Exploring the mechanism of the Fructus Mume and Rhizoma Coptidis herb pair intervention in Ulcerative Colitis from the perspective of inflammation and immunity based on systemic pharmacology

Traditional Chinese Medicine formulas-based interventions on colorectal carcinoma prevention: The efficacies, mechanisms and advantages

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas (TCMFs) represent a distinctive medical approach to disease treatment and have been utilized in clinical practice for treating intestinal diseases for thousands of years. Recently, TCMFs have received increasing attention due to their advantages of high efficiency, safety, as well as low toxicity, providing promising strategies for preventing colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Nonetheless, the potential mechanism of TCMFs in preventing CRC has not been fully elucidated.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The literature from the past three years was reviewed to highlight the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of TCMFs in preventing CRC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The keywords have been searched, including "traditional Chinese medicine formulas," "herb pairs," "Herbal plant-derived nanoparticles," et al. in "PubMed" and "China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)," and screened published articles related to the treatment of intestinal precancerous lesions. This review primarily examined the effectiveness and mechanisms of TCMFs in treating intestinal precancerous lesions, highlighting their significant potential in preventing CRC.

RESULTS

Gegen Qinlian decoction, Shaoyao decoction, Wu Wei Wan, etc., exert substantial therapeutic effects on intestinal precancerous lesions. These therapeutic effects are demonstrated by a reduction in disease activity index scores, suppression of intestinal inflammation, and preservation of body weight and intestinal function, all of which contribute to the effective prevention of CRC. Besides, the classic Chinese herbal pairs and the extracellular vesicle-like nanoparticles of herbaceous plants have demonstrated superior efficacy in the treatment of intestinal precancerous lesions. Mechanistically, protecting the epithelial barrier, regulating gut microbiota as well as related metabolism, modulating macrophage polarization, and maintaining immune balance contribute to the role of TCMFs in CRC prevention.

CONCLUSIONS

This review demonstrates the great potential and mechanism of TCMFs in CRC prevention and provides a scientific basis for their utilization in CRC prevention.

Application of network pharmacology in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of digestive system diseases

With the general improvement in living standards in recent years, people's living habits, including their dietary habits, have changed. More people around the world do not follow a healthy diet, leading to an increase in morbidity and even mortality due to digestive system diseases, which shows an increasing trend every year. The advantage of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in treating digestive system diseases is evident. Consequently, the mechanisms of action of single Chinese herbs and compound Chinese medicines have become the focus of research. The research method of the network pharmacology system was highly consistent with the holistic concept of TCM, and provided a new perspective and theoretical basis for basic research on digestive system diseases. This article summarizes the common databases currently used in research on TCM. It also briefly introduces the basic methods and technologies of network pharmacology studies. It also summarizes the advancements of network pharmacology technology through a comprehensive literature search on PubMed. Based on this analysis, we further explored the role of TCM in treating digestive system diseases, including chronic gastritis, gastric cancer, ulcerative colitis, and liver cirrhosis. This study provides new ideas and references for treating digestive system diseases with TCM in the future and serves as a reference for relevant researchers.

Lactobacillus acidophilus and its metabolite ursodeoxycholic acid ameliorate ulcerative colitis by promoting Treg differentiation and inhibiting M1 macrophage polarization

Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) is a common clinical probiotic that improves ulcerative colitis (UC) by restoring intestinal immune balance. However, the interaction of LA with the gut microbiota and its metabolites in the treatment of UC remains unknown. Therefore, this study seeks to elucidate whether the gut microbiota and its metabolites act as pivotal effectors in LA's therapeutic mechanisms and how precisely they modulate intestinal immunity. In this study, we verified that LA can obviously ameliorate the disease severity, and regulate intestinal immune disorders in UC mice. Subsequently, antibiotic (ABX)-mediated depletion of the gut microflora demonstrated that the therapeutic efficiency of LA was closely associated with gut microbiota. In addition, the results of metabolomics revealed that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a metabolite of intestinal flora, may be a potential effector molecule mediating therapeutic effects of LA. Indeed, we found that UDCA can improve the macro pathological characteristics of UC mice, and through a comprehensive set of in vivo and in vitro experiments, we discovered that UDCA exerts dual effects on immune regulation. Firstly, it promotes the differentiation of Treg cells, resulting in increased secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Secondly, UDCA inhibits the polarization of M1 macrophages, effectively reducing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, we found that UDCA regulation of immune response is directly related to the RapGap/PI3K-AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway. In conclusion, LA and its metabolite, UDCA, may treat UC by activating the RapGap/PI3K-AKT/NF-κB signaling pathway and modulating Treg cells and M1 macrophages. All in all, our findings highlight the potential of microbial metabolites in enhancing probiotic for UC treatment.

