The triterpenoid saponins of Centella asiatica, including asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid, are pivotal bioactive compounds of the plant. These constituents exhibit a spectrum of pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, antitumor, and antidepressant effects, promotion of wound healing, and enhancement of microcirculation. Owing to these therapeutic properties, C. asiatica is widely employed in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. However, the escalating global demand for its extracts has led to potential supply shortages, prompting researchers to use multiple strategies such as multi-omics, molecular biology, and synthetic biology to conduct extensive studies. These studies encompass the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways of triterpenoid saponins in C. asiatica, metabolic regulation, the hormonal induction of secondary metabolite synthesis, and the application of biotechnological strategies for natural product production to increase the yield of secondary metabolites in C. asiatica, or to produce active components via microbial chassis, thus satisfying market demands and promoting the sustainable exploitation of wild C. asiatica resources. This article first introduced the triterpenoid saponins of C. asiatica and their biological activities, then summarized the latest research advancements in their biosynthetic pathways, metabolic regulation, and heterologous biosynthesis, and provided an outlook on future development directions, with the aim of providing reference for comprehensive resource development and biotechnological synthesis of active components from C. asiatica.
Centella/genetics* ; Triterpenes/chemistry* ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Plant Extracts

OBJECTIVE: Aloin, the main active component in Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f., has shown promising anti-tumor effects. This study investigated the impact of aloin in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and explored its functional mechanism. METHODS: We analyzed the viability, migration, invasion, proliferation, and apoptosis of two LUSC cell lines after treatment with aloin. Target molecules of aloin and downstream target transcripts of nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 2 (NR3C2) were predicted by bioinformatics. The biological functions of NR3C2 and metallothionein 1 M (MT1M) in the malignant properties of LUSC cells were determined. A co-culture system of LUSC cells with monocyte-derived macrophages was constructed. Mouse xenograft tumor models were generated to analyze the functions of aloin and NR3C2 in the tumorigenic activity of LUSC cells and macrophage polarization in vivo. RESULTS: Aloin suppressed malignant properties of LUSC cells in vitro. However, these effects were negated by the silencing of NR3C2. NR3C2 was found to activate MT1M transcription by binding to its promoter. Additional upregulation of MT1M suppressed the malignant behavior of LUSC cells augmented by NR3C2 silencing. Analysis of the M1 and M2 markers/cytokines in the macrophages or the culture supernatant revealed that aloin treatment or MT1M overexpression in LUSC cells enhanced M1 polarization while suppressing M2 polarization of macrophages, whereas NR3C2 silencing led to reverse trends. Consistent findings were reproduced in vivo. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that aloin activates the NR3C2/MT1M axis to suppress the malignant behavior of LUSC cells and M2 macrophage polarization. Please cite this article as: Chen YN, Lu JY, Gao CF, Fang ZR, Zhou Y. Aloin blocks the malignant behavior of lung squamous cell carcinoma cells and M2 macrophage polarization by modulating the NR3C2/MT1M axis. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 195-208.
Lung Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Humans ; Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism* ; Mice ; Macrophages/drug effects* ; Emodin/analogs & derivatives* ; Metallothionein/genetics* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Cell Movement/drug effects* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Receptors, Glucocorticoid/genetics*

