The Effect of Rhus verniciflua Stokes Extracts on Photo-Aged Mouse Skin

A comprehensive review of medicinal Toxicodendron (Anacardiaceae): Botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Comprising of about 30 species, the genus Toxicodendron (Anacardiaceae) are mainly distributed in East Asia and North America. Among them, 13 species have been traditionally used as folk medicines in Asia and other parts of the world to treat blood diseases, abnormal bleeding, skin diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, liver diseases, bone injury, lung diseases, neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, tonic, cancer, eye diseases, menstrual irregularities, inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, rattlesnake bite, internal parasites, contraceptive, vomiting and diarrhea.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To date, no comprehensive review on Toxicodendron has been published and the scientific basis of the traditional medicinal benefits of Toxicodendron have been less reported. Therefore, this review aims to provide a reference for further research and development on medicinal purpose of Toxicodendron by summarizing the works (from 1980 to 2023), and focusing on its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The names of the species were from The Plant List Database (http://www.theplantlist.org), World Flora Online (http://www.worldfloraonline.org), Catalogue of Life Database (https://www.catalogueoflife.org/) and Plants for A Future Database (https://pfaf.org/user/Default.aspx). And the search terms "Toxicodendron" and "the names of 31 species and their synonyms" were used to search for information from electronic databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Baidu Scholar, Springer, and Wiley Online Library. Moreover, PhD and MSc dissertations were also used to support this work.

RESULTS

These species on Toxicodendron are widely used in folkloric medicine and modern pharmacological activities. So far, approximately 238 compounds, mainly phenolic acids and their derivatives, urushiols, flavonoids and terpenoids, are extracted and isolated from Toxicodendron plants, commonly, T. trichocarpum, T. vernicifluum, T. succedaneum, and T. radicans. Among them, phenolic acids and flavonoids are the main compound classes that show pharmacological activities in Toxicodendron plants both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the extracts and single compounds of these species show a wide range of activities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, liver protection, fat reduction, nerve protection, and treatment of blood diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

Selected species of Toxicodendron have been used as herbal medicines in the Southeast Asian for a long time. Furthermore, some bioactive constituents have been identified from them, so plants in this genus may be potential new drugs. The existing research on Toxicodendron has been reviewed, and the phytochemistry and pharmacology provide theoretical basis for some of the traditional medicinal uses. Therefore, in this review, the traditional medicinal, phytochemical and modern pharmacology of Toxicodendron plants are summarized to help future researchers to find new drug leads or to get a better understanding of structure-activity relationships.

A new product of multi-plant extracts improved skin photoaging: An oral intake in vivo study

BACKGROUND

Besides the topical application of cosmetics, nutraceuticals represent a promising strategy for preventing skin photoaging and skin cancers.

METHODS

To determine the effect of a new multi-plant extracts product containing Cucumis melo extract, acerola extract, olive fruit, aloe vera gel, grape seed extract, and lycopene, a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial and an ultraviolet (UV)-induced murine photoaging model were deployed. 55 healthy subjects aged 45-60 were enrolled and randomized to take the product or placebo orally for 12 weeks. Skin aging and whitening indexes were measured with non-invasive techniques. 90 Balb/c mice aged 7-8 weeks were randomly divided into six groups: normal, UV, UV+vehicle, UV+different doses of the product (0.500 g/kg.BW, 0.250 g/kg.BW, 0.125 g/kg.BW, respectively). Except the normal group, mid-dorsal regions were irradiated with UVA+UVB for 8 weeks. Factors of oxidative stress, tyrosinase, and histological analysis of the mid-dorsal skin were determined.

RESULTS

In the clinical trial, the TEWL, hydration, sebum, elasticity, and the L*, a*, melanin index change from baseline, ITA° were significantly improved in the experiment group. In the animal experiment, compared to the UV+vehicle group, UV+high dose group showed significantly lower malondialdehyde (MDA) and tyrosinase, but higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). The UV+moderate dose group showed significant improvement of MDA and GSH-Px, and the UV+low dose group only showed improvement of GSH-Px. Histological photoaging manifestations were attenuated in the UV+high and moderate dose groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The multi-plant extracts product improved skin photoaging possibly via antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase ways.

Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Ameliorate HaCaT Cell Photo-Aging

Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) have been identified as a potentially ideal cell type for use in regenerative therapeutic contexts owing to their excellent paracrine secretory abilities and other desirable properties. Previous work has shown that stem cell-derived exosomes can effectively reduce skin aging, but few studies have specifically focused on the role of UCMSC-derived exosomes in this context. In this study, we isolated exosomes derived from UCMSCs grown in a three-dimensional culture system and explored their ability to modulate the photo-aging of HaCaT keratinocytes. Cell viability and proliferation were assessed using CCK8 assay, whereas wound healing and transwell assays were used to assess cell migratory capabilities. UVB irradiation (60 mJ/cm²) was used to induce photo-aging of HaCaT cells. TUNEL and SA-β-Gal staining were used to explore HaCaT cell apoptosis and senescence, respectively, whereas real-time quantitative PCR was used to assess the expression of relevant genes at the mRNA level. We found that UCMSC-derived exosomes were able to enhance normal HaCaT cell proliferation and migration while also inhibiting UVB-induced damage to these cells. These exosomes also reduced HaCaT cell apoptosis and senescence, increasing collagen type I expression and reducing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP1) expression in photo-aged HaCaT cells. Together, these findings indicate that UCMSC-derived exosomes have the potential to be used therapeutically to suppress skin aging.

Traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Stokes) F.A. Barkley - A review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Stokes) F.A. Barkley (syn. Rhus verniciflua or vernicifera Stokes, Anacardiaceae) (RVS), the lacquer tree, also known as sumac, has been used in China, Japan and South Korea for thousands of years as a highly durable coating material and a traditional herbal medicine, which contains medicinal ingredients with anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-rheumatic activities.

AIM OF THIS REVIEW

This review intends to provide a comprehensive and critical appraisal of RVS, including its phytochemical data, botanical and pharmacological literature that support its therapeutic potential in treatment on human diseases, with emphasis on the isolation of natural occurring compounds and detailed pharmacological investigations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Specific information of RVS was collected by using the key words "Toxicodendron vernicifluum", "Rhus verniciflua Stokes", "Rhus vernicifera Stokes" and "Lacquer tree" through published scientific materials (including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley, ACS, CNKI, Scifinder, Springer, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Baidu Scholar) and other literature sources.

RESULTS

The major phytoconstituents, 175 of which are presented in this review, including flavonoids, urushiols, terpenes, phenolic acids and other types of compounds, of which flavonoids and urushiols are main components. The extracts and isolates purified from RVS showed a wide range of in vitro and in vivo pharmacological effects, such as anti-cancer, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, tyrosinase inhibition and so on.

CONCLUSION

The modern pharmacological research of RVS mainly focus on the pharmacological effects of crude extract or active constituents, of which the flavonoids are widely studied. However, there are few reports on the relationship between pharmacological effects and their structures. And at present, there is still a lack of researches that are of both effective and in-depth. Meanwhile, there is little research on quality control. Apart from the wood and lacquer, other botanical parts also need to be explored further. In addition to phenolic compounds, the study on other types of components in T. vernicifluum would start more sparks for the discovery of new bioactive principles.

A comprehensive evaluation of skin aging-related circular RNA expression profiles

Background

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been shown to play important regulatory roles in a range of both pathological and physiological contexts, but their functions in the context of skin aging remain to be clarified. In the present study, we therefore, profiled circRNA expression profiles in four pairs of aged and non‐aged skin samples to identify identifying differentially expressed circRNAs that may offer clinical value as biomarkers of the skin aging process.

Methods

We utilized an RNA‐seq to profile the levels of circRNAs in eyelid tissue samples, with qRT‐PCR being used to confirm these RNA‐seq results, and with bioinformatics approaches being used to predict downstream target miRNAs for differentially expressed circRNAs.

