A Traditional Chinese Medicine Plant Extract Prevents Alcohol-Induced Osteopenia

Gastroprotective potential of the aqueous extract of nine-steaming and nine-sun-drying processed Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua against alcoholic gastric injury in mice

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Polygonatum (Huangjing) genus has been used as both food and medicine in China for 2000 years, which was regarded as a "Top-grade" herb in the Shennong Bencao Jing. The most commonly used species is the rhizome of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua (PC) that is traditionally utilized to invigorate Qi, nourish Yin, moisten lung, and tonify spleen and kidney.

AIM OF THE STUDY

Excessive alcohol consumption causes severe upper-gastrointestinal diseases, notably gastric mucosal damage characterized by hemorrhagic gastritis, which lacks safe and effective intervention. This study aims to investigate the gastroprotective effects of nine-steaming and nine-drying processed Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua (PPC) on alcohol-induced gastric mucosal damage in mice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PPC extract was chemically characterized by UPLC-QE-MS analysis. ICR mice were subjected to an ethanol-induced gastric lesion model and were orally administered PPC aqueous extract for 5 consecutive days. After treatment, gastric tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and the pro-inflammatory and oxidative stress factors were determined using ELISA and Multiplex assay, while the gene expressions of gastric tissues were detected by RNA-seq and Western blotting.

RESULTS

PPC reduced the alcohol concentration of liquor in vitro and protected against alcohol-induced gastric mucosal lesion in mice. Notably, PPC aqueous extract relieved alcohol-induced pro-inflammatory and oxidative stress factors, including interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8, keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA). RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that ethanol exposure activated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and IL-17 signaling pathways in gastric tissue, and these activated signaling pathways were inhibited by the PPC treatment. Consistently, Western blot data showed that PPC treatment suppressed the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK), p38, c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), TNF-α and IL-17A pathways in gastric tissue.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the aqueous extract of PPC exerted a gastroprotective effect against alcohol-induced gastric injury by alleviating inflammation and oxidative stress, potentially through the inhibition of the MAPKs, IL-17 and TNF-α pathways. These findings supported the future development of PPC as an effective intervention for alcohol-induced gastric damage.

Ti3C2Tx@PLGA/Icaritin microspheres-modified PLGA/β-TCP scaffolds modulate Icaritin release to enhance bone regeneration through near-infrared response

Porous poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)/β-tricalcium phosphate/Icaritin (PLGA/β-TCP/ICT, PTI) scaffold is a tissue engineering scaffold based on PLGA/β-TCP (PT) containing Icaritin, the main active ingredient of the Chinese medicine Epimedium. Due to its excellent mechanical properties and osteogenic effect, PTI scaffold has the potential to promote bone defect repair. However, the release of ICT from the scaffolds is difficult to control. In this study, we constructed Ti3C2Tx@PLGA/ICT microspheres (TIM) and evaluated their characterization as well as ICT release under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. We utilized TIM to modify the PT scaffold and performed biological experiments. First, we cultured rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on the scaffold to assess biocompatibility and osteogenic potential under on-demand NIR irradiation. Subsequently, to evaluate the osteogenic properties of TIM-modified scaffoldin vivo, the scaffold was implanted into a femoral condyle defect model. TIM have excellent drug-loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency for ICT, and the incorporation of Ti3C2Txendows TIM with photothermal conversion capability. Under 0.90 W cm-2NIR irradiation, the temperature of TIM maintained at 42.0 ± 0.5 °C and the release of ICT was accelerated. Furthermore, while retaining its original properties, the TIM-modified scaffold was biocompatible and could promote cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation, and biomineralizationin vitro, as well as the osteogenesis and osseointegrationin vivo, and its effect was further enhanced through the modulation of ICT release under NIR irradiation. In summary, TIM-modified scaffold has the potential to be applied in bone defects repairing.

Therapeutic potential of Chinese medicinal herbs stimulating osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in osteoporosis

Osteoporosis (OP) is a common and complex chronic metabolic disease with an increasing incidence rate, which has markedly increased the human health burden worldwide. The predominant cause of OP is an imbalance between osteoblasts (OB) and osteoclasts (OC). Studies on the correlation between bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and OP have indicated that BMSCs-induced OB differentiation is an important pathway for bone tissue renewal. Chinese medicinal herbs have been used for centuries to treat various types of OPs because they are safer and more effective. The in vivo and in vitro experiments have confirmed that these herbs or their primary phytochemicals may exert therapeutic effects by stimulating BMSCs differentiation, which restores OB and OP balance, inhibits adipocyte differentiation, exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, regulates the immune system, etc. This review summarizes the research on how Chinese medicinal herbs or their primary phytochemicals treat OP by stimulating BMSC differentiation and provides a scientifically reliable basis and perspective for their future clinical application.

