| 1. |
- Dang, Wen-Zhen, et al.
(författare)
-
Therapeutic effects of artesunate on lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice are dependent on T follicular helper cell differentiation and activation of JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Phytomedicine. - München : Elsevier. - 0944-7113 .- 1618-095X. ; 62
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Anti-malarial drug artesunate (ART), a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisnin, has immunosuppressive effects on several autoimmune diseases, including Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Colitis. However, molecular mechanisms of ART, especially on follicular helper T cells (Tfh), central players in SLE pathology, are far from clear.PURPOSE: The object for this work is to investigate the therapeutic effect of ART on lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice and its regulatory function on Tfh cells.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: MRL/lpr mice were used to explore therapeutic effects of ART on lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice and its regulatory functions on Tfh cells. Then, experiments of renal function were accomplished using the biochemical kits. Effects of ART on histopathology of kidneys, inflammatory factors and autoantibodies were examined using H&E staining, ELISA and real-time PCR. Flow cytometry and western blot analysis were used to examine effects of ART on Tfh differentiation and Jak2-Stat3 signaling pathway.RESULTS: Upon oral administration, ART significantly prolonged the survival of MRL/lpr mice, ameliorated the lupus nephritis symptoms, decreased the levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies deposited in the kidney, and the levels of pathogenic cytokines (IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-21). After ART treatment, T-cell compartment in the spleen of MRL/lpr mice was restored in terms of reduction in the number of Tfh cells and in the maintenance of the ratio of Tfr to follicular regulatory T cells (Tfh). In addition, ART has significantly inhibited the phosphorylation levels of Jak2 and Stat3 in the MRL/lpr mice.CONCLUSION: ART showed therapeutic effects on lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice by inhibiting the differentiation of Tfh cells as well as altering the activation status of Jak2-Stat3 signaling cascade. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier GmbH
|
|
| 2. |
- Efferth, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
-
Biopiracy versus One-World Medicine-From colonial relicts to global collaborative concepts
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Phytomedicine. - : Elsevier. - 0944-7113 .- 1618-095X. ; 53, s. 319-331
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Practices of biopiracy to use genetic resources and indigenous knowledge by Western companies without benefit-sharing of those, who generated the traditional knowledge, can be understood as form of neo-colonialism. Hypothesis: The One-World Medicine concept attempts to merge the best of traditional medicine from developing countries and conventional Western medicine for the sake of patients around the globe. Study design: Based on literature searches in several databases, a concept paper has been written. Legislative initiatives of the United Nations culminated in the Nagoya protocol aim to protect traditional knowledge and regulate benefit-sharing with indigenous communities. The European community adopted the Nagoya protocol, and the corresponding regulations will be implemented into national legislation among the member states. Despite pleasing progress, infrastructural problems of the health care systems in developing countries still remain. Current approaches to secure primary health care offer only fragmentary solutions at best. Conventional medicine from industrialized countries cannot be afforded by the impoverished population in the Third World. Confronted with exploding costs, even health systems in Western countries are endangered to burst. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among the general public in industrialized countries, although the efficacy is not sufficiently proven according to the standards of evidence-based medicine. CAM is often available without prescription as over-the-counter products with non-calculated risks concerning erroneous self-medication and safety/toxicity issues. The concept of integrative medicine attempts to combine holistic CAM approaches with evidence-based principles of conventional medicine. Conclusion: To realize the concept of One-World Medicine, a number of standards have to be set to assure safety, efficacy and applicability of traditional medicine, e.g. sustainable production and quality control of herbal products, performance of placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trials, phytovigilance, as well as education of health professionals and patients.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Liu, Kaifei, et al.
(författare)
-
Asperosaponin VI protects against bone destructions in collagen induced arthritis by inhibiting osteoclastogenesis
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Phytomedicine. - München : Elsevier. - 0944-7113 .- 1618-095X. ; 63
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Bone destructive diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoporosis and bone metastatic tumors are mainly mediated by over-activated osteoclasts. Asperosaponin VI (AVI), isolated from the rhizome of Dipsacus asper, belongs to triterpenoid saponins. It has multiple physiological activities but its effects on RA, especially on osteoclast differentiation and activation are still unclear.PURPOSE: Explore the protective role of AVI on collagen induced arthritis (CIA) in vivo and RANKL induced osteoclastogenesis in vitro.METHODS: The effects of AVI on cell viability and RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis, actin ring formation, bone resorption activity as well as on osteoclast specific gene and protein expression were tested using bone marrow derived monocytes (BMMs). Paws from CIA mice were used for micro-CT, HE and TRAP staining, real-time PCR and western blot. Sera were used for cytokine analysis by ELISA. The signaling pathways were detected using western blot, real-time PCR and immunofluorescence assay.RESULTS: AVI significantly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and bone resorption activity by suppressing the formation of actin ring. It also inhibited the expression of various osteoclatogenesis marker genes and signaling pathways. AVI protected arthritis in vivo by suppressing inflammation and bone loss.CONCLUSION: AVI exerts its anti-osteoclastogenic activity both in vitro and in vivo by inhibiting RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation and function. Thus, our studies demonstrate a potential therapeutic role for AVI in preventing or inhibiting RANKL-mediated osteolytic bone diseases.
|
|
| 5. |
- Osathanunkul, Maslin, et al.