Results

In total, we identified 571 circRNAs with 348 and 223 circRNAs being up and downregulated that were differentially expressed in aged skin samples compared to young skin samples. The top 10 upregulated circRNAs in aged skin sample were hsa_circ_0123543, hsa_circ_0057742, hsa_circ_0088179, hsa_circ_0132428, hsa_circ_0094423, hsa_circ_0008166, hsa_circ_0138184, hsa_circ_0135743, hsa_circ_0114119, and hsa_circ_0131421. The top 10 reduced circRNAs were hsa_circ_0101479, hsa_circ_0003650, hsa_circ_0004249, hsa_circ_0030345, hsa_circ_0047367, hsa_circ_0055629, hsa_circ_0062955, hsa_circ_0005305, hsa_circ_0001627, and hsa_circ_0008531. Functional enrichment analyses revealed the potential functionality of these differentially expressed circRNAs. The top 3 enriched gene ontology (GO) terms of the host genes of differentially expressed circRNAs are regulation of GTPase activity, positive regulation of GTPase activity and autophagy. The top 3 enriched KEGG pathway ID are Lysine degradation, Fatty acid degradation and Inositol phosphate metabolism. The top 3 enriched reactome pathway ID are RAB GEFs exchange GTP for GDP on RABs, Regulation of TP53 Degradation and Regulation of TP53 Expression and Degradation. Six circRNAs were selected for qRT‐PCR verification, of which 5 verification results were consistent with the sequencing results. Moreover, targeted miRNAs, such as hsa‐miR‐588, hsa‐miR‐612, hsa‐miR‐4487, hsa‐miR‐149‐5p, hsa‐miR‐494‐5p were predicted for circRna‐miRna interaction networks.

Conclusion

Overall, these results offer new insights into circRNA expression profiles, potentially highlighting future avenues for research regarding the roles of these circRNAs in the context of skin aging.

Antioxidant properties of topical Caulerpa sp. extract on UVB-induced photoaging in mice

Caulerpa sp., a genus of seaweed native to the Indo-Pacific region, has been known for its antioxidant properties and health benefits when consumed as food. Previous studies have reported Caulerpa sp.’s potential as a strong antioxidant, but its effects on the skin in a topical preparation, especially its role in ultraviolet (UV) protection, have not been studied extensively. Our study investigated the protective effects of 0.2% and 0.4% Caulerpa sp. extract gels on photoaging in the UVB-irradiated skin of Wistar mice. The subjects were divided into naive control, vehicle control, and 3 treatment groups (0.2% Caulerpa sp. extract gel, 0.4% Caulerpa sp. extract gel, and 0.02% astaxanthin gel as a standard antioxidant). The groups, except the naive control group, received a total of 840 mJ/cm² of UVB irradiation in four weeks. Protective effects of the extract were measured through the evaluation of collagen expression, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 expression and levels, and 8-OhDG expression. Mice who received topical application of Caulerpa sp. extract gel had higher collagen expression, better-preserved collagen structure, lower levels of MMP-1, and less MMP-1 and 8-OHdG expressions compared to the vehicle control group. There was no difference between different concentrations of the extract. Our findings demonstrated that topical application of Caulerpa sp. extract gel significantly protected UVB-irradiated mice skin from photoaging.

The efficacy and safety of the herbal medicine geonchildan for patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel pilot trial

Background

This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of geonchildan, a Korean traditional herbal medicine, for patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and evaluate the feasibility of a large-scale confirmatory clinical trial.

Methods/design

This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel two-arm pilot trial in Seoul, Korea. Altogether, 30 patients diagnosed with RA for at least 3 months and with a Disease Activity Score for 28 joints (DAS28) ≥ 3.2 will be enrolled. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two groups, the experimental group or the placebo group, in a 1:1 ratio and will make four scheduled visits. The participants will be administered geonchildan or a placebo three times per day for 12 weeks. The change in DAS28 will be examined as the primary efficacy outcome. The secondary efficacy outcomes include the proportion of patients achieving ACR20, ACR50, ACR70, and EULAR responses; the DAS28 sub-items; the consumption of medication; Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire scores; inflammatory parameters; and the Korean medical diagnostic pattern indicator. Adverse events and laboratory test results will be recorded to evaluate safety. The process, resources used, and management of the study will also be assessed to determine the feasibility of a large-scale trial.

Discussion

This is the first clinical trial to explore the efficacy and safety of geonchildan in patients with active RA. If the superiority of geonchildan versus the placebo is demonstrated and the study design is feasible, this study could form the foundation for a large-scale clinical trial. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Trial registration

Clinical Research Information Service, KCT0001943. Registered on 14 June 2016.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2849-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.