This study investigated the protective effect and related mechanisms of Xinhui citrus fermentation liquor on mice with ulcerative colitis. Animal experiments follow the rules of Animal Ethics Committee of Southern Medical University. C57BL/6 mice were given 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) for 6 days to induce acute ulcerative colitis. During this period, Xinhui citrus fermentation liquor, decoction of Citrus reticulata blanco (both orally administrated with 300 mg·kg^-1·d^-1 crude polysaccharide) or positive drug 5-aminosalicylic acid (100 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) were gavaged continuously for 9 days. Cecal contents were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. The levels of inflammatory factors, tight junction proteins and nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 / Nod-like receptor protein 3 (Nrf2/NLRP3) pathway related proteins in the colon were detected by real-time PCR (RT-PCR), immunofluorescence and Western blot. Our results showed that Xinhui citrus fermentation liquor and Citrus reticulata blanco protected against UC-induced weight loss, diarrhea, bloody stool, and colon shortening. The mRNA and protein levels of pro-inflammatory factors, such as interleukin 6 (Il-6) and CXC chemokine ligand 10 (Cxcl10) and NLRP3 inflammasome were significantly decreased; the mRNA levels of colon anti-inflammatory factor (Il-10), tight junction protein [zonula occludens-1 (Zo-1), occludin, claudin-1], mucin 2 (Muc2), Nrf2, as well as the mRNA and protein levels of NAD(P)H quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) were significantly increased. In addition, Xinhui citrus fermentation liquor increased the abundance of Akkermansia and reduced the abundance of harmful bacteria Enterococcus and Streptococcus. The correlation analysis showed that the abundance of Akkermansia was positively correlated with anti-inflammatory factors, tight junction protein and the related genes levels of Nrf2 signaling pathway. In summary, Xinhui citrus fermentation liquor ameliorates acute ulcerative colitis in mice via regulating intestinal bacteria homeostasis and Nrf2/NLRP3 pathway to repair intestinal mucosa.

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and mechanism of Dengzhan Shengmai (DZSM) against nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD). The animal experiment program was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The NAFLD model of Syrian golden hamsters was established by high fat diets. After 6 weeks of DZSM treatment, the serum lipid, hepatic lipid accumulation, liver function and inflammatory response were determined. The regulations of gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids were detected by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method, respectively. The gut barrier function was evaluated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Western blot and histopathological methods and further verified in HepG2 cells. The results showed that the efficacy of DZSM against NAFLD was remarkably reduced after removal of the gut microbiota. The study of mechanism showed that DZSM significantly regulated the composition of gut microbiota, promoted the production and absorption of intestinal short-chain fatty acids, then leading to the reduction of hepatic lipid accumulation. Moreover, after DZSM treatment, the decreased lipopolysaccharide (LPS) level by improving the intestinal barrier function significantly inhibited the hepatic inflammation through down-regulating Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)-nuclear factor kappa B (NFKB) signaling pathway. These results indicate that DZSM inhibits NAFLD via regulating intestinal microenvironment.

Aging can cause degenerative changes in the function of multiple tissues and organs in the body. Gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal dysfunction are very common in the elderly people. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of the total extract of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. on intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis in natural aging mice, which will provide clues for further mechanism study. The natural aging mice model is established and animal experiments follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The overall health of the mice was evaluated by the "frailty index" scoring method. The intestinal absorption and transport function were measured by detecting intestinal glucose absorption capacity, transport time, lipase and amylase activities of aging mice. Intestinal inflammation was assessed by detecting inflammatory cytokines by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The pathological changes in the intestines of aging mice were tested by hematoxylin-eosin (H & E) staining and alizarin blue (AB) staining. The qRT-PCR method was used to explore the gene transcription level related with the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cells. Microbiota analysis based on 16S rDNA were used to evaluate the composition of gut microbiota. The results showed that Astragalus had a tendency to reduce the "frailty index" of aging mice, but did not show a significant difference. In some indicators of aging phenotype, Astragalus has the most significant effect on hair loss and physical fitness. In terms of intestinal function, Astragalus could increase intestinal glucose absorption capacity, shorten intestinal transportation time and promote lipase secretion in aging mice. The levels of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-‍α) in the aging intestinal tissue were reduced after Astragalus administration. Astragalus also ameliorated the pathological degeneration of the intestinal tissue of aging mice by increasing the length of small intestinal villi, the thickness of colonic mucosa and goblet cell number. In addition, Astragalus elevated the expression of genes associated with the proliferation and differentiation in jejunum and modulated gut microbiota, especially restoring the abundance of Lachnospiraceae. Taken together, the above research results demonstrate the total extract of Astragalus as a key factor improving the intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis of aging mice.