Bone-Targeted Supramolecular Nanoagonist Assembled by Accurate Ratiometric Herbal-Derived Therapeutics for Osteoporosis Reversal

Developing novel strategies for defeating osteoporosis has become a world-wide challenge with the aging of the population. In this work, novel supramolecular nanoagonists (NAs), constructed from alkaloids and phenolic acids, emerge as a carrier-free nanotherapy for efficacious osteoporosis treatment. These precision nanoagonists are formed through the self-assembly of berberine (BER) and chlorogenic acid (CGA), utilizing noncovalent electrostatic, π-π, and hydrophobic interactions. This assembly results in a 100% drug loading capacity and stable nanostructure. Furthermore, the resulting weights and proportions of CGA and BER within the NAs are meticulously controlled with strong consistency when the CGA/BER assembly feed ratio is altered from 1:1 to 1:4. As anticipated, our NAs themselves could passively target osteoporotic bone tissues following prolonged blood circulation, modulate Wnt signaling, regulate osteogenic differentiation, and ameliorate bone loss in ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic mice. We hope this work will open a new strategy to design efficient herbal-derived Wnt NAs for dealing with intractable osteoporosis.

Traditional Chinese medicine in osteoporosis: from pathogenesis to potential activity

Osteoporosis characterized by decreased bone density and mass, is a systemic bone disease with the destruction of microstructure and increase in fragility. Osteoporosis is attributed to multiple causes, including aging, inflammation, diabetes mellitus, and other factors induced by the adverse effects of medications. Without treatment, osteoporosis will further progress and bring great trouble to human life. Due to the various causes, the treatment of osteoporosis is mainly aimed at improving bone metabolism, inhibiting bone resorption, and promoting bone formation. Although the currently approved drugs can reduce the risk of fragility fractures in individuals, a single drug has limitations in terms of safety and effectiveness. By contrast, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a characteristic discipline in China, including syndrome differentiation, Chinese medicine prescription, and active ingredients, shows unique advantages in the treatment of osteoporosis and has received attention all over the world. Therefore, this review summarized the pathogenic factors, pathogenesis, therapy limitations, and advantages of TCM, aiming at providing new ideas for the prevention and treatment of OP.

Development and validation of a Chinese Drinking Expectancies Questionnaire for young adults: A Hong Kong study

INTRODUCTION

Drinking expectancies, the perceived consequences of alcohol consumption, are noted to predict drinking behaviours. However, there is comparatively little research of drinking expectancies in non-Western populations. This study aimed to develop and validate a Chinese Drinking Expectancy Questionnaire (CDEQ-Adult) for Chinese young adults.

METHODS

Face and content validity were first assessed of items generated from literature review and previously conducted focus groups. Exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted with split-half samples from a random telephone survey that was conducted on Hong Kong Chinese adults between the ages of 18-34 (n = 675). The instrument's convergent validity and internal reliability were also examined.

RESULTS

The preliminary instrument items showed good content validity (Item Content Validity Index range: 0.8-1.0). The EFA yielded a 31-item, five-factor model consisting of five domains: Negative Consequences, Interpersonal Benefits, Increased Confidence, Health Benefits and Tension/Stress Reduction (variance explained 63.7%). The CFA revealed that the fit indices for the five-factor model using diagonal weighted least squares estimator were χ2 (256, N = 338) = 394.04, p < 0.001, comparative fit index 0.97, SRMR 0.07, RMSEA 0.06 (95% confidence interval 0.06, 0.08), suggesting a good fit of the model. The Cronbach's α coefficients were 0.94, 0.90, 0.86, 0.77 and 0.57, respectively for each of the five domains (n = 675). Significant associations with past month drinking behaviours and future drinking intentions give strong support for convergent validity.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The CDEQ-Adult is a culturally relevant instrument for assessing drinking expectancies in Chinese young adults for use in future studies.

