T cell inhibition by pogostone from Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth: In vitro and in vivo immunosuppressive analysis

Simultaneous determination of multiple components in rat plasma by UPLC-MS/MS for pharmacokinetic studies after oral administration of Pogostemon cablin extract

Introduction: Pogostemon cablin (PC) is used in traditional Chinese medicine and food, as it exerts pharmacological effects, such as immune-modulatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor, and antiviral. Currently, the pharmacokinetics (PK) studies of PC mainly focus on individual components. However, research on these individual components cannot reflect the actual PK characteristics of PC after administration. Therefore, the simultaneous determination of multiple components in rat plasma using UPLC-MS/MS was used for the pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of PC extract in this study, providing reference value for the clinical application of PC. Methods: In the present study, a reliable and sensitive ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 15 prototype components (vanillic acid, vitexin, verbascoside, isoacteoside, hyperoside, cosmosiin, apigenin, β-rhamnocitrin, acacetin, ombuin, pogostone, pachypodol, vicenin-2, retusin, and diosmetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside) in rat plasma after oral administration of the PC extract. Plasma samples were prepared via protein precipitation using acetonitrile, and icariin was used as the internal standard (IS). Results: The intra-day and inter-day accuracies ranged from -12.0 to 14.3%, and the precision of the analytes was less than 11.3%. The extraction recovery rate of the analytes ranged from 70.6-104.5%, and the matrix effects ranged from 67.4-104.8%. Stability studies proved that the analytes were stable under the tested conditions, with a relative standard deviation lower than 14.1%. Conclusion: The developed method can be applied to evaluate the PK of 15 prototype components in PC extracts of rats after oral administration using UPLC-MS/MS, providing valuable information for the development and clinical safe, effective, and rational use of PC.

Research Progress of Natural Active Substances with Immunosuppressive Activity

The increasing prevalence of autoimmune diseases globally has prompted extensive research and the development of immunosuppressants. Currently, immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine, rapamycin, and tacrolimus have been utilized in clinical practice. However, long-term use of these drugs may lead to a series of adverse effects. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore novel drug candidates for treating autoimmune diseases. This review aims to find potential candidate molecules for natural immunosuppressive compounds derived from plants, animals, and fungi over the past decade. These compounds include terpenoids, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and others. Among them, compounds 49, 151, 173, 200, 204, and 247 have excellent activity; their IC50 were less than 1 μM. A total of 109 compounds have good immunosuppressive activity, with IC50 ranging from 1 to 10 μM. These active compounds have high medicinal potential. The names, sources, structures, immunosuppressive activity, and the structure-activity relationship were summarized and analyzed.

Clinical efficacy, pharmacodynamic components, and molecular mechanisms of antiviral granules in the treatment of influenza: A systematic review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The Antiviral Granules (AG) are derived from the classical famous prescription, which is composed of 9 traditional Chinese medicines, namely Radix Isatidis (called Banlangen, BLG in Chinese), Forsythiae Fructus (called Lianqiao, LQ in Chinese), Gypsum fibrosum, Anemarrhenae Rhizoma (called Zhimu, ZM in Chinese), Phragmitis Rhizoma (called Lugen, LG in Chinese), Rehmanniae Radix (called Dihuang, DH in Chinese), Pogostemonis Herba (called Guanghuoxiang, GHX in Chinese), Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma (called Shichangpu, SCP in Chinese), and Curcumae Radix (called Yujin, YJ in Chinese), and has shown an excellent therapeutic effect in clinical treatment of influenza. However, there are few studies on the anti-influenza mechanism of AG, and the mechanism of action is still unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose is to provide the latest information about the clinical efficacy, pharmacodynamic composition and mechanism of AG based on scientific literature, so as to enhance the utilization of AG in the treatment of influenza and related diseases, and promote the development and innovation of novel anti-influenza drugs targeting the influenza virus.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Enter the data retrieval room, search for Antiviral Granules, as well as the scientific names, common names, and Chinese names of each Chinese medicine. Additionally, search for the relevant clinical applications, pharmacodynamic composition, pharmacological action, and molecular mechanism of both Antiviral Granules and single-ingredient medicines. Keywords includes terms such as "antiviral granules", "influenza", "Isatis indigotica Fort.", "Radix Isatidis", "Banlangeng", "pharmacology", "clinical application", "pharmacologic action", etc. and their combinations. Obtain results from the Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, Sci Finder Scholar, CNKI and other resources.

RESULTS

AG is effective in the treatment of influenza and is often used in combination with other drugs to treat viral diseases. Its chemical composition is complex, including alkaloids, polysaccharides, volatile oils, steroid saponins, phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and other compounds. These compounds have a variety of pharmacological activities, which can interfere with the replication cycle of the influenza virus, regulate RIG-I-MAVS, JAK/STAT, TLRs/MyD88, NF-κB signaling pathways and related cytokines, regulate intestinal microorganisms, and protect both the lungs and extrapulmonary organs.