Objective To explore the mechanism by which the sanguis draconis flavones(SDF)regulates the reactive oxygen species(ROS)/thioredoxin-interacting protein(TXNIP)pathway to mediate cell pyroptosis and improve cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury(CIRI)in rats.Methods The experimental rats were randomly divided into the control group(Ctrl),the CIRI group,the low-dose SDF group(SDF-L),the high-dose SDF group(SDF-H),and the SDF-H+ROS/TXNIP pathway activator,trimethylamine oxide(TMAO)group(SDF-H+TMAO).Among them,except for the control group,the remaining rats all needed to establish the CIRI rat model by the modified suture method.Zea Longa scoring was performed on rats from each group.ELISA was used to detect the levels of serum inflammatory factors interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-18 and oxidative stress-related factors superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px).Flow cytometry was used to measure the ROS levels.Cerebral edema was detected.Cerebral infarction was detected by 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride(TTC)staining.HE staining was used to detect the pathological changes of brain tissue.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of pyrolytic effector protein dermolin D(GSDMD).Western blotting was used to detect the expression of proteins related to the ROS/TXNIP pathway.Results Compared with the control group,a large area of cerebral infarctions were observed in the brain tissue of the CIRI group,accompanied by mild hemorrhage and obvious infiltration of inflammatory cells.Neuronal cells underwent degeneration and necrosis,with sparse and disordered arrangement.The phenomena of nuclear condensation and nucleolus lysis were obvious.The Zea Longa score,cerebral infarction volume,brain tissue water content,levels of IL-1β,IL-18,ROS,MDA,and the expressions of GSDMD,TXNIP,nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3),apoptosis-related punctate protein(ASC),and Caspase-1 increased,while the activities of SOD and GSH-Px decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the CIRI group,the pathological damage of brain tissues in the SDF-L group and the SDF-H group was significantly improved.The Zea Longa score,cerebral infarction volume,brain tissue water content,levels of IL-1β,IL-18,ROS,MDA,and the expressions of GSDMD,TXNIP,NLRP3,ASC,and Caspase-1 decreased.The activities of SOD and GSH-Px increased(P＜0.05);TMAO treatment partially reversed the improvement effect of SDF on CIRI in rats.Conclusion SDF ameliorates cerebral CIRI in rats by inhibiting ROS/TXNIP pathway-mediated pyroptosis.

Accurate prediction of drug responses in cancer cell lines(CCLs)and transferable prediction of clinical drug responses using CCLs are two major tasks in personalized medicine.Despite the rapid advancements in existing computational methods for preclinical and clinical cancer drug response(CDR)prediction,chal-lenges remain regarding the generalization of new drugs that are unseen in the training set.Herein,we propose a multimodal fusion deep learning(DL)model called drug-target and single-cell language based CDR(DTLCDR)to predict preclinical and clinical CDRs.The model integrates chemical descriptors,mo-lecular graph representations,predicted protein target profiles of drugs,and cell line expression profiles with general knowledge from single cells.Among these features,a well-trained drug-target interaction(DTI)prediction model is used to generate target profiles of drugs,and a pretrained single-cell language model is integrated to provide general genomic knowledge.Comparison experiments on the cell line drug sensitivity dataset demonstrated that DTLCDR exhibited improved generalizability and robustness in predicting unseen drugs compared with previous state-of-the-art baseline methods.Further ablation studies verified the effectiveness of each component of our model,highlighting the significant contribution of target information to generalizability.Subsequently,the ability of DTLCDR to predict novel molecules was validated through in vitro cell experiments,demonstrating its potential for real-world applications.Moreover,DTLCDR was transferred to the clinical datasets,demonstrating satisfactory performance in the clinical data,regardless of whether the drugs were included in the cell line dataset.Overall,our results suggest that the DTLCDR is a promising tool for personalized drug discovery.