The Role of Herbal Medicine in Modulating Bone Homeostasis

Osteoporosis and other bone diseases are a major public health concern worldwide. Current pharmaceutical treatments for bone disorders have limitations, driving interest in complementary herbal medicines that can help maintain bone health. This review summarizes the scientific evidence for medicinal herbs that modulate bone cell activity and improve bone mass, quality and strength. Herbs with osteogenic, anti-osteoporotic, and anti-osteoclastic effects are discussed, including compounds and mechanisms of action. Additionally, this review examines the challenges and future directions for translational research on herbal medicines for osteoporosis and bone health. While preliminary research indicates beneficial bone bioactivities for various herbs, rigorous clinical trials are still needed to verify therapeutic efficacy and safety. Further studies should also elucidate synergistic combinations, bioavailability of active phytochemicals, and precision approaches to match optimal herbs with specific etiologies of bone disease. Advancing evidence- based herbal medicines may provide novel alternatives for promoting bone homeostasis and treating skeletal disorders.

Transcriptomics reveals the molecular regulation of Chinese medicine formula on improving bone quality in broiler

Skeletal disorder is of concern to the poultry industry as it affects animal welfare and production performance. Traditional Chinese medicine could improve bone quality and reduce the incidence of bone disease, but the molecular regulation of Chinese medicine formula (CMF) on improving bone quality in broilers is still unclear. This study was performed to research the effects of CMF on skeletal performance of Cobb broilers and reveal the molecular regulation. A total of 120 one-day-old Cobb broilers were randomly allocated into 4 equal groups of 30 chickens, with 5 replicates and 6 chickens in each replicate. The control (CON) group was fed a diet without CMF, while the CMF1, CMF2, and CMF3 groups were supplemented with different CMF at 6,000 mg/kg diet, respectively. The broilers were raised to 60 d of age, then bone tissues were collected for biomechanical properties, micro-CT detection and transcriptomic sequencing analysis. The results showed that CMF3 improved the biomechanical properties of broiler tibia, via increasing the elastic modulus (P < 0.05), yield strength (P > 0.05), maximum stress (P < 0.05) and fracture stress (P < 0.05) of the tibia. Micro-CT analysis indicated that CMF3 increased the bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume/total volume (BV/TV), bone surface density (BS/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), and decreased the trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) of femur cancellous bone (P < 0.05). RNA-seq analysis revealed 2,177 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (|log2FoldChange| ≥ 1, FDR < 0.05) between the CMF3 group and CON group. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) analysis showed 13 pathways mostly associated with bone growth and development and bone metabolism, and we identified 39 bone-related DEGs. This study suggests that CMF3 could improve bone strength and bone microstructure of broilers, and showed a positive effect on bone performance. Our research could provide a theoretical reference for the development of pollution-free feed additives to improve the skeletal performance of broilers, which could help promote healthy farming of chickens.

Antimildew Effect of Three Phenolic Compounds and the Efficacy of Antimildew Sliced Bamboo Veneer

The development of the bamboo industry has been hindered by environmental issues caused by the application of bamboo preservatives. Chinese herbal phenolic compounds have been shown to possess broad-spectrum, potent antimildew properties, making them promising candidates for the development of new bamboo mildew inhibitors. In this study, we investigated the antimildew properties of three phenolic compounds, eugenol, carvacrol, and paeonol, against common mildews in bamboo materials using the Oxford cup method and the double-dilution method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to analyze the antimildew mechanism and its effects on mildew cell morphology. Our results showed that carvacrol exhibited the strongest antimildew activity, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values of 1.56 mg/mL and 1.76 mg/mL, respectively, followed by eugenol and paeonol. At a concentration of 25 mg/mL, eugenol and carvacrol had an inhibitory rate of over 50% against various mildews. Different concentrations of the three compounds significantly disrupted the morphology and structural integrity of mildew hyphae, with the extent of damage increasing with concentration and treatment duration. In the sliced bamboo mildew prevention experiment, carvacrol at a concentration of 29.25 mg/mL was found to be highly effective against all tested mildews. Our study provides new insights and a theoretical basis for the development of eco-friendly bamboo mildew inhibitors based on plant phenolic compounds.

Ellagic acid inhibits CDK12 to increase osteoblast differentiation and alleviate osteoporosis in hindlimb-unloaded and ovariectomized mice

BACKGROUND

Osteoporosis is a highly prevalent bone disease occurred commonly in astronauts and postmenopausal women due to mechanical unloading and estrogen deficiency, respectively. At present, there are some traditional Chinese medicine compounds for preventing and treating osteoporosis induced by simulated microgravity, but the detailed components of the traditional Chinese medicines still need to be confirmed and osteoporosis is still untreatable due to a lack of effective small-molecule natural medicine.