Exploring the Mechanisms of Self-made Kuiyu Pingchang Recipe for the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome using a Network Pharmacology-based Approach and Molecular Docking

BACKGROUND

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are common intestinal diseases. According to the clinical experience and curative effect, the authors formulated Kuiyu Pingchang Decoction (KYPCD) comprised of Paeoniae radix alba, Aurantii Fructus, Herba euphorbiae humifusae, Lasiosphaera seu Calvatia, Angelicae sinensis radix, Panax ginseng C.A. Mey., Platycodon grandiforus and Allium azureum Ledeb.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to explore the mechanisms of KYPCD in the treatment of UC and IBS following the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory of "Treating different diseases with the same treatment".

METHODS

The chemical ingredients and targets of KYPCD were obtained using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP). The targets of UC and IBS were extracted using the DisGeNET, GeneCards, DrugBANK, OMIM and TTD databases. The "TCM-component-target" network and the "TCM-shared target-disease" network were imaged using Cytoscape software. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was built using the STRING database. The DAVID platform was used to analyze the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Using Autodock Tools software, the main active components of KYPCD were molecularly docked with their targets and visualized using PyMOL.

RESULTS

A total of 46 active ingredients of KYPCD corresponding to 243 potential targets, 1,565 targets of UC and 1,062 targets of IBS, and 70 targets among active ingredients and two diseases were screened. Core targets in the PPI network included IL6, TNF, AKT1, IL1B, TP53, EGFR and VEGFA. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis demonstrated 563 biological processes, 48 cellular components, 82 molecular functions and 144 signaling pathways. KEGG enrichment results revealed that the regulated pathways were mainly related to the PI3K-AKT, MAPK, HIF-1 and IL-17 pathways. The results of molecular docking analysis indicated that the core active ingredients of KYPCD had optimal binding activity to their corresponding targets.

CONCLUSION

KYPCD may use IL6, TNF, AKT1, IL1B, TP53, EGFR and VEGFA as the key targets to achieve the treatment of UC and IBS through the PI3K-AKT, MAPK, HIF-1 and IL-17 pathways.

Network pharmacology and molecular docking to study the potential molecular mechanism of Qi Fu Yin for diabetic encephalopathy

Diabetic encephalopathy is a chronic complication of diabetes that lacks an optimized treatment strategy. The present study sought to elucidate the potential molecular mechanism of Qi Fu Yin in improving diabetic encephalopathy through network pharmacology. The active components and target information of Qi Fu Yin were obtained from the TCMSP and Swiss target databases, while the target information of diabetic encephalopathy was sourced from Gene cards, OMIM, and Pharm Gkb databases. Enrichment analyses of KEGG and GO were conducted utilizing drug-disease common targets, while protein-protein interactions were predicted through the utilization of the STRING database platform. Subsequently, molecular docking was executed via Auto Dock Vina to authenticate the interaction between core components and core targets. The findings revealed that Qi Fu Yin exhibited 178 common targets with diabetic encephalopathy, and the enrichment analyses demonstrated that these targets were associated with lipid and atherosclerosis, AGE-RAGE signaling pathways, and other related pathways. The findings of the molecular docking indicated a favorable binding affinity between the active components of drug and the core targets, with EGF and quercetin exhibiting the most notable docking score. Additionally, the molecular dynamics simulation corroborated this high affinity. These results suggested that the active ingredients of Qi Fu Yin, including quercetin and kaempferol, may modulated the expression of genes such as IL10, TNF, EGF, and MMP2, thereby activating the AGE-RAGE signaling pathways and potentially serving as a therapeutic intervention for diabetic encephalopathy.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Role of Plant-Derived Compounds in the Molecular Pathways Related to Inflammation

Inflammation is the primary response to infection and injury. Its beneficial effect is an immediate resolution of the pathophysiological event. However, sustained production of inflammatory mediators such as reactive oxygen species and cytokines may cause alterations in DNA integrity and lead to malignant cell transformation and cancer. More attention has recently been paid to pyroptosis, which is an inflammatory necrosis that activates inflammasomes and the secretion of cytokines. Taking into consideration that phenolic compounds are widely available in diet and medicinal plants, their role in the prevention and support of the treatment of chronic diseases is apparent. Recently, much attention has been paid to explaining the significance of isolated compounds in the molecular pathways related to inflammation. Therefore, this review aimed to screen reports concerning the molecular mode of action assigned to phenolic compounds. The most representative compounds from the classes of flavonoids, tannins, phenolic acids, and phenolic glycosides were selected for this review. Our attention was focused mainly on nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Literature searching was performed using Scopus, PubMed, and Medline databases. In conclusion, based on the available literature, phenolic compounds regulate NF-κB, Nrf2, and MAPK signaling, which supports their potential role in chronic inflammatory disorders, including osteoarthritis, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular, and pulmonary disorders.