The saponins in different parts of Gynostemma pentaphyllum were analyzed via UPLC-Q-TOF-MS~E. A total of 46 saponins were identified, and the underground part had 26 saponins more than the aboveground part, most of which were trisaccharide saponins. The rat model of hyperlipidemia was established with high-fat diet. This study explored the lipid-lowering activity of total saponins in the underground part of G. pentaphyllum, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the comprehensive utilization of the underground part of G. pentaphyllum. A total of 99 healthy SD rats were randomly assigned into a blank group, a model group, a positive drug group, an aboveground total saponins group, and low-, medium-, and high-dose underground total saponins groups. Except the blank group, the other groups were fed with high-fat diet for 6 weeks. Then, the blood was collected from the orbital cavity to determine whether the modeling was successful according to the serum levels of total cholesterol(TC) and triglyceride(TG). After intragastric administration of the corresponding agents for 30 continuous days, the physical state of the rats were observed, and the body weight and liver specific gravity were measured. Furthermore, the levels of TC, TG, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), alanine transaminase(ALT), aspartate transaminase(AST), bilirubin, and total bile acids in serum, as well as the levels of superoxide dismutase(SOD), malondialdehyde(MDA), peroxidase proliferator-activated receptor(PPAR-γ) in the liver tissue, were determined. The pathological changes of liver was observed via HE staining. The results showed that the aboveground total saponins and medium-and high-dose underground total saponins can treat hepatocyte steatosis, lower TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST, total bilirubin, MDA, and PPAR-γ levels, and increase HDL-C and SOD levels in the model rats. The effect tended to be more obvious with the increase in dosage. Therefore, the total saponins in the underground part of G. pentaphyllum have good pharmacological effect of reducing blood lipid, which provides a theoretical basis for the comprehensive utilization of the underground part of G. pentaphyllum.
Alanine Transaminase/analysis* ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases/analysis* ; Bile Acids and Salts/blood* ; Bilirubin/blood* ; Cholesterol, LDL/blood* ; Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects* ; Gynostemma/chemistry* ; Hypolipidemic Agents/therapeutic use* ; Lipoproteins, HDL/blood* ; Liver/metabolism* ; Malondialdehyde/analysis* ; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors/analysis* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Saponins/therapeutic use* ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Triglycerides/blood* ; Trisaccharides/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the mechanism of Lizhong Decoction (LZD) in treating dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice based on metabonomics. METHODS: Thirty-six mice were randomly divided into 6 groups, including normal, model, low- (1.365 g/kg), medium- (4.095 g/kg) and high dose (12.285 g/kg) LZD and salazosulfadimidine (SASP) groups, 6 mice in each group. Colitis model mice were induced by DSS admistration for 7 days, and treated with low, medium and high dose LZD extract and positive drug SASP. Metabolic comparison of DSS-induced colitis and normal mice was investigated by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) combined with Metabolynx™ software. RESULTS: The metabolic profiles of plasma and urine in colitis mice were distinctly ameliorated after LZD treatment (P<0.05). Potential biomarkers (9 in serum and 4 in urine) were screened and tentatively identified. The endogenous metabolites were mainly involved in primary bile acid, sphingolipid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, amino acids (alanine, aspartate, and glutamate), butanoate and glycerophospholipid metabolism in plasma, and terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid and tryptophan metabolism in urine. After LZD treatment, these markers notably restored to normal levels. CONCLUSIONS The study revealed the underlying mechanism of LZD on amelioration of ulcerative colitis based on metabonomics, which laid a foundation for further exploring the pathological and physiological mechanism, early diagnosis, and corresponding drug development of colitis.
Mice ; Animals ; Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy* ; Tryptophan/adverse effects* ; Aspartic Acid ; Dextrans/adverse effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Colitis/drug therapy* ; Biomarkers/metabolism* ; Amino Acids/adverse effects* ; Glycerophospholipids/therapeutic use* ; Sphingolipids/adverse effects* ; Bile Acids and Salts/adverse effects* ; Glutamates/adverse effects* ; Alanine/adverse effects* ; Arachidonic Acids/adverse effects* ; Linoleic Acids/adverse effects* ; Terpenes

