The study on mechanism of the modified Chinese herbal compound, jianpijiedu, on a mouse model of hepatic carcinoma cachexia

Milk Fat Globule Membrane Relieves Fatigue via Regulation of Oxidative Stress and Gut Microbiota in BALB/c Mice

Milk fat globule membranes (MFGMs) are complex structures that incorporate bioactive proteins and lipids to assist in infant development. However, the antifatigue and antioxidant potentials of MFGM have not been investigated. In this study, repeated force swimming measured fatigue in male BALB/c mice fed MFGM and saline for 18 weeks. The MFGM supplementation increased the time to exhaustion by 42.7% at 6 weeks and 30.6% at 14 weeks (p < 0.05). Fatigue and injury-related biomarkers, including blood glucose, lactic acid, and lactate dehydrogenase, were ameliorated after free swimming (p < 0.05). The activity of antioxidant enzymes in blood serum increased at 18 weeks, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content decreased by 45.0% after the MFGM supplementation (p < 0.05). The Pearson correlation analysis showed a high correlation between fatigue-related indices and antioxidant levels. The increased protein expression of hepatic Nrf2 reduced the protein expression of Caspase-3 in the gastrocnemius muscle (p < 0.05). Moreover, the MFGM supplementation increased the relative abundance of Bacteroides, Butyricimonas, and Anaerostipes. Our results demonstrate that MFGM may maintain redox homeostasis to relieve fatigue, suggesting the potential application of MFGM as an antifatigue and antioxidant dietary supplement.

Multi-omics profiling reveals Chitinase-3-like protein 1 as a key mediator in the crosstalk between sarcopenia and liver cancer

Sarcopenia is prevalent in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and can adversely affect their outcomes. This study aims to explore the key mechanisms in the crosstalk between sarcopenia and HCC based on multi-omics profiling. A total of 136 male patients with HCC were enrolled. Sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for poor outcomes after liver transplantation (p < 0.05). Inflammatory cytokine and metabolomic profiling on these patients identified elevated plasma sTNF-R1/CHI3L1 and dysregulated lipid metabolism as related to sarcopenia and tumor recurrence risk concurrently (p < 0.05). Integrated analysis revealed close relationship between CHI3L1 and fatty acid metabolism. In mouse cachectic models by intraperitoneal injection of H22 cells, CHI3L1 was significantly elevated in the atrophic muscle tissue, as well as in circulation. In-vitro, CHI3L1 was up-regulated in muscle cells to protect itself from inflammatory damage through TNF-α/TNF-R1 signaling. CHI3L1 secreted by the muscle cells promoted the invasion of co-cultured HCC cells. Tumor tissue transcriptome data for 73 out of the 136 patients revealed that CHI3L1 may regulate fatty acid metabolism and oxidative stress. In vitro, CHI3L1 caused ROS and lipid accumulation. Targeted lipid profiling further proved that CHI3L1 was able to activate arachidonic acid metabolism, leading to lipid peroxide (LPO) accumulation. Meanwhile, LPO inhibition could compromise the remarkable pro-cancerous effects of CHI3L1. In conclusion, sarcopenia adversely affects the outcomes of liver transplantation for HCC. In sarcopenic patients, CHI3L1 was up-regulated and secreted by the skeletal muscle to protect itself through TNF-α/TNF-R1 signaling, which, in turn, can promote HCC tumor progression by inducing LPO accumulation.

Exosome CTLA-4 Regulates PTEN/CD44 Signal Pathway in Spleen Deficiency Internal Environment to Promote Invasion and Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common primary cancers, and its pathogenesis is complicated and difficult to screen. Currently, there is no effective treatment. In traditional Chinese medicine, a large proportion of patients with HCC have been diagnosed with spleen deficiency (SD) syndrome and treated with tonifying traditional Chinese medicine, which has significant clinical efficacy. However, the role and molecular mechanism of SD in HCC remain unclear. In this study, 40 mice were randomly divided into four groups: control, SD, HCC, and SD-HCC groups. The liver cancer model of SD was established by reserpine induction and orthotopic transplantation. The effects of SD on the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis of HCC cells were studied by cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cell scratch, and transwell assay. We found that compared with the HCC group, the protein expressions of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and AKT (also known as protein kinase B or PKB) in the exosomes of the SD-HCC group were upregulated. In addition, the metastases and self-renewal of exosomes in the SD-HCC group were more aggressive than those in the HCC group, which could be partially reversed with the addition of CTLA-4 inhibitors. Further studies showed that in the internal environment of SD, CTLA-4 promoted tumor invasion and metastasis by regulating the PTEN/CD44 pathway. In conclusion, our findings suggest that during SD in the internal environment, exosome CTLA-4 regulates the PTEN/CD44 signal pathway to promote the proliferation, self-renewal, and metastasis of liver cancer.

Win 55,212-2, atenolol and subdiaphragmatic vagotomy prevent acceleration of gastric emptying induced by cachexia via Yoshida-AH-130 cells in rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cachexia induced by AH-130 cells on gastrointestinal motility in rats. We evaluated food intake, body weight variation, cachexia index, gastric emptying and in vitro gastric responsiveness of control or cachexia rats. In addition, we evaluated the effect of pretreatment with atenolol (20 mg/kg, p.o.), win 55,212-2 (2 mg/kg, s.c.) or subdiaphragmatic vagotomy on the effects found. Atenolol prevented (P < 0.05) the acceleration of gastric emptying (area under the curve, AUC, 20360.17 ± 1970.9 vs. 12579.2 ± 785.4 μg/min/ml), and increased gastric responsiveness to carbachol (CCh) stimulation in cachectic rats compared to control groups (CCh-6M: 63.2 ± 5.5% vs. 46.5 ± 5.7%). Vagotomy prevented (P < 0.05) increase in gastric emptying acceleration (AUC 20360.17 ± 1970.9 vs. 13414.0 ± 1112.9 μg/min/ml) and caused greater in vitro gastric responsiveness of cachectic compared to control rats (CCh-6M: 63.2 ± 5.5% vs. 31.2 ± 4.7%). Win 55,212-2 attenuated the cachexia index (38.5 ± 2.1% vs. 25.8 ± 2.7%), as well as significantly (P < 0.05) preventing increase in gastric emptying (AUC 20360.17 ± 1970.9 vs. 10965.4 ± 1392.3 μg/min/ml) and gastric responsiveness compared to control groups (CCh-6M: 63.2 ± 5.5% vs. 38.2 ± 3.9%). Cachexia accelerated gastric emptying and increased gastric responsiveness in vitro. These phenomena were prevented by subdiaphragmatic vagotomy and by atenolol and win 55,212-2 treatments, showing vagal involvement of β₁-adrenergic and cannabinoid CB₁/CB₂ receptors.

Research Progress in Liver-Regenerating Microenvironment and DNA Methylation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The development, progression, recurrence, and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are closely associated with an abnormal liver-regenerating microenvironment (LRM). Therefore, preventing and reversing an abnormal LRM is a potential therapeutic strategy against HCC. Studies are increasingly focusing on the impact of regeneration, fibrosis, angiogenesis, inflammation, immunomodulation, and hepatic stem cells on HCC development and progression. As a key epigenetic mechanism, DNA methylation is extensively involved in regulating physiological and pathological pathways. In this review, we summarize recent findings on the role of DNA methylation in the fibrotic, angiogenic, inflammatory/immune, and stem cell microenvironments of HCC, and discuss new advances in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on influencing the abnormal LRM, so as to gain new insights into alleviating the abnormal LRM via regulating DNA methylation by TCM.