CONCLUSIONS

AG can overcome the limitations of traditional antiviral drug therapy, play a synergistic role in fighting influenza virus with the characteristics of multi-component, multi-pathway and multi-target therapy, and reverse the bodily function damage caused by influenza virus. AG may be a potential drug in the prevention and treatment of influenza and related diseases.

Real-World Study on Chai-Shi-Jie-Du Granules for the Treatment of Dengue Fever and the Possible Mechanisms Based on Network Pharmacology

Objectives

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a widely used method for treating dengue fever in China. TCM improves the symptoms of patients with dengue, but there is no standard TCM prescription for dengue fever. This real-world study aimed to evaluate the effects of Chai-Shi-Jie-Du (CSJD) granules for the treatment of dengue fever and the underlying mechanisms.

Methods

We implemented a multicenter real-world study, an in vitro assay and network pharmacology analysis. Patients from 5 hospitals in mainland China who received supportive western treatment in the absence or presence of CSJD were assigned to the control and CSJD groups between 1 August and 31 December 2019. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to correct for biases between groups. The clinical data were compared and analyzed. The antidengue virus activity of CSJD was tested in Syrian baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells using the DENV2-NGC strain. Network pharmacological approaches along with active compound screening, target prediction, and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were used to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Results

137 pairs of patients were successfully matched according to age, sex, and the time from onset to presentation. The time to defervescence (1.7 days vs. 2.5 days, P < 0.05) and the disease course (4.1 days vs. 6.1 days, P < 0.05) were significantly shorter in the CSJD group than those in the control group. CSJD showed no anti-DENV2-NGC virus activity in BHK cells. Network pharmacology analysis revealed 108 potential therapeutic targets, and the top GO and KEGG terms were related to immunity, oxidative stress response, and the response to lipopolysaccharide.

Conclusions

CSJD granules exhibit high potential for the treatment of dengue fever, and the therapeutic mechanisms involved could be related to regulating immunity, moderating the oxidative stress response, and the response to lipopolysaccharide.

Polysaccharides From Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.: Characterization and Antioxidant Activities

Two polysaccharide fractions from Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. (P. cablin) (designated as PCB-1 and PCB2-1) were isolated by water extraction and purified by Sepharose chromatography. The chemical properties of the polysaccharides were characterised, and their antioxidant activities were evaluated. The sugar content of the crude polysaccharide (PCB), PCB-1, and PCB2-1 was 58.74, 90.23 and 88.61%, respectively. The molecular weights of PCB-1 and PCB2-1 were determined to be 97.8 and 12.8 kDa, respectively. Monosaccharide composition analysis showed that all the three polysaccharides consisted of mannose, rhamnose, galacturonic acid, galactose, glucose, and arabinose, but with varying molar ratios. The polysaccharides exhibited significantly high antioxidant activities in vitro based on the scavenging activity against hydroxyl radicals, metal ion-chelating and ferric-reducing abilities. In vivo experiments in an oxidatively damaged mice model showed that PCB-1 increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, and inhibited malondialdehyde formation in the serum and liver. These findings suggest that PCB-1 has significant potential as an antioxidant in functional foods.

Antiviral activity against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus of Pogostemon cablin polysaccharide

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The dry overground parts of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. is widely used in China as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and fever. Polysaccharide is an important component of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. but has not been studied. Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. is used to treat porcine epidemic diarrhea. But it is not known whether Pogostemon cablin polysaccharides (PCPs) has the antiviral activities against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV).

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of present study is to investigate the structural characterization and the anti-PEDV activities of PCPs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PCPs were prepared by water extraction and alcohol precipitation method and purified with DEAE-52 cellulose column and Sephadex G-100 column. Then, the structural characterization of the polysaccharides including the infrared spectrum, molecular weight and monosaccharide composition were analyzed. Afterwards, the antiviral effect of PCPs against PEDV on IPEC-J2 cells was studied by MTT method and real-time PCR method. Additionally, the effects of PCPs on PEDV adsorption, penetration and replication were analyzed by real-time PCR method. Furthermore, we also investigate whether the anti-oxidative effects of PCPs were important to the anti-PEDV activities.

RESULTS

Four polysaccharides were obtained and named as PCP1.1 (31.3 kDa), PCP1.2 (3.5 kDa), PCP2.1 (9.1 kDa) and PCP2.2 (8.3 kDa). PCP1.1, PCP1.2 and PCP2.1 were composed of fucose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, mannose, galacturonic acid and glucuronic acid; and PCP2.2 was composed of arabinose, galactose, glucose, galacturonic acid and glucuronic acid. All PCPs showed anti-PEDV activities. PCP1.1 and PCP1.2 inhibited PEDV replication, while PCP2.1 and PCP2.2 inhibited PEDV penetration and replication. All PCPs showed anti-oxidative effects, which were important to the anti-PEDV activities.

CONCLUSIONS

The treatment effect of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. on porcine epidemic diarrhea might be related to the anti-PEDV effect of PCPs. Furthermore, the anti-oxidative effects of PCPs play important roles in their antiviral activities against PEDV.