PURPOSE

To explore the role of cyclin-dependent kinase 12 (CDK12) in osteoporosis induced by simulated microgravity and the therapeutic effect of CDK12-targeted Ellagic Acid (EA) on osteoporosis.

METHODS

Our previous study has suggested that CDK12 as a potential target for treating and preventing osteoporosis. In this study, the role of CDK12 in osteoblasts and mice bone tissues was further studied under simulated microgravity. And by targeting CDK12, natural small-molecule product EA was screened out based on a large scale through the weighted set similarity (WES) method and the therapeutic effects of EA on osteoporosis was investigated in hindlimb-unloaded (HU) mouse model and ovariectomized (OVX) model.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that simulated microgravity inhibited bone formation and up-regulated the expression of CDK12. Furthermore, CDK12-siRNA or THZ531 (an inhibitor of CDK 12) promoted osteoblast differentiation, while the overexpression of CDK12 inhibited osteoblasts differentiation. And we further proved that CDK12-targeted EA showed a rescue effect on osteoblast differentiation inhibition caused by simulated microgravity. EA (50 mg·kg^-1·day^-1) daily intragastric administration alleviated the symptoms of osteoporosis and accompanied with the improvement of trabecular bone and cortical bone parameters with significantly overexpression of CDK12.

CONCLUSION

EA efficiently improves osteoporosis by targeting CDK12, which is a suppresser of osteoblast differentiation and a novel therapeutic target for treating osteoporosis.

Structural characterization and anti-osteoporosis effects of polysaccharide purified from Eucommia ulmoides Oliver cortex based on its modulation on bone metabolism

EuOCP3, with a molecular weight of 38.1 kDa, is an acidic polysaccharide purified from Eucommia ulmoides Oliver cortex. Herein, we determined that the main backbone of EuOCP3 was predominantly composed of →4)-α-GalpA-(1 → 4)-α-GalpA-(1→, →4)-α-GalpA-(1 → 5)-α-Araf-(1→, →4)-α-GalpA-(1 → 2)-α-Rhap-(1→, and →4)-α-GalpA-(1 → 5)-α-Araf-(1 → 2)-α-Rhap-(1 → repeating blocks, which were connected by →2,3,5)-α-Araf-(1→. The side chains, substituted at C-2 and C-5 of →2,3,5)-α-Araf-(1→, contained T-β-Araf→ and T-β-Araf → 4)-α-GalpA-(1 → residues. In dexamethasone (Dex)-induced osteoporosis (OP) mice, EuOCP3 treatment restored cortical bone thickness, increased mineralized bone area, enhanced the number of osteoblasts, and decreased the number of osteoclasts on the surface of cortical bone. Combining analysis of gut microflora, serum metabolite profiles, and biological detection results, we demonstrated that EuOCP3 regulated the abundance of specific species within the gut microflora, such as g_Dorea and g_Prevotella, and ameliorated oxidative stress. In turn, enhancement of osteogenic function and restoration of bone metabolism via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway was indicated. The current findings contribute to understanding the potential of EuOCP3 in anti-OP treatment.

Bacteria-Loaded Gastro-Retention Oral Delivery System for Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse is harmful to human health, and many strategies have been developed to retard this harm through protecting liver or activating relative enzymes. In this study, a new strategy of decreasing the alcohol absorption directly depending on the dealcoholization by the bacteria in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract was reported. To realize this, a bacteria-loaded gastro-retention oral delivery system with pore structure was constructed through emulsification/internal gelation, which could relieve acute alcohol intoxication in mice successfully. It was found that this bacteria-loaded system kept the above 30% suspension ratio in the simulated gastric fluid for 4 min, displayed good protection effect for the bacteria, and decreased the alcohol concentration from 50 to 30% below within 24 h in vitro. The in vivo imaging results demonstrated that it remained in the upper GI tract until 24 h and reduced 41.9% alcohol absorption. The mice with oral administration of the bacteria-loaded system were found with normal gait, smooth coat, and less liver damage. Although the intestinal flora distribution was influenced slightly during the oral administration, it could restore to normal levels only one day after stopping oral administration quickly, suggesting good biosafety. In conclusion, these results revealed that the bacteria-loaded gastro-retention oral delivery system might intake alcohol molecules rapidly and has huge potential in the treatment of alcohol abuse.