Protective Effect of Poria Cocos Polysaccharides on Fecal Peritonitis-Induced Sepsis in Mice Through Inhibition of Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, Apoptosis, and Reduction of Treg Cells

Th17/Treg balance: the bloom and wane in the pathophysiology of sepsis

Sepsis is a multi-organ dysfunction characterized by an unregulated host response to infection. It is associated with high morbidity, rapid disease progression, and high mortality. Current therapies mainly focus on symptomatic treatment, such as blood volume supplementation and antibiotic use, but their effectiveness is limited. Th17/Treg balance, based on its inflammatory property, plays a crucial role in determining the direction of the inflammatory response and the regression of organ damage in sepsis patients. This review provides a summary of the changes in T-helper (Th) 17 cell and regulatory T (Treg) cell differentiation and function during sepsis, the heterogeneity of Th17/Treg balance in the inflammatory response, and the relationship between Th17/Treg balance and organ damage. Th17/Treg balance exerts significant control over the bloom and wanes in host inflammatory response throughout sepsis.

Immunomodulatory Activity and Its Mechanisms of Two Polysaccharides from Poria cocos

Polyporaceae is an important fungal family that has been a source of natural products with a range of pharmaceutical activities in China. In our previous study, two polysaccharides, PCWPW and PCWPS, with significant antioxidant and antidepressant activity were obtained from Poria cocos. In this study, we evaluated their potential molecular mechanisms in the immunomodulation of macrophages. PCWPW and PCWPS were characterized by GC-MS analysis to contain 1,3-linked Glcp. ELISA assays results demonstrated that the secretion of TNF-α was significantly enhanced by PCWPW/PCWPS. RNA-seq data demonstrated that PCWPS treatment modulated the expression of immune-related genes in macrophages, which was further confirmed by RT-qPCR assays. The activation of TNF-α secretion was found to be mannose receptor (MR) dependent and suppressed by MR inhibitor pretreatment. Moreover, the amount of TNF-α cytokine secretion in PCWPW/PCWPS-induced RAW264.7 cells was decreased when pretreated with NF-κB or MAPK signaling pathway inhibitors. Collectively, our results suggested that PCWPW and PCWPS possessed immunomodulatory activity that regulates TNF-α expression through the NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway by binding to mannose receptors. Therefore, PCWPW and PCWPS isolated from Poria cocos have potential as drug candidates for immune-related disease treatment.

Research Progress of Macromolecules in the Prevention and Treatment of Sepsis

Sepsis is associated with high rates of mortality in the intensive care unit and accompanied by systemic inflammatory reactions, secondary infections, and multiple organ failure. Biological macromolecules are drugs produced using modern biotechnology to prevent or treat diseases. Indeed, antithrombin, antimicrobial peptides, interleukins, antibodies, nucleic acids, and lentinan have been used to prevent and treat sepsis. In vitro, biological macromolecules can significantly ameliorate the inflammatory response, apoptosis, and multiple organ failure caused by sepsis. Several biological macromolecules have entered clinical trials. This review summarizes the sources, efficacy, mechanism of action, and research progress of macromolecular drugs used in the prevention and treatment of sepsis.

Optimization of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction Conditions for Bioactive Components and Antioxidant Activity of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf by an RSM-ANN-GA Hybrid Approach

In this study, a response surface methodology and an artificial neural network coupled with a genetic algorithm (RSM-ANN-GA) was used to predict and estimate the optimized ultrasonic-assisted extraction conditions of Poria cocos. The ingredient yield and antioxidant potential were determined with different independent variables of ethanol concentration (X₁; 25-75%), extraction time (X₂; 30-50 min), and extraction solution volume (mL) (X₃; 20-60 mL). The optimal conditions were predicted by the RSM-ANN-GA model to be 55.53% ethanol concentration for 48.64 min in 60.00 mL solvent for four triterpenoid acids, and 40.49% ethanol concentration for 30.25 min in 20.00 mL solvent for antioxidant activity and total polysaccharide and phenolic contents. The evaluation of the two modeling strategies showed that RSM-ANN-GA provided better predictability and greater accuracy than the response surface methodology for ultrasonic-assisted extraction of P. cocos. These findings provided guidance on efficient extraction of P. cocos and a feasible analysis/modeling optimization process for the extraction of natural products.

Composition analysis and prebiotics properties of polysaccharides extracted from Lepista sordida submerged cultivation mycelium

In this paper, Lepista sordida polysaccharides (LSP) were separated from Lepista sordida (L. sordida) mainly using the Ultrasonic-Micro Wave Synergy Extraction (UMSE) method and purified by graded alcohol precipitation. Three polysaccharide components: 40%-LSP-UMSE, 60%-LSP-UMSE, and 80%-LSP-UMSE were obtained and further analyzed the physicochemical properties, structural characteristics, and antioxidant activity. And the effects on the proliferation of Lactobacillus casei of three polysaccharide components were studied. The characteristic absorption peaks and the β-glycosidic bond of three polysaccharide components were the direct expression at UV 200 nm using UV and FT-IR spectroscopy. The three polysaccharide components were mainly composed of glucose, mannose, galactose, and ribose using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The antioxidant activity study revealed that the polysaccharides obtained by the UMSE method had better antioxidant activity compared to the traditional "Hot Water Extraction (HWE)" method. In addition, the polysaccharide components promoted the proliferation of L. casei to some extent. 40%-LSP-UMSE, 80%-LSP-UMSE as the carbon source had better acid production than the control inulin. Three LSP-UMSE used as a carbon source compared with glucose for culturing L. casei could significantly improve its tolerance to bile salts. Results are helpful to develop the bioactive polysaccharides from Lepista sordida and beneficial to develop a unique health and functional product in the future.

Quantification of Chemical Groups and Quantitative HPLC Fingerprint of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf

(1)Objective: In this study, a quantitative analysis of chemical groups (the triterpenoids, water-soluble polysaccharides, and acidic polysaccharides) and quantitative high liquid performance chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf (PC) for quality control was developed. (2) Methodology: First, three main chemical groups, including triterpenoids, water-soluble polysaccharides, and acidic polysaccharides, in 16 batches of PC were evaluated by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. Afterward, the quantitative fingerprint of PC was established, and the alcohol extract of PC was further evaluated. The method involves establishing 16 batches of PC fingerprints by HPLC, evaluating the similarity of different batches of PC, and identifying eight bioactive components, including poricoic acid B (PAB), dehydrotumulosic acid (DTA), poricoic acid A (PAA), polyporenic acid C (PAC), 3-epidehydrotumulosic acid (EA), dehydropachymic acid (DPA), dehydrotrametenolic acid (DTA-1), and dehydroeburicoic acid (DEA), in PC by comparison with the reference substance. Combined with the quantitative analysis of multi-components by a single marker (QAMS), six bioactive ingredients, including PAB, DTA, PAC, EA, DPA, and DEA, in PC from different places were established. In addition, the multivariate statistical analyses, such as principal component analysis and heatmap hierarchical clustering analysis are more intuitive, and the visual analysis strategy was used to evaluate the content of bioactive components in 16 batches of PC. Finally, the analysis strategy of three main chemical groups in PC was combined with the quantitative fingerprint strategy, which reduced the error caused by the single method. (3) Results: The establishment of a method for the quantification of chemical groups and quantitative HPLC fingerprint of PC was achieved as demonstrated through the quantification of six triterpenes in PC by a single marker. (4) Conclusions: Through qualitative and quantitative chemical characterization, a multi-directional, simple and efficient routine evaluation method of PC quality was established. The results reveal that this strategy can provide an analytical method for the quality evaluation of PC and other Chinese medicinal materials.