Potential efficacy and mechanism of eight mild-natured and bitter-flavored TCMs based on gut microbiota: A review.
10.1016/j.chmed.2023.08.001
- Author:
Wenquan SU
1
;
Yanan YANG
2
;
Xiaohui ZHAO
2
;
Jiale CHENG
2
;
Yuan LI
1
;
Shengxian WU
1
;
Chongming WU
2
Author Information
1. Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China.
2. School of Chinese Materia Medica, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China.
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
5-hydroxytryptamine;
bile acid;
gamma-aminobutyric acid;
mild-natured and bitter-flavored traditional Chinese medicines;
property theory;
short-chain fatty acids;
traditional Chinese medicine;
trimethylamine oxide
- From:
Chinese Herbal Medicines
2024;16(1):42-55
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The mild-natured and bitter-flavored traditional Chinese medicines (MB-TCMs) are an important class of TCMs that have been widely used in clinical practice and recognized as safe long-term treatments for chronic diseases. However, as an important class of TCMs, the panorama of pharmacological effects and the mechanisms of MB-TCMs have not been systemically reviewed. Compelling studies have shown that gut microbiota can mediate the therapeutic activity of TCMs and help to elucidate the core principles of TCM medicinal theory. In this systematic review, we found that MB-TCMs commonly participated in the modulation of metabolic syndrome, intestinal inflammation, nervous system disease and cardiovascular system disease in association with promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria Bacteroides, Akkermansia, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Roseburia as well as inhibiting the proliferation of harmful bacteria Helicobacter, Enterococcus, Desulfovibrio and Escherichia-Shigella. These alterations, correspondingly, enhance the generation of protective metabolites, mainly including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acid (BAs), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), indole and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and inhibit the generation of harmful metabolites, such as proinflammatory factors trimethylamine oxide (TAMO) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), to further exert multiplicative effects for the maintenance of human health through several different signaling pathways. Altogether, this present review has attempted to comprehensively summarize the relationship between MB-TCMs and gut microbiota by establishing the TCMs-gut microbiota-metabolite-signaling pathway-diseases axis, which may provide new insight into the study of TCM medicinal theories and their clinical applications.