(författare)
-
Evaluation of DNA barcoding coupled high resolution melting for discrimination of closely related species in phytopharmaceuticals
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Phytomedicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0944-7113 .- 1618-095X. ; 23:2, s. 156-165
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Phytopharmaceuticals are increasingly popular as alternative medicines, but poorly regulated in many countries. The manufacturers of these products should be subject to strict controls regarding each product's quality and constituents. Routine testing and identification of raw materials should be performed to ensure that the raw materials used in pharmaceutical products are suitable for their intended use. Hypothesis/purpose: We have applied DNA Barcoding High Resolution Melting (Bar-HRM), an emerging method for identifying of medicinal plant species based on DNA dissociation kinetics and DNA barcoding, for the authentication of medicinal plant species. Study design: Commonly commercialized Thai medicinal plants that are widely used for medicinal purposes were used in this study. Publicly available sequences of four plastid markers were used for universal primer design. Species discrimination efficiency of the designed primers was evaluated as single and multi-locus analyses by using the primers sets. Methods: HRM analysis was performed in triplicate on each of the 26 taxa to establish the T-m for each primer set (matK, rbcLA, rbcLB, rbcLC, rpoC1, and trnL). The shapes of the melting curves were analyzed to distinguish the different plant species. Bar-HRM species identification success rates were assessed for each single-locus as well as for multi-locus combinations to establish the optimal combination of primer sets. Results: In single locus analysis the rpoC1 primer set gave the highest discrimination (53%), and in multi locus analysis this could be increased from 87% to 99% depending on the total number of regions included. Different combinations proved to be more or less effective at discrimination, depending on the genus or family examined. Conclusions: Bar-HRM has proven to be a cost-effective and reliable method for the identification of species in this study of Thai medicinal plants, and results show an identification success rate of 99% among species in the test set.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Yao, Xingang, et al.
(författare)
-
Tatanan A from the Acorus calamus L. root inhibited dengue virus proliferation and infections
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Phytomedicine. - München : Elsevier. - 0944-7113 .- 1618-095X. ; 42, s. 258-267
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Acorus calamus l. (Acoraceae) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plant, whose root are historically mainly used to treat neurodegenerative diseases, and for cholera treatment. This datum strongly indicates the antimicrobial activity of A. calamus.PURPOSE: Our goal is to find the active constituents of A. calamus to treat dengue virus (DENV) infections, and to study the effects and mechanisms of these active substances.METHODS: The root of A. calamus was extracted by ethanol. Mosquito larva C6/36 cells were used for DENV2 replication and transfection host. Mouse kidney fibroblast cells (BHK-21) were used as a host cell to study the infection ability of the virus. DENV2-induced cytopathic effect (CPE) and plaque assay were used to evaluate the inhibitory effect of A. calamus extracts on DENV2 infectivity inhibition. The levels of E and NS1 protein expression were measured by real-time PCR and western blot assays.RESULTS: 12 compounds were isolated from ethanol extract of A. calamus root, tatanan A showed the best anti-DENV ability among these 12 compounds, which significantly alleviated DENV2-induced CPE and cytotoxicity effects, with an EC50 of 3.9 µM. In addition, RNA replication assay further confirmed the antivirus ability of tatanan A. Time-addition assay showed that tatanan A affected the early stage of viral RNA replication, which in turn inhibited mRNA and protein levels of DENV2.CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated the anti-DENV2 effect of tatanan A, in inhibiting DENV2 RNA replication and infections. In summary, tatanan A was found to be a novel natural DENV inhibitor and a potential candidate for the treatment of DENV infectious disease.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Svensson, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
-
Sesquiterpene lactones from Ambrosia arborescens Mill. inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and modulate NF-κB signaling in human skin cells
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Phytomedicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0944-7113. ; 50, s. 118-126
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Ambrosia arborescens has been used in Andean traditional medicine to reduce problems associated with various inflammatory diseases and conditions, although the underlying mechanism is unknown. Hypothesis/purpose: The sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) coronopilin and damsin, which are major secondary metabolites of A. arborescens, have anti-inflammatory activity by attenuation of IL-6 and MCP-1 expression and inhibition of NF-κB in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFa) and human keratinocytes (HaCaT). Study design: In order to confirm a high concentration of damsin and coronopilin in the plant material, a quantitative method was developed. The effect of the pure compounds on cytokine and NF-κB expression was examined, as well as their effects on HDFa and HaCaT cell morphology and viability. Methods: Coronopilin and damsin were quantified by HPLC-DAD analysis, from EtOAc extracts of the aerial parts of A. arborescens. Cell morphology was investigated by phase-contrast microscopy and cell viability by the MTT assay. IL-6 and MCP-1 cytokine gene expression was assessed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR in LPS stimulated cells. The NF-κB pathway was studied through western blotting of the phosphorylated forms of p65 and p50/p105, as well as the non-phosphorylated IκB. Dexamethasone was used as positive control. Results: Dry aerial parts contained 12.3 mg/g and 13.4 mg/g of coronopilin and damsin, respectively. Treatment with either compound (1–10 µM) for 24 h attenuated LPS-induced mRNA expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and the chemokine MCP-1 in HDFa cells. The down-regulation of MCP-1 mRNA induced by coronopilin and damsin was confirmed on the protein level. Damsin reduced phosphorylated p65 and p105 subunits in HDFa cells. Neither coronopilin nor damsin affected HDFa cell morphology and viability within the used concentration range (1–10 µM). Also, in HaCaT cells, treatment with damsin (1–10 µM) for 24 h inhibited the MCP-1 expression, and damsin thereby attenuated cytokine expression both in HDFa and HaCaT cells. Conclusion: We show that coronopilin and damsin from A. arborescens inhibit pro-inflammatory IL-6 and MCP-1 expression in human skin cells via NF-κB inhibition, suggesting that they may be useful for antagonizing inflammatory conditions of the human skin.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