Objective: To explore the relationship between DNA methylation and occupational noise-induced hearing loss. Methods: A case-control study was conducted. People with hearing loss induced by occupational noise were recruited as the case group and those with normal hearing but still exposed to occupational noise were recruited as the control group. A total of 60 participants were included, of which 30 participants were in the case group and 30 in the control group. The methylation level was detected by 850k genome-wide DNA methylation chip technology. The significance of differential methylated position (DMP) was tested by R-packet 'Champ'. The differential methylated region (DMR) was analyzed by using Champ's Bumphunter algorithm. Cluster profiler was used to analyze the gene list for GO and KEGG pathway enrichment. Results: There was significant difference between two groups in binaural high-frequency average hearing threshold (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in age, smoking, drinking, hypertension, physical exercise and cumulative noise exposure. The results of DMP and DMR analysis showed that 713875 sites were detected in the case group and the control group, and 439 methylation sites with significant difference, accounting for 0.06%; 650 regions were detected, and 72 methylation regions with significant differences, accounting for 11.08%. Compared with the control group, the results of GO enrichment analysis showed that the case group had statistically significant differences in four pathways: axogenesis of projection neurons in the central nervous system, neuronal development in the central nervous system, axogenesis of neurons in the central nervous system and neuronal differentiation in the central nervous system. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that there were significant differences in sphingolipid metabolism, aldosterone synthesis and secretion, primary bile acid biosynthesis pathway between the case group and the control group. Conclusion: The occurrence of occupational noise-induced hearing loss may be related to the regulation of gene expression related to axogenesis of projection neurons in the central nervous system, development of neurons in the central nervous system, axogenesis of neurons in the central nervous system, differentiation of neurons in the central nervous system, sphingolipid metabolism, aldosterone synthesis and secretion, primary bile acid biosynthesis and gene methylation related to metabolism.
Aldosterone ; Bile Acids and Salts ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA Methylation ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/genetics* ; Humans ; Noise, Occupational/adverse effects* ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Exposure ; Sphingolipids

Hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (HSOS) via exposure to pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) is with high mortality and there is no effective treatment in clinics. Bear bile powder (BBP) is a famous traditional animal drug for curing a variety of hepatobiliary diseases such as cholestasis, inflammation, and fibrosis. Here, we aim to evaluate the protective effect of BBP against HSOS induced by senecionine, a highly hepatotoxic PA compound. Our results showed that BBP treatment protected mice from senecionine-induced HSOS dose-dependently, which was evident by improved liver histology including reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells and collagen positive cells, alleviated intrahepatic hemorrhage and hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells, as well as decreased conventional serum liver function indicators. In addition, BBP treatment lowered matrix metalloproteinase 9 and pyrrole-protein adducts, two well-known markers positively associated with the severity of PA-induced HSOS. Further investigation showed that BBP treatment prevents the development of liver fibrosis by decreasing transforming growth factor beta and downstream fibrotic molecules. BBP treatment also alleviated senecionine-induced liver inflammation and lowered the pro-inflammatory cytokines, in which tauroursodeoxycholic acid played an important role. What's more, BBP treatment also decreased the accumulation of hydrophobic bile acids, such as cholic acid, taurocholic acid, glycocholic acid, as well. We concluded that BBP attenuates senecionine-induced HSOS in mice by repairing the bile acids homeostasis, preventing liver fibrosis, and alleviating liver inflammation. Our present study helps to pave the way to therapeutic approaches of the treatment of PA-induced liver injury in clinics.
Animals ; Bile ; Bile Acids and Salts ; Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease/pathology* ; Inflammation/pathology* ; Liver Cirrhosis/drug therapy* ; Mice ; Powders ; Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids/adverse effects* ; Ursidae

Intestinal failure (IF) is defined as the critical reduction of functional intestines below the minimum needed to absorb nutrients and fluids, so that intravenous supplementation with parenteral nutrition (PN) is required to maintain health and/or growth. Although the benefits are evident, patients receiving PN can suffer from serious cholestasis due to lack of enteral feeding and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). One such complication that may arise is intestinal failure-associated liver disease (IFALD). Evidences from recent studies suggest that alterations in the intestinal microbiota, as well as intraluminal bile acid driven signaling, may play a critical role in both hepatic and intestinal injury. Since Marshall first proposed the concept of the gut-liver axis in 1998, the role of gut-liver axis disorders in the development of IFALD has received considerable attention. The conversation between gut and liver is the key to maintain liver metabolism and intestinal homeostasis, which influences each other and is reciprocal causation. However, as a "forgotten organ" , intestinal microbiota on the pathogenesis of IFALD has not been well reflected. As such, we propose, for the first time, the concept of gut-microbiota-liver axis to emphasize the importance of intestinal microbiota in the interaction of gut-liver axis. Analysis and research on gut-microbiota-liver axis will be of great significance for understanding the pathogenesis of IFALD and improving the prevention and treatment measures.
Bacterial Infections/physiopathology* ; Bile Acids and Salts/physiology* ; Cholestasis/physiopathology* ; Enteral Nutrition ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/physiology* ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases/physiopathology* ; Intestines/physiopathology* ; Liver/physiopathology* ; Liver Diseases/physiopathology* ; Parenteral Nutrition/adverse effects* ; Short Bowel Syndrome/physiopathology* ; Signal Transduction

Traditional Chinese medicine boasts aunique theoretical system and rich practical experience. However, traditional Chinese medicine has an unclear material basis, vague pharmacological mechanism, and potential toxicity, which is the key factor to hinder its modernization and wide application. Therefore, when the physico-chemical analysis of chemical components of traditional Chinese medicine is insufficient to reflect the characteristics and mechanisms, the multi-target biological system correlation analysis in conformity to the holistic view of the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine has gradually attracted wide attention. Specifically, bile acids, as an important endogenous metabolite in the body, play an important role in regulating digestion, absorption and metabolism of nutrients, and greatly impact the health. In recent years, a number of studies have been made on the metabolism pathway of bile acids and their important regulatory effects in body metabolism, making bile acids as a significant target of traditional Chinese medicine on the body. In view of this, based on bile acid metabolism, the paper reviewed the biological functions of bile acids in regulating body metabolism and its interaction with intestinal microbiota, providing a basis for exploring the connotation of bile acid metabolism changes under physiological/pathological conditions of the body. The study progress of bile acid metabolism in traditional Chinese medicine efficacy/toxic mechanism is further reviewed, which provides a basis for exploring the efficacy and hepatotoxicity mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine with bile acid as a biomarker, thereby laying a foundation for the clinical safety of traditional Chinese medicine.
Bile Acids and Salts ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

It was reported that pancreatic arteries constricted during the early phase of bile salt-induced acute pancreatitis (AP), leading to pancreatic microcirculatory disturbance. We conducted this experiment to verify whether the above-mentioned finding was true. AP was induced with intraductal injection of taurodeoxyholate. Small pancreatic artery pressure in dogs was recorded. Functional capillaries were counted and calibrated by multiplying wet weight of pancreas. Pancreatic perfusion was measured with Laser Doppler flowmeter. Pancreatic arterioles of rats dilated during the initial 20 min of AP, and pancreatic arterial pressure declined during the early phase of AP in dogs (from 104.5 +/- 4.8 mmHg to 54.6 +/- 5.6 mmHg). The hematocrit of blood from inferior vena cava was significantly lower than that of portal vein at 5 min after pancreatitis induction. The "true" pancreatic functional capillary density increased. The early pancreatic microcirculatory disturbance coincided with a marked increase of portal vein pressure (PVP) as high as 9.18 +/- 0.78 mmHg. Reduction of PVP to baseline level was followed by a marked increase of pancreatic perfusion (by 1.4-fold). Arterial dilatation, but not constriction, occurred during the early phase of bile salt-induced AP. The pancreatic microcirculatory disturbance was due to a marked rise in PVP that greatly reduced the pressure difference in the pancreatic blood vessels and increased plasma extravasation which led. to local hemoconcentration.
Animals ; Bile Acids and Salts ; adverse effects ; Hypertension, Portal ; complications ; Male ; Microcirculation ; drug effects ; physiology ; Pancreas ; blood supply ; Pancreatitis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Portal Pressure ; Portal Vein ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo study injury of liver and kidney among the workers exposed to terephthalic acid(TPA), ethylene glycol(EG) and(or) dowtherm A(DOW), and research for early biological monitoring indexes.

METHODSBy using the method of occupational epidemiology, an investigation of industrial hygiene in a chemical fibre corporation was carried out and the changes of the liver and kidney functions were analyzed among the workers who had been exposed to TPA, EG, DOW.

RESULTSThe values of serum gamma-glutamyl traspetidase(GGT) and total bile acid(TBA) in TPA + EG + DOW group men were (35.45 +/- 16.09) U/L, (10.29 +/- 6.76) mumol/L respectively and the values of serum alanine transaminase(ALT) and TBA in TPA + EG + DOW group women were(30.68 +/- 8.58) U/L, (9.53 +/- 6.63) mumol/L respectively, significantly higher than those in TPA, DOW and control groups(P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with TPA, DOW and control groups, the values of urine N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase(NAG) and beta 2-2-microglobulim (beta 2-MG) in TPA + EG + DOW group of both men and women increased significantly(P < 0.05, P < 0.01), with(5.68 +/- 4.01) U/mmol Cr and (23.49 +/- 13.44) mg/mol Cr, and(6.68 +/- 4.68) U/mmol Cr and (22.80 +/- 13.00) mg/mol Cr, respectively. Analysis of regression indicated that both liver and renal injuries of the workers were evidently correlated with their exposure to TPA, EG and DOW after adjustment for the confounding factors such as sex, smoking, drinking, etc(P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONBased on available knowledge, it is reasonable to assume that the joint actions should be considered on the injury of liver and kidney caused by TPA, EG and(or) DOW among the workers. Serum ALT, GGT, TBA, urine NAG and beta 2-MG should be suggested as biomarkers for liver and kidney damage.

Acetylglucosaminidase ; urine ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Bile Acids and Salts ; blood ; Ethylene Glycol ; toxicity ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; drug effects ; Liver ; drug effects ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Phenyl Ethers ; toxicity ; Phthalic Acids ; toxicity ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; blood