In this study, the ameliorative effects of Flos Abelmoschus manihot on mice with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were investigated and its effects on the structure of the intestinal flora as well as the lipid profile in feces of IBD mice were analyzed. All animal welfare and experimental procedures followed the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese medicine. A mouse model with chronic IBD induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was used to evaluate changes in body weight, disease activity index (DAI), colonic histopathological damage as well as gene expression levels of inflammatory factors in the colon. Fecal samples from mice in each group were collected and subjected to Illumina high-throughput sequencing to detect the abundance of intestinal flora; samples were analyzed by UHPLC-Q-Exactive^® HF Quadrupole-Orbitrap^® of untargeted lipidomics, which detects lipid content in feces. Administration of Flos Abelmoschus manihot could significantly restore the body weight and ameliorate colonic histopathological damage in IBD mice. Sequencing of the gut microbiota revealed that the species diversity and richness of the gut microbiota in IBD mice were decreased, with a significant increase in the abundance of Verrucomicrobia and a significant decrease in the abundance of Bacteroidetes; Flos Abelmoschus manihot significantly increased the richness and diversity of intestinal microbiota in IBD mice, increased the number of taxa species at each level, and restored the abundance of bacteria in the phylum Bacteroidetes. Analysis of fecal lipid profiles identified the most significant changes in sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid metabolic pathways in IBD mice, with Flos Abelmoschus manihot inhibiting ceramide and sphingomyelin synthesis in sphingolipid metabolism. In summary, Flos Abelmoschus manihot can effectively improve the disease condition of mice with chronic IBD, and it has the effect of regulating intestinal flora homeostasis and lipid metabolism, but the related mechanism between the two still needs to be deeply explored.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) is usually abnormally overexpressed, which mainly leads to the transcriptional repression of tumor suppressor genes. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) exert anti-tumor biological effects by regulating nucleosome structure, inhibiting HDAC activity, and controlling the expression of tumor suppressor genes. There are currently 5 drugs on the market, but only for peripheral T-cell lymphoma and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. In solid tumors, most of the HDAC inhibitors used have failed to achieve effective therapeutic effects. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) is the starting node of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway, which plays a very important role in the proliferation, migration, invasion, and differentiation of tumor cells. The abnormal activation of PI3K is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors, and the combined use of HDAC and PI3K inhibitors and HDAC/PI3K dual-target inhibitors show synergistic anticancer activity. This article introduces the anti-tumor clinical and preclinical research progress of representative HDAC inhibitors and PI3K inhibitors, as well as HDAC/PI3K dual-target inhibitors.

Benzazepine is a kind of fused ring structure, which is composed of nitrogen-containing seven-membered ring and benzene ring. The introduction of benzazepine scaffolds into compounds can not only adjust the physicochemical properties, maintain or enhance the biological activities of the compounds, but also improve the pharmacokinetic properties, increase the brain permeability, and reduce the toxicity of hERG of the compounds, which is one of the privileged scaffolds for rational design and structural optimization of drug molecules. Benzazepine scaffolds can be constructed by different synthetic methods such as Dickmann condensation reaction, Mitsunobu reaction, Pictet-Spengler reaction, CMD reaction, multicomponent reactions (MCRs), metal catalysis reactions and asymmetric catalysis etc., which play an important role in enriching the structure diversity of drug molecules.

Bile acids (BAs) are a major component of bile salt, which plays a vital role in the metabolism of lipids in humans. Ninety-five percent of bile acids are recycled by the enterohepatic circulation (EHC), and therefore EHC is essential for bile acid homeostasis. There are four transporters that mediate the transmembrane transport of bile acids, each of which plays an important role in the enterohepatic circulation. Gene defects in bile acid transporters can lead to disorders of the enterohepatic circulation, ultimately leading to clinical phenotypes such as metabolic diseases and even death. Bile transporter expression is altered in patients with various metabolic disease states, suggesting that disruption of bile acid transporters may be a pivotal pathological mechanism for the development of metabolism diseases. Thus, many drugs targeting bile acid transporters are being developed. We provide a concise overview of the progress of bile acid transporters research, discuss the relationship between different bile acid transporters and disease development, and summarize the current progress in drug development targeting bile acid transporters.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a kind of lung disease mainly caused by excessive inflammatory reaction. At present, there is a lack of effective therapeutic drugs in clinic. The aim of this study was to investigate the improvement effect of Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) on ALI and its potential mechanism. The model of wild-type C57BL/6J mice was established by intratracheal instillation of 50 μL 25 mg·mL^-1 lipopolysaccharide (LPS). 24 h later, 200 and 400 mg·kg^-1 PNS was given intragastric, respectively. 24 h after administration, the improvement effect of PNS on ALI mice was evaluated by lung function, wet-to-dry weight ratio (W/D), total protein, interleukin 6 (IL6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) concentration of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), expression levels of IL6 and TNFα in lung tissues, pathological changes of lung tissues and expression of inflammatory cells in BALF. The protein expression levels of NF-κB and its upstream kinases in Raw264.7 cells and ALI mice lung tissues were further detected to evaluate the potential mechanism of PNS improving ALI mice. The experimental scheme was approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was found that 400 mg·kg^-1 PNS could significantly improve the lung function of ALI mice, reduce the contents of W/D, BALF total protein, IL6 and TNFα, neutrophils expression in BALF and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in lung tissue. In Raw264.7 cells and ALI mice lung tissue, PNS significantly reduced the expression of NF-κB, reduced the protein expression and phosphorylation of NF-κB, promoted the expression of IκBα, and inhibited the inflammatory response. This study showed that PNS can improve ALI by inhibiting the activity of NF-κB, inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors and inflammatory cells infiltration, alleviating lung inflammation.

Eight polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs) were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of Hypericum pseudohenryi by MCI column, silica gel column and preparative HPLC. These compounds were defined as hypseudohenrin L (1), hyperbeanin P (2), furohyperforin (3), furoadhyperforin (4), ascyronone F (5), attenuatumione E (6), hyphenrone T (7) and hyperforatone N (8), compound 1 is a new compound. Compounds 1, 3, 5, 7 showed an inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in macrophage cells.

A new compound was isolated from the 95% ethanolic extract of the rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. using silica gel column chromatography, medium pressure liquid chromatography, and semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography. The structure and absolute configuration of the compound was elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, NMR, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. It is a novel sesquiterpenoid, which is named as isoturmeronol B (1). The carbon skeleton of compound 1 is similar to that of bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid. The only difference is that the methyl group at C-4 in bisabolene-type sesquiterpenoid is migrated to C-5 in compound 1. Besides, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the compound 1 were evaluated. The results showed that 1 has no anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities.