Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge (Dan shen in Chinese)is extracted from dried roots and rhizomes of Labiatae Salvia.Tan-shinones are the main lipid-soluble components in Salvia,each has specific pharmacological activity.This review focuses on the research progress of Tanshinones on cardiovascular diseases,an-ti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, anti-tumor effect,hepatocyte protection and neuroprotective effects.Thera-peutic effects and mechanisms of Tanshinones on diverse disea-ses are summarized,pharmacokinetics and pharmaceutic evalua-tion were concluded.This review provides a global understand-ing about Tanshinones as a class of effective and promising can-didates for further studies,and lays a foundation for developing new Tanshinone-based agents according to the characteristics of Tanshinones.

Objective:To investigate the expression of soluble T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3 (Tim-3) in peripheral blood of patients with pancreatic cancer and its diagnostic value in combination with serum Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) .Methods:106 newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients and 65 age and sex matched healthy individuals were enrolled. Tim-3 concentration was quantitatively determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). According to the expression levels of soluble Tim-3 and serum CA19-9, a binary logistic regression model of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established to compare the diagnostic effects of serum CA19-9 and soluble Tim-3 alone or combined with the two tests.Results:The levels of soluble Tim-3 in the pancreatic cancer group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group ( P<0.001). The expression level of soluble Tim-3 was significantly higher in patients with stage III-IV pancreatic cancer than in patients with stage I-II ( P=0.003). The AUC of soluble Tim-3 diagnosis for stage I-II pancreatic cancer was 0.856 (95%CI: 0.765 to 0.992 P<0.001), Serum CA19-9 The AUC used for the stage I-II pancreatic cancer diagnosis was 0.862 (95%CI: 0.772 to 0.926 P<0.001), The AUC for the combined diagnosis was 0.949 (95%CI: 0.880 - 0.985 P<0.001) ; In a healthy population and in patients with stage III-IV pancreatic cancer, the AUC of soluble T I I-IV pancreatic cancer in stage III was 0.927 (95%CI: 0.873 to 0.963 P<0.001), the AUC of serum CA19-9 used for the diagnosis of stage III-IV pancreatic cancer was 0.933 (95%CI: 0.881 to 0.968 P<0.001), the AUC for the combined diagnosis was 0.989 (95%CI: 0.956 to 0.999 P<0.001) . Conclusions:The combination of soluble Tim-3 and serum CA19-9 can improve the diagnostic rate of pancreatic cancer patients.

It is well known that an unhealthy lifestyle is a major risk factor for metabolic diseases, while in recent years, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the gut microbiome and its metabolites also play a crucial role in the onset and development of many metabolic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease and so on. Numerous microorganisms dwell in the gastrointestinal tract, which is a key interface for energy acquisition and can metabolize dietary nutrients into many bioactive substances, thus acting as a link between the gut microbiome and its host. The gut microbiome is shaped by host genetics, immune responses and dietary factors. The metabolic and immune potential of the gut microbiome determines its significance in host health and diseases. Therefore, targeting the gut microbiome and relevant metabolic pathways would be effective therapeutic treatments for many metabolic diseases in the near future. This review will summarize information about the role of the gut microbiome in organism metabolism and the relationship between gut microbiome-derived metabolites and the pathogenesis of many metabolic diseases. Furthermore, recent advances in improving metabolic diseases by regulating the gut microbiome will be discussed.

Since metabolic process differs between humans and mice, studies were performed in hamsters, which are generally considered to be a more appropriate animal model for studies of obesity-related metabolic disorders. The modulation of gut microbiota, bile acids and the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) axis is correlated with obesity-induced insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in mice. However, the interactions among the gut microbiota, bile acids and FXR in metabolic disorders remained largely unexplored in hamsters. In the current study, hamsters fed a 60% high-fat diet (HFD) were administered vehicle or an antibiotic cocktail by gavage twice a week for four weeks. Antibiotic treatment alleviated HFD-induced glucose intolerance, hepatic steatosis and inflammation accompanied with decreased hepatic lipogenesis and elevated thermogenesis in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT). In the livers of antibiotic-treated hamsters, cytochrome P450 family 7 subfamily B member 1 (CYP7B1) in the alternative bile acid synthesis pathway was upregulated, contributing to a more hydrophilic bile acid profile with increased tauro--muricholic acid (TMCA). The intestinal FXR signaling was suppressed but remained unchanged in the liver. This study is of potential translational significance in determining the role of gut microbiota-mediated bile acid metabolism in modulating diet-induced glucose intolerance and hepatic steatosis in the hamster.

Although the functions of metabolic enzymes and nuclear receptors in controlling physiological homeostasis have been established, their crosstalk in modulating metabolic disease has not been explored. Genetic ablation of the xenobiotic-metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2E1 in mice markedly induced adipose browning and increased energy expenditure to improve obesity. CYP2E1 deficiency activated the expression of hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) target genes, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21, that upon release from the liver, enhanced adipose browning and energy expenditure to decrease obesity. Nineteen metabolites were increased in Cyp2e1-null mice as revealed by global untargeted metabolomics, among which four compounds, lysophosphatidylcholine and three polyunsaturated fatty acids were found to be directly metabolized by CYP2E1 and to serve as PPARα agonists, thus explaining how CYP2E1 deficiency causes hepatic PPARα activation through increasing cellular levels of endogenous PPARα agonists. Translationally, a CYP2E1 inhibitor was found to activate the PPARα-FGF21-beige adipose axis and decrease obesity in wild-type mice, but not in liver-specific Ppara-null mice. The present results establish a metabolic crosstalk between PPARα and CYP2E1 that supports the potential for a novel anti-obesity strategy of activating adipose tissue browning by targeting the CYP2E1 to modulate endogenous metabolites beyond its canonical role in xenobiotic-metabolism.

Adventitia ; Atherosclerosis/genetics* ; Cell Communication ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia/genetics* ; Sequence Analysis, RNA