Objective To longitudinally analyze the changes in perioperative nutritional indicators in elderly patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH)and their correlation with the score of modified Rankin scale(mRS)score.Methods A total of 295 elderly ICH patients ad-mitted to the neurosurgery intensive care unit of North China University of Science and Technolo-gy Affiliated Hospital from June 2022 to November 2024 were consecutively enrolled in this study.The levels of relevant nutritional indicators were measured before(T1),and in 1(T2),3(T3),5(T4)and 7 d(T5)after surgery.According to the mRS score in 90 d after onset of the disease,they were divided into a good prognosis group(mRS score≤ 2,114 cases)and a poor prognosis group(mRS score≥3,181 cases).The general data and levels of nutritional indicators at above time points were compared between the two groups.Binary logistic regression analysis was applied to study the relationship between the perioperative nutritional indicator levels and the prognosis in elderly patients with spontaneous ICH.Results The poor prognosis group had significantly higher SBP,larger proportions of stroke history,hemorrhage in the brainstem and midline dis-placement,and increased NIHSS score than the good prognosis group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Obvi-ously lower BMI(56.48±9.54 kg vs 66.62±8.12 kg),decreased serum levels of albumin[40.24(39.10,41.16)g/L vs 43.30(40.65,45.50)g/L],prealbumin[203.00(164.00,261.00)mg/L vs 229.00(180.00,282.00)mg/L]and TC[4.68(4.11,5.39)mmol/L vs 4.91(4.47,5.66)mmol/L],reduced lymphocyte count[1.58(0.95,2.03)× 109/L vs 1.77(1.99,1.91)× 109/L],and reduced GCS[7.00(5.00,10.00)vs 9.00(7.00,13.00)]and Barthel[55.00(43.00,64.00)vs 61.00(52.00,69.00)]scores at admission were observed in the poor prognosis group than the good prognosis group(all P＜0.01).At all different time points,the poor prognosis group also got notably higher Controlling Nutritional Status(CONUT)scores(reaching the highest levels at 3 d after opera-tion),and lower Prognostic Nutritional Index(PNI)score and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index(GNRI)score(both declining the lowest levels at same time)when compared with the poor prog-nosis group(all P＜0.01).Binary logistic regression analysis showed that COUNT scores,PNI scores and GNRI scores before(T1)and at 1(T2),3(T3),5(T4)and 7 d(T5)after operation were independent risk factors for 90-day poor prognosis in elderly patients with spontaneous ICH.Conclusion The fluctuations of 3 nutritional indicators at different time points in the periopera-tive period are closely associated with the 90-day prognosis of elderly ICH patients.Monitoring the changes in the nutritional indicators can quickly and conveniently predict the prognosis of the pa-tients,which has high clinical application value.

Objective To predict the value of admission dehydration state combined with fluid accumulation index for post-operative prognosis in elderly patients with intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH).Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 320 elderly ICH patients receiving surgical treatment in Department of Neurosurgery and then admitted to its Intensive Care Unit of the Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology from May 2023 to March 2024.According to the survival status at 30 d after onset,they were divided into a survival group(202 cases)and a death group(118 cases).Clinical data such as basic information,admission vital signs,laboratory indicators,and fluid supplementation were compared between the two groups.ROC curve was plotted.Results The death group exhibited significantly advanced age,more bleeding sites,higher 7-day fluid accumulation index,and larger proportions of ventricular rupture,midline displacement and admission dehydration status,but lower uric acid level than the the survival group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Binary logistic regression analysis showed that admission dehydration status and 7-day fluid accumulation index were risk factors for 30-day mortality in elderly ICH patients after surgery(P＜0.01).ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC value of admission dehydration status combined with 7-day fluid accumulation index in predicting 30-day death of elderly ICH patients after surgery was 0.774(95％CI:0.722-0.825),and that of the combination was better than that of each indicator alone(P＜0.05).Conclusion Hospital dehydration status combined with 7-day fluid accumulation index has the best effectiveness in predicting 30-day mortality in elderly ICH patients after surgical treatment.

Objective:To investigate the value of preoperative intestinal ultrasound parameters in predicting early postoperative recurrence（EPR）in patients with Crohn's disease（CD）.Methods:Ninety-five patients with CD who underwent I-stage intestinal resection at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital， Sun Yat-sen University from March 2015 to December 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. The patients were divided into EPR group （ n=50） and non-EPR （NEPR） group （ n=45） based on recurrence within one year postoperatively. Differences in preoperative intestinal ultrasound parameters including bowel wall thickness，bowel wall stratification， color Doppler grading， mesenteric fat hypertrophy （MFH） ， mesenteric lymphadenopathy， abscess/fistula， abdominal effusion， and clinical factors such as preoperative C-reactive protein （CRP） and erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR） were compared between the two groups. The predictive values of ultrasound parameters with statistically significant differences between the two groups were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to identify independent predictive factors associated with EPR in patients with CD. Results:During the 1-year follow-up，EPR occurred in 52.6%（50/95）patients with CD. Among clinical factors，preoperative CRP and ESR levels showed statistically significant differences between the EPR and NEPR groups（all P<0.05）. For ultrasound parameters，the incidences of mesenteric fat hypertrophy（MFH）and abscess/fistula were significantly higher in the EPR group than the NEPR group（all P<0.05）. MFH demonstrated a significantly higher AUC value for predicting EPR compared to abscess/fistula（0.797 vs.0.617， P=0.002）. Univariate Logistic analysis showed that CRP，ESR，MFH and abscess/fistula were candidate variables for diagnosing EPR（all P<0.05）. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis indicated that MFH（ OR=13.800， P<0.001）and the laboratory measure CRP（ OR=1.015， P=0.030）were effective predictive factors for EPR. Conclusions:Preoperative intestinal ultrasound parameter MFH may serve as a valuable predictor for assessing EPR risk in patients with CD.

