TGF-β₁, and SAA levels than the control group (P<0.01). The differences in the incidences of adverse reactions between the two groups were not significantly different (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Bailing capsules combined with losartan in the treatment of diabetic glomerulosclerosis can improve the therapeutic efficacy, improve the blood and urine biochemical indexes, the renal function, and the clinical symptoms, reduce the oxidative stress, improve the microinflammatory state, and delay the progression of the disease without increasing the adverse reactions.

Cordyceps cicadae NTTU 868 Mycelium with The Addition of Bioavailable Forms of Magnesium from Deep Ocean Water Prevents the Aβ40 and Streptozotocin-Induced Memory Deficit via Suppressing Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Factors and Increasing Magnesium Uptake of Brain

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by continuous accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) in the brain. Deep ocean water (DOW) with rich inorganic salts and minerals was proven to promote fungi growth and metabolism. Cordyceps cicada, a functional food fungus, can produce higher anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds including adenosine, polysaccharide, and N(6)-(2-Hydroxyethyl) adenosine (HEA). This study used DOW as the culture water of C. cicadae NTTU 868 for producing DOW-cultured C. cicadae (DCC), and further investigated the effects and mechanisms on improving the memory deficit and repressing risk factors expressions in Aβ40 and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced Alzheimer’s disease rats model. In the results, DCC including mycelium and filtrate had adenosine, HEA, polysaccharide, and intracellular Mg2+ after fermentation with DOW. DCC had more effect on the improvement of memory deficit because it suppressed Aβ40 and streptozotocin (STZ) infusion caused BACE, pro-inflammatory factors expressions, and Aβ40 accumulation by increasing sRAGE expression in the brain. Furthermore, DCC enhanced the MAGT1 expression due to high organic magnesium, which can reverse Aβ40-induced cortex magnesium deficiency and further repress Aβ40 accumulation.

Potential Protection Effect of ER Homeostasis of N6-(2-Hydroxyethyl)adenosine Isolated from Cordyceps cicadae in Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug-Stimulated Human Proximal Tubular Cells

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) belong to a class of universally and commonly used anti-inflammatory analgesics worldwide. A diversity of drawbacks of NSAIDs have been reported including cellular oxidative stress, which in turn triggers the accumulation of unfolded proteins, enhancing endoplasmic reticulum stress, and finally resulting in renal cell damage. Cordyceps cicadae (CC) has been used as a traditional medicine for improving renal function via its anti-inflammatory effects. N⁶-(2-hydroxyethyl)adenosine (HEA), a physiologically active compound, has been reported from CC mycelia (CCM) with anti-inflammatory effects. We hypothesize that HEA could protect human proximal tubular cells (HK–2) from NSAID-mediated effects on differential gene expression at the mRNA and protein levels. To verify this, we first isolated HEA from CCM using Sephadex^® LH–20 column chromatography. The MTT assay revealed HEA to be nontoxic up to 100 µM toward HK–2 cells. The HK–2 cells were pretreated with HEA (10–20 µM) and then insulted with the NSAIDs diclofenac (DCF, 200 µM) and meloxicam (MXC, 400 µM) for 24 h. HEA (20 µM) effectively prevented ER stress by attenuating ROS production (p < 0.001) and gene expression of ATF–6, PERK, IRE1α, CDCFHOP, IL1β, and NFκB within 24 h. Moreover, HEA reversed the increase of GRP78 and CHOP protein expression levels induced by DCF and MXC, and restored the ER homeostasis. These results demonstrated that HEA treatments effectively protect against DCF- and MXC-induced ER stress damage in human proximal tubular cells through regulation of the GRP78/ATF6/PERK/IRE1α/CHOP pathway.

Three Novel Entomopathogenic Fungi From China and Thailand

Entomopathogenic fungi are ubiquitous in tropical rainforests and feature a high level of diversity. This group of fungi not only has important ecological value but also medicinal value. Nevertheless, they are often ignored, and many unknown species have yet to be discovered and described. The present study aims to contribute to the taxonomical and phylogenetic understanding of the genus Paraisaria by describing three new species collected from Guizhou and Yunnan Provinces in China and Krabi Province in Thailand. The three novel species named Paraisaria alba, P. arcta, and P. rosea share similar morphologies as those in the genus Paraisaria, containing solitary, simple, fleshy stroma, completely immersed perithecia and cylindrical asci with thickened caps and filiform ascospores that often disarticulate at maturity. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, SSU, TEF1-α, RPB1, RPB2, and ITS sequence data confirm their placement in the genus Paraisaria. In this study, the three entomopathogenic taxa are comprehensively described with color photographs and phylogenetic analyses. A synopsis table and a key to all treated species of Paraisaria are also included.