ObjectiveThis study sought to investigate the impact of exosomes derived from LoVo cells (LoVo-Exos) in colorectal cancer (CRC) on tumor angiogenesis, as well as to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms underlying their pro-angiogenic effects. MethodsLoVo-Exos were isolated via ultracentrifugation, and their internalization into recipient human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was visualized using confocal microscopy. The influence of LoVo-Exos on angiogenesis was assessed through an in vitro tube formation assay. Additionally, the pro-angiogenic effects of LoVo-Exos were evaluated in vivo using a matrix gluing assay in mice. To investigate the molecular mechanisms through which LoVo-Exos facilitate angiogenesis, Western blot analysis was employed to examine the transfer of pEGFR by LoVo-Exos into recipient cells. Both Western blot and ELISA were utilized to assess the expression levels of key signaling proteins within the EGFR-ERK pathway, as well as the expression of downstream angiogenic core molecules. Furthermore, the impact of EGFR knockdown and ERK inhibitor treatment on angiogenesis was evaluated, with subsequent analysis of the expression of downstream angiogenic core molecules following these interventions. ResultsConfocal microscopy demonstrated the internalization of LoVo-Exos into HUVECs. In vitro angiogenesis assays further indicated that LoVo-Exos significantly enhanced the formation of tubular structures in HUVECs. Additionally, macroscopic examination of subcutaneous matrix plug formation in mice revealed a substantial increase in vascular-like structures within the matrix plugs following the administration of LoVo-Exos, compared to the PBS control group. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining revealed the presence of erythrocyte-filled microvessels within the matrix plugs combined with LoVo-Exos. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated the expression of the endothelial cell marker CD31 in these matrix plugs. The presence of CD31-positive cells in the LoVo-Exos-treated matrix plugs was associated with a significant enhancement in the formation of luminal structures. These findings suggest that LoVo-Exos facilitate the in vivo development of vascular-like structures. Subsequent investigations demonstrated that LoVo-Exos facilitated the delivery of pEGFR to HUVEC, thereby enhancing angiogenesis. Conversely, LoVo-Exos with EGFR knockdown exhibited a diminished capacity to promote angiogenesis, an effect that was further attenuated by the ERK phosphorylation inhibitor U0126. Western blot analysis assessing the activation of the EGFR-ERK signaling pathway in HUVEC indicated that LoVo-Exos augmented angiogenesis through the activation of this pathway. Furthermore, analysis of the impact of LoVo-Exos on the expression of downstream angiogenic core molecules revealed an increase in interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion in HUVEC. The enhancement observed was diminished in LoVo-Exos following EGFR knockdown, and this reduction was counteracted by the ERK phosphorylation inhibitor U0126. ConclusionThe underlying mechanism may involve the delivery of pEGFR in LoVo-Exos to HUVECs, leading to increased IL-8 secretion via the EGFR-ERK signaling pathway, thereby enhancing the angiogenic potential of HUVECs. This finding may offer new insights into the mechanisms underlying cancer metastasis.

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is the pillar for the development of motherland medicine, and animal medicine has a long history of application in China, characterized by wide resources, strong activity, definite efficacy, and great benefits. It has significant potential and important status in the consumption market of raw materials of TCM. In the context of global climate change, farming system alterations, and low renewability, the depletion of wild medicinal animal resources has accelerated. Accordingly, the conservation and sustainable utilization of wild resources of animal medicinal materials has become a problem that garners increasing attention and urgently needs to be solved. This paper summarizes the current situation of domestic and foreign medicinal animal breeding and research progress in industrial application in recent years and points out the issues related to standardized breeding, germplasm selection and breeding, and quality evaluation standards for medicinal animals. Furthermore, this paper discusses standardized breeding, quality standards, resource protection and utilization, and the search for alternative resources for rare and endangered medicinal animals. It proposes that researchers should systematically carry out in-depth basic research on animal medicine, improve the breeding scale and level of medicinal animals, employ modern technology to enhance the quality standards of medicinal materials, and strengthen the research and development of alternative resources. This approach aims to effectively address the relationship between protection and utilization and make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of medicinal animal resources and the animal-based Chinese medicinal material industry.
Animals ; Breeding ; China ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Conservation of Natural Resources

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of thoracoscopic minimally invasive surgery with nickel-titanium shape memory alloy wrap bone plate versus rib periosteal internal fixation in patients with multiple rib fractures (MRF) and flail chest. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 100 patients with MRF and flail chest treated with thoracoscopic minimally invasive surgery and internal fixation with rib fracture preservation between January 2019 and December 2022, including 54 males and 46 females, aged from 20 to 65 years old, with an average age of (38.0±18.0)years old. The duration of the disease ranged from 8 to 21 days. According to the different surgical methods, the patients were divided into control group and study group, with 50 patients in each group. The control group consisted of 23 males and 27 females, with an average age of (38.35±18.05) years old, who underwent rib preservation periosteal internal fixation. In the study group, there were 31 males and 19 females, with an average age of (38.15±17.99) years old, treated with thoracoscopic nickel-titanium shape memory alloy circumferential bone plate. The pulmonary function indices, electrocardiographic monitoring indices, pain severity, levels of inflammatory factors, complications, rehabilitation indices, and therapeutic efficacy were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 6 months. After 3 days of treatment, the heart rate of both groups was (102.43±13.74) beats per minute vs (86.26±8.06) beats per minute, respiratory rate (28.45±3.40) breaths per minute vs (22.05±2.85) breaths per minute, blood oxygen saturation (89.68±3.66)% vs (98.46±4.84)%, rest pain (3.5±0.5) points vs (2.6±0.6) points, movement pain (3.6±0.5) points vs (2.5±0.5) points, and these differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). The levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) (102.30±17.00) pg·ml^-1 vs (85.68±21.20) pg·ml^-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)(33.44±4.85) pg·ml^-1 vs (18.14±4.28) pg·ml^-1 in both groups exhibited an increase post-treatment, while the C-reactive protein (CRP) (75.51±10.54) mg·L^-1 vs (60.75±9.84) mg·L^-1 demonstrated a decrease compared to pre-treatment levels. Furthermore, the study group displayed significantly lower levels than the control group (P<0.05). After 10 days of treatment, the peak expiratory flow rate (3.31±0.52) L·s^-1 vs (5.69±0.74) L·s^-1, forced expiratory volume (1.46±0.29) L vs (2.06±0.38) L, and forced vital capacity (2.68±0.95) L vs (4.26±1.05) L of both groups exhibited significant improvements compared to pre-treatment levels. Moreover, the study group demonstrated significantly higher values than the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the study group was significantly lower compared to the control group (6 cases vs 14 cases, P<0.05). Additionally, the duration of bone callus formation(9.50±1.40) days and fracture healing (72.20±8.32) days in the study group was significantly shorter compared to the control group(11.35±2.15) days, (93.70±9.90) days (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Compared with traditional rib-preserving internal fixation, patients with MRF and flail chest treated with minimally invasive internal fixation with thoracoscopic nickel-titanium shape memory alloy surround bone plate have better therapeutic effect, because of less surgical trauma, less pain and inflammatory reaction, fewer postoperative pulmonary complications, faster and better recovery of lung function, and thus promote the recovery of patients.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Retrospective Studies ; Rib Fractures/surgery* ; Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures/methods* ; Flail Chest/surgery* ; Thoracoscopy/methods* ